Rendering hair is dictated by several factors: the type of hair, its color, texture, quantity; the arrangement and styling of the hair; the personality and mood of the sitter; and the light effect upon the hair.
For this lesson I have chosen the profile view as it lends itself to a more direct understanding of hair rather than the frontal pose where one is confronted with the issue of foreshortening and perspective. I’ve taken a small departure from the usual working method – whereas it is highly advisable to bring all of the elements of the portrait up simultaneously I’ve left the hair at an initial beginning stage: the arabesque. The arabesque is the entire outside shape of the head or an object.
The arabesque, as the starting point, is critical to establishing the likeness. Many beginning artists begin with the face and ‘grow’ outwards. At first this may seem the easier way, but it is a poor method and instills many bad habits that will prove difficult to break. (The proper and time-tested fundamentals of portrait drawing are taught in my Mastering Portrait Drawing DVD Workshop.) The arabesque is especially critical when embarking upon the hair. Attempting to render the hair working from the inside out, hair lock by hair lock, piece by piece, is a recipe for disaster. The hair will result in being either too small for the head or too large.
The hair is rendered from general to specific – working from accuracy to even greater accuracy. Working within the arabesque of the hair use the broad side of a small piece of medium grade vine charcoal (about 1/2” or smaller) to block in the primary darks. These primary darks are best seen by squinting down your eyes until a general pattern of light and dark is seen.
Next, you need to stump down the vine charcoal in a painterly fashion following the general gesture and movement of the hair. I prefer using my fingers. A paper stump results in a deadened look. Don’t worry about the small amount of oils in your fingers degrading the paper, its effect is minimal and frankly you have more to worry about the degrading effects of air pollution and direct sunlight. However, make sure that your fingers are dry. I constantly wipe my stumping fingers with a paper towel. Using a kneaded eraser like a loaded paint brush pick-out the major lights.
Don’t be overly finicky here. A bravura approach (aka Franz Hals or John Singer Sargeant) effects a sense of life and rhythm into the hair. If you make a mistake just stump down again with your fingers and do it again. This is a very forgiving method.
No sooner had I blocked in the hair than the light on the chin appear to ‘pop out’. This required my immediate attention and is a significant reason why working the entire head is necessary.
