Hair Therapy

I am no vector ninja like Gaks so I have dedicated the majority of my days to perfecting the hair in my portrait. I had given myself a week deadline to complete the portrait and 6 out of those 7 days were easily lost in perfecting each strand of hair. Going into it I knew that the hair would have caused me the most strife. I definitely was not wrong. I felt as though I had shot myself in the foot selecting Gaks as my first inspiring artist. I knew he was a master hair illustrator and that creating hair was very time consuming.  I considered omitting the hair on my shoulders, leaving my hair in a simple up-do or even changing the image of myself all together. This would, of course, defeat the purpose of this journey all together. I would not be pushing myself beyond my skill boundary. I made the decision to keeping illustrating, no matter how cramped my fingers felt. Seriously, I think I developed symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome after an entire week of hair work.

The most difficult aspect, for me, had to have been the hairline. Any imperfections there would have attracted a lot of unwanted attention. We all know the look of hair, the way it streamlines and flows seamlessly into each other.  It all begins at the hairline and the space between each strand and the forehead is unique, following a changing curve as it goes around the head. Every other aspect can be cheated but the hair line either makes or breaks your portrait.

My main goal was not to identically replicate the hair in the image. It was to create hair that was organic, capturing the flow of each strand. I honestly put my best foot forward and tried to keep a positive mind as I tend to give up easily and get lazy. For those interested in the process, I have included step by step images for creating the hairline below:

Firstly, I laid down each strand of hair that would create the edge of the hairline, using a preset hair brush.

 Secondly, using the pen tool, I filled in the gaps between the strands and the bun

Finally, using the same preset hair brush in varying stroke widths, I added in highlights.

Tip: Varying the hair strands' width help to keep the hair looking natural and less planned or rigid.

-S.R