Yo, artsy babes! Let’s talk about something that gets missed waaaaay too often when drawing hair: highlighting. Like, how many times have you been drawing an amazing portrait, but then the hair ends up looking like a brick? Ugh, right?!
Hair highlighting is SUPER important. It adds depth, dimension, and brings your artwork to life! Trust me, once you get the hang of highlighting hair, your portraits are gonna POP like your fave highlighter IRL (I see you, Becca’s Champagne Pop still coming through 💕).
So, let’s break it down with some easy tips. You’re gonna be a pro at highlighted hair by the time you finish reading this. Let’s get into it!
What Even Is Highlighting Hair?
OK, so quick breakdown: when we draw or paint hair, it’s usually a BUNCH of individual strands, right? Typing that actually kinda makes me tired already, haha. So instead of drawing one hair at a time, think of hair in clumps or sections.
Highlighting doesn’t mean adding sparkly glitter to those clumps (although, like…I’m not mad if you wanna try that!). It’s actually where the LIGHT hits the hair. Your highlights are going to totally depend on where your light source is — is it above? To the side? Behind?
Like, imagine you’re at the beach during sunset — yeah, think sunkissed highlights from that glow. That’s the vibe you’re going for in your drawing. 👱♀️✨
The Basics of Understanding Light N’ Shadow
To master hair highlights, it’s all about getting cozy with light and shadows.
Light hits certain parts of the hair, and the rest goes into shadow mode. If you get the light/shadow placement WRONG, it’s gonna look like your character has a helmet on. 😅
Here’s the cheat code:
| Light Source | Where to Highlight Hair | Where Shadows Go |
|---|---|---|
| Above the character | Top of the head, maybe top sections of the bangs | Bottom of the head, under the hair |
| To the right of the character | Right side of the hair | Left side of the head and anywhere near the back |
| Behind the character | Back of the head (near the top) | Front of the face straight up looks darker |
🖼️ If you’ve ever watched any makeup tutorials (which like…duh, I know you have!), it’s kinda the same as contouring and highlighting your face but for hair!! You’re trying to define the shape by where the light naturally would land.
Remember: The direction of the light source is EVERYTHING when it comes to highlights in your drawing.
Tools of the Trade (or, What Every Artist Should Know)
OK, let’s talk essentials. You wouldn’t contour without the right brushes or your beauty sponge, right? Same deal when highlighting hair in your art.
Depending on how you wanna add the highlights, here are some tools you should keep at the ready:
1. Graphite Pencils 🖊️
Classic. Old school, but 100% does the trick. When you’re shading, you want to press slightly lighter in the areas you plan to highlight. A nice soft eraser can help carve out highlights when you’ve done some heavy shading elsewhere.
2. Colored Pencils 🎨
I looove colored pencils for hair. The trick? Layering!! Start soft and build up the color. Over time, you’ll naturally be able to leave out bits where you want the highlight to hit. Honestly, colored pencils can almost give that “glossy hair” look, especially if you blend them well.
3. Charcoal 🔥
This one can get a little messy (just like glitter…which, BTW, is forever). Use it with caution but WOW, the drama it can bring to dark hair! The same thing applies: carve the highlights out of the dark sections by using a white pencil or an eraser to gently lighten things up.
4. Digital Art ⌨️
Digital is the most flexible for highlights because you can always just go back into layers. Yup, we love a good ol’ UNDO button. Choose a soft brush and lightly blend your highlights in. Pro tip: lower the opacity first, so it’s not tooooo harsh right off the bat.
Don’t overdo it! Subtle highlights can sometimes say more than big, chunky ones.
The “Halo” Effect
OK, lemme introduce you to the halo effect. No, it’s not angel wings, chill. 😇 It’s when highlights create this glowing look around the edge of the hair, which tbh can look so magical especially for character designs or anything like anime.
It usually happens when the light source is behind the head and the hair has that glowing edge around it while the rest of the hair is darker.
Tips to master the halo effect:
1. Start slow – Begin blending the dark part first and leave a thin edge untouched. You don’t wanna go HAM in the first five minutes.
2. Use softer tools – If you’re digital, pick a soft round brush. If you’re traditional, use a blending stump to get that smooth transition.
3. Build layers – Gradually build the brightness of the highlight closer to the edge.
Pro tip: Don’t forget to adjust your highlight depending on the hair Type. Straight hair and wavy hair reflect light differently. But more on that later 😏.
Hair Texture N’ Highlights
Let’s spill the tea on texture, because yeah, different hair types need different highlighting techniques (PSA: not one size fits all!).
Straight Hair:
With straight hair, highlights are going to be smoother and more consistent across a section of hair. Instead of thinking about individual strands, imagine whole sections reflecting the light.
Curly Hair:
Curly hair is where the fun begins! The light hits the curls only on the top of each twisty bit. So, where straight hair gets those smooth bars of highlight, curly hair has more “broken up” highlights.
Visualize it like adorable little sections of highlights that go in a pattern with the curls: they’re super poppy up top and gone into the shadows in between the curves.
For curly hair, think “ringlets of light” instead of straight highlights!
Wavy Hair:
Wavy hair? You’re somewhere in between. Highlights usually follow the zigzag pattern of the waves. Be sure to make those flowing and bend WITH the hair’s movement. Don’t make it too busy though… we all know too much is, well…too much.
Afro/Coarse Hair:
Ahh, queen of volume and definition. The highlight challenge here is that you want to show texture, but the light subtly hits on the top of the larger areas of volume. Think of little pops of light on the main curves or where the hair sticks out furthest, but handling it like you don’t wanna mess with the natural texture. Create texture and keep the highlights totally low-key.
Color Theory (Get Fancy)
YAAAAAS, let’s throw it back to color theory for a sec!! If the light’s white or cool-toned, your highlight’s gonna be a lighter version of the hair color (for example, add some blue-ish tints if the light is cold). Warm light? You guessed it: the highlights will have a bit of warmth, like gold or orange hues.
Best example: next time you’re drawing some rich chocolate brown hair in sunlight, use some golden highlights. It’ll scream “I woke up like this” vibes.
Also, if you wanna do something dramatic like pink or blue hair, be sure the highlights aren’t just plain whitish or grey. These fun colors deserve more! Add lighter versions of the same color—like pastel pink or baby blue for highlights.
Common Mistakes to Avoid 🚩 Disclaimer Alert!
OK, babes. We gotta be real for a sec. While adding highlights to hair is fun and all, we also gotta avoid these basic mistakes.
🚫 Too Many Highlights
This will look less like hair, and more like…hmm…like shiny plastic? You don’t want your character’s hair to look like they’re wearing a wig. Keep those highlights soft and natural, unless you’re going for a super glossy look (like freshly sprayed mega-hold hairspray levels).
🚫 Odd Placing
Again, I cannot STRESS enough how important knowing the light source is! Stick to the rules of light placement, or things will get messy.
🚫 Overshadowing Hair Details
Don’t scrub out the details of your hair just because you’re obsessed with putting in highlights! Still gotta show us those beautiful locks, okay?
Wrapping It Up ✨
I hope your brain isn’t in highlight-overdrive! Learning how to highlight hair in your drawings is just like learning how to do those perfect makeup highlights—it takes some practice, but once you get it, you’ll be SLAYING.
Grab those pencils and start experimenting with light sources and hair textures. And remember, it’s okay if it doesn’t look perfect at first! None of us became pros overnight, ya know? Keep shining (pun totally intended ✨).
Catch ya soon, my creative peeps! Happy drawing! 😘
