Welcome everyone to this special lesson in which I will share with you my own method of coloring anime hair in a professional and easy style that everyone can apply.
I derived this method from my long experience in drawing and shading the hair of my manga characters, and I found that it delivers great results in colored drawings and gives the hair an authentic anime look!.
So, get your notebooks, pens, and colors ready, and get ready to start with me step by step so that you can learn how to make your manga and anime characters look their best by coloring hair attractively and skillfully.
First step
Open your favorite drawing program. When you have finished drawing and coloring your character, it is time to color the hair. We add a new layer, which will be dedicated to shading, and we will use the type of pen that appears on the screen, called G pen.
Step two
We add two separate layers, and they should be in this order.
- Upper layer: shade
- Underlayer: Color
After adding layer (1), we add a “mask” or mask to the shadow layer (number 2), so that the color does not go outside the hair limits, and I have specified the options for you in the picture below.
Step three
Now we begin the shading stage. We choose a shade darker than the hair color to the degree you desire, and we draw from the bottom up, line by line, and all the lines must be close together.
Don't make the lines all the same thickness, in order to give a more natural look.
Here's a video tutorial on how to color anime hair.
Watch another explanatory video here: https://youtu.be/mqUEoYZuxCg
Step four
Now that we have finished the previous step, it is time to draw in the opposite direction of the shadow. If we drew from bottom to top, then on the opposite side, we will draw from top to bottom.
Step five
We fill the anime hair completely with shading from the bottom side. The shading can be continuous, as in the picture on the right, or we can erase some places with an eraser, in order to add space between the shading, and this will give more beauty to the drawing.
A closer look
When we reach the middle of the scalp, we will color with the pen in all directions, starting from the middle and moving outwards. On the left there is an illustration showing you how the drawing is done from the inside out.
A more detailed explanation of the drawing
Notice here how we started from the middle of the head outwards, and this is the natural direction of the hair, and we must take this into account when shading anime hair.
Hand drawing method
When we reach the ends of the shading, we have two options: either leave it as is, or add gradual shading to the hair at its ends.
Appropriate methods
You can connect the lines together, the upper and lower ones, which will make the anime hair shading more beautiful.
Both methods are correct.
Step six
We add a new layer, or “layer”, under the shadow layer, and we will choose the airbrush, and a color two shades lighter than the hair color, and we color simply, until we get a light highlight.
Step seven
The final step now is to add a new layer, above the anime character drawing layer, and draw some hair strands with a pen, in lighter and darker colors, for contrast. There are several shapes of hair strands that you can add in all directions, but without exaggeration.
Add anime-style hair shine to webtoons and manga with the click of a button.
Final result
These are two pictures of the character “Ziad” from the anime “The Fire” that we produced, and here you can see with me how great the hair shading style looks.
Mamoun's result“
This is the result of the character “Mamoun” that we have been working on today, who is the hero of the anime “The Fire”, a series consisting of six episodes.
This brings us to the end of today's lesson, which focused on coloring anime hair in a professional and attractive way.
Try my method, and I assure you that you will love it, because it gives the hair an appearance that matches the wonderful anime style, and it is what I have adopted in all my drawings. You can do this by drawing on the phone or computer or even by hand drawing. Thank you and I will see you soon, God willing.
