Creating long, luxurious-looking hair in Photoshop can be a time-consuming, but gratifying task. When choosing the style of hair you want to create, one key tool is the brush type. For more stylized, graphic hair, you can use a basic round brush to create the locks. For a more realistic look, try using a textured, natural brush. In addition to the brush, Photoshop's drawing tablet tool can give you the flexibility you need to create flowing, organic-looking hair.
Instructions
Getting Started
1. Open a new Photoshop document and select "Transparent" from the "Background Contents" drop-down menu on the "New" window. A transparent background gives you flexibility when using layers.
2. Create a new layer using one of two methods. You can click the "New Layer" button at the bottom of the "Layers" palette, or you can click the "Layer" menu at the top of the Photoshop window, then click "New" and then click "Layer."
3. Make sure you are on the new layer you created (labeled "Layer 2"), then select a white color swatch from the "Tools" palette (it typically sits in the upper left-hand corner of the Photoshop window).
4. While still on Layer 2, click the paint bucket tool from the "Tools" palette, and then click once anywhere on the new document to make the new layer white. This white layer allow you to better see your progress.
Working With Midtones
5. Draw or import a face onto Layer 2. You could skip this step, but working with a face makes creating the flow of the hair easier.
6. Create a new layer (labeled "Layer 3) just as you did in step 2 under "Getting Started."
7. Choose an underlying color for the hair. It will be the midtone color of the hair (see Reference 1).
8. Draw the hair. Begin at the root at the part and use a medium or large brush. Lift the pressure slightly off the pen or mouse when you reach the ends of the hair strands to give the hair a more natural look. For an even more natural look, create slight waves and flip out the ends of the hair a bit. Continue drawing until you've created a semi-solid mass of hair.
Creating Lowlights
9. Choose a color from the "Tools" palette that is a few shades darker than the underlying hair color. This color will be the lowlights of the hair and will add texture and depth.
10. Add lowlights using the same technique you used to create the midtone hair, but use a smaller brush. Lowlights should appear chunked and not spread throughout the hair. The bulk of the darkest lowlights should appear near the neck, or the underside of the hair.
11. Choose a color from the "Tools" palette one shade lighter than the first lowlight, and then add lowlight chunks closer to the outside areas of the hair.
12. Continue adding additional lowlights in additional colors, each on progressively lighter. These shades can overlap in some areas.
Adding Highlights
13. Choose a color from the "Tools" palette that is one or two shades lighter than the midtone color.
14. Using a small brush, add highlights to the outer areas and the top of the hair. Do not extend all highlights to the ends of the hair; highlights tend to stop between halfway and three-quarters of the way down the hair.
15. Continue adding highlights by choosing progressively lighter shades.
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