how to draw white hair anime

by Ethyl Witting 7 min read
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Why is anime hair drawn in clumps?

One good reason for this is that if you are drawing multiple frames of animation or multiple panels of a manga it will simply be too time consuming to draw anything overly detailed.

What is anime hair?

The pigtails are another very common style of anime hair. Same as the ponytail example you can see that this particular drawing can pretty much be broken down into the front and back section of the hair. With the “back hair” split into the hair covering the head and the pigtails. There are really only tiny bits of actual “side hair”.

How to tell if your hair is curly?

From the hairline draw two lines going towards the sides of the head to indicate the front hair. To show that the hair is curly you can draw these lines in light waves.

What is the hardest hairstyle to draw?

Anime curly hair drawing breakdown. Curly hair is probably the most challenging anime hairstyles to draw. This particular hairstyle can again be split into the front sides and back with the front hair being similar to the previous example. Anime curly hair step by step drawing.

What is the most common hairstyle in anime?

Long straight hair is probably one of the most common hairstyles in anime and is fairly easy to draw. Above you can see the breakdown of the long hair drawing example into: Red – Front Hair. Green – Side Hair. Blue – Back/Top Hair. You can apply a similar breakdown to drawing other hairstyles as well.

How many parts does anime hair have?

Anime neatly combed hair drawing. This hairstyle can again be split into three parts with the front, side and back hair. The front section of the hair however is a little different from the previous examples. Anime combed hair step by step drawing.

Can you split hair over one eye?

For the hairstyle with hair over one eye you can yet again split the hair into the front, sides and back. In this style the front section of the hair will be fairly large and sort of merge into the “side hair” next to the covered eye.

How to draw a hair highlight in anime?

For this type of hair highlight simply draw two lines to indicate the top and bottom of the hair highlight and then either leave the area white or color it in with a bright color.

What is anime hair highlights?

Anime hair highlights drawing examples. Hair highlights are basically just light reflecting from the hair. Their color can change depending on the color of the light source but generally they tend to be white. Anime and manga style hair highlights are often very simplified and fairly easy to draw though the way you draw them can depend on weather ...

Why do anime have hair and eyes?

Hair and eyes in anime are often used to express emotions and a character’s personality, so they’re usually given more details than in real life. But this is drawing, so there aren’t any complex rules for this! Let your hand flow, and practice your creativity. Take a look at your favorite anime drawings.

Can you airbrush white hair?

Yes, even white hair! I like to airbrush the skin color on the bangs, so when I add white highlights on top, it will show! If you don’t know which color to use, you can take the hair color, create a new layer, set the blending mode to Add (Glow), and then add blobs, triangles, lines, etc.

How to draw anime male hair?

Anime male hair front drawing. Draw the front of the hair in fairly large clumps that start from around the top of the head and go down well past the hairline. Make the clump/clumps in the middle slightly longer than the sides.

Why is my anime hair drawn in clumps?

The reason for this is that short hairs can’t reach far enough to join into as a big a clump.

What is medium length hair?

The medium length hair (or some variation of it) is probably one of the most generic hairstyles in anime and manga. Very common to the “average guy” protagonists. Before drawing the hair draw an outline of the head along with the hairline.

How to draw a medium long man?

Anime medium long male hair front drawing. Begin the drawing of the actual hair by adding the part that goes down the middle of the face. It can start from about the top of the head and go down to around the tip of the nose (if it was shown).

What is the hairstyle of the eyes?

One common characteristic of this hair is that the portions that would cover the eyes are often swept to the sides with one big chunk going down the middle of the face to around the tip of the nose.

How to draw anime characters?

While artists have varying preferences about how to structure an anime character’s head and face, they all start with the same basic principle: First draw a circle, and then draw a horizontal line and vertical line directly ...

How to draw anime girl eyes?

Start by sketching a curved upper eyelid, then draw a short line extending down from the outer corner of the eye. Leave the inner corner of the eye open for a softer look. Then, add a circle in the middle of the eye as the iris. Draw a smaller circle—the pupil—in the middle of the iris.

How long should an anime character's legs be?

The legs of an anime character should be approximately as long as the top half of the character, from the top of the head to the waist. Finally, add in the arms. A good rule of thumb is to align the elbow with the character’s waist, and then extend the rest of the arm (including the hand) to about mid-thigh.

What pen do you use to highlight a character?

While you will mostly ink with a black pen, it can also be helpful to have a white jelly pen on hand—you can use this to add highlights, like the reflection points in the character’s eyes. You may also choose to add additional colors with colored pencils or medium of your choice.

How to make a reflection in the eye?

Leave the inner corner of the eye open for a softer look. Then, add a circle in the middle of the eye as the iris. Draw a smaller circle—the pupil—in the middle of the iris. To create primary and secondary light reflections, add in one or two additional circles within the iris.

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Using References

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It’s tough to draw things when you don’t check what they look like in real life. So every time you’re stuck, search for photos! Not just of anime drawings, but actual people as well. Where, you ask? There’re plenty of places; you can go on Pinterest, Instagram, DeviantArt, etc.! And if you think that’s cheating, copying, or stealing, it’…
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Sketching Tips

  • I start hair just thinking of the general outline without giving much attention to details: when sketching, only the general shape matters. If you don’t know where the hair starts in the head, think of the skull, and add some padding. A simple line in the middle should be enough to represent that. You can make the top part more complex as you learn how hair works. Also, it’s g…
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About Lineart

  • Depending on the drawing, I will clean up the sketch instead of creating lineart. By “clean up”, I mean I will erase the messy lines and go over them when necessary, giving it a different feeling than a perfectly clean line. I feel this helps me relax about art and not worry too much about details. You don’t need to over-zoom and glue your face on the screen to be sure the lines are pe…
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Shading

  • Once you have the base color added, define where your light source is. Remember your basic lessons about ball shading? Do exactly that. To do this, lay out a general shape with the shading color. Once you have the general shape defined, you can polish it until your liking. But as you are still learning, you don’t need to go fancy on the shading. Go slowly, within the scope of what you …
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Highlights

  • This part is very fun, and there are many ways to add shine to the hair. Yes, even white hair! I like to airbrush the skin color on the bangs, so when I add white highlights on top, it will show! If you don’t know which color to use, you can take the hair color, create a new layer, set the blending mode to Add (Glow), and then add blobs, triangles,...
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Conclusion

  • Maybe you’re still unsure how to draw hair even after this tutorial, but I don’t expect you to suddenly be a pro. As I always say, art takes time. So at the very least, take away this important point from this: use references! I can’t repeat this enough but make sure to use them mindfully. I believe you don’t actually need a step-by-step to learn something. Instead, try to understand thin…
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