Drawing braids can seem really complicated at first but it becomes quite easy once you get into the habit of drawing the basic shapes. This mini course is designed to help you learn how to draw flowing hair from imagination, going through a series of drawing exercises to develop your skills so you will be able to draw hair with ease.
Step 1: Boxes
Draw boxes that connect at adjacent angles to create a zig-zag pattern in the middle. Use light lines in this step because these will be the guidelines for the next step in the process. Pay attention to the proportions of these boxes, you can keep them all the same size or you can slowly make them smaller to give the braids a tapered shape. These boxes can be thought of as upside-down hearts that are stacked on top of each other.
Step 2: Folds
Now draw the curved lines that fold underneath each of the braids, this is the most challenging step of the process because you have to visualize how these strands of hairs fold over and under each other. Don’t be shy about erasing and trying this many times over, it takes lots of practice to get this to feel natural.
Step 3: Corners
Darken in the corners where the hairs fold into each other, these regions receive less light than the top portions of the strands.
Step 4: Shading Lines
Yay we made it to the fun and easy part, add lines that follow the direction of the strands. Add more lines towards the ends (where the hairs fold under) and fewer lines over the top.
Step 5: Practice
Repeat the process of drawing braids until you have gotten comfortable. Here I have color coded the 3 hair sections used to fold braids. This makes it easier to see how these shapes come together. Memorizing this step is slightly more advanced but I do think its useful to keep in mind how things are put together and the underlying structure we are trying to convey.
Whenever you are learning to draw, always lean towards simplifying down first and then building up complexity from there. Trying to learn everything all at once will only be draining and not very useful. I would also recommend using photo reference as often as possible in the beginning and as you get more comfortable try to push towards relying on your memory. Transitioning between these two methods will help build your ability to draw things from imagination and allow for more creative freedom and fun!
This method of learning is very efficient because it provides specific exercises for each step. Let’s draw some more hair!
How to Draw Hair: Braids
| Step | Focus | Tip |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Guidelines | Keep lines light and even; boxes form zig-zag pattern |
| 2 | Folds | Visualize over-under relationships; practice erasing |
| 3 | Corners | Darken folds to create depth |
| 4 | Shading | Lines follow strand direction; more near ends |
| 5 | Practice | Color-code sections; build underlying structure |