I started inking my grape sketch. Actually, that’s a lie; I’d already inked it and started painting it (2nd image), and I absolutely hated what I was making, so I started over. I’d tried to be lazy and save time by reusing the same leaf over and over. It just looked stiff, awkward, and bad. I hated the style I was painting in.
Now that I’ve started over, I’m liking it a lot more!
After drawing Hemlock’s undergarments a while back, I had to do the same for Roxanna and Vanetta! So here are all three of my current dnd characters in their underclothes.
here’s progress shots for painting roxanna’s hair and chemise
May I ask, whats your process for drawing the curls to begin with, and deciding which areas are shadowed/less detailed? Im struggling to find a balance between drawing a bouncy cloud and defining every single lock of hair.
it depends on the hair texture and how i think that specific character would treat their hair. for roxanna, even tho it’s a pain in the ass, i basically draw every lock of hair because she is a high maintenance girlie with very curly hair and a thorough curl regimen.
i literally picked out the majority of her cantrips to support her hair care routine: shape water to get it wet, prestidigitation to apply product (using the “dirty” or “clean” a surface function), shape water + mage hand to finger curl each strand, then prestidigitation again to dry it. that’s how she gets her hair into these perfectly defined, bouncy, ringlets that still have individuality and character and don’t look like uniform heated rod creations.
when it comes to shading and deciding detail, it’s all about figuring out where the light hits. depending on your lighting, most of your detail is either going to be where the light illuminates the hair the most or (if the light is so bright it blows out those areas and causes loss of detail) in the mids. typically where things are turning away from the light you want less detail. but it really depends on the situation.
all hair is basically made of many tiny ribbons that you can clump together in larger forms to simplify the shapes/drawing process, but the curlier or more coily the hair is, the less clumping you can get away with. very very curly/coily hair that is more textured typically looks better painted rather than drawn, imo, because painting is much better at capturing the depth of the hair and the way it catches and bounces light. not to say it can’t be done, but in my own work i think i am more successful at painting it than drawing it, as you can see in the two pieces below where one is more “drawn” and one is more “painted”
what’s important to realize about the “bouncy clouds” in hair is that these are actually a representation of many, many many teeny tiny coils of hair so densely packed together that trying to individually draw every individual coil will never properly capture the way uniquely beautiful way very textured hair reflects light. because at the end of the day, hair is all about texture and light.
and ngl im not sure im the best person to come to for advice on simplifying how to draw curls because i am a freak that draws and paints basically every clump of hair. maybe because i primarily draw wavy and curly hair, maybe because i’m a freak idk, maybe because i still have learning and growing to do as an artist.
i also wouldn’t consider myself an expert on textured hair (i still have a lot to learn), but these are my observations as someone who has drawn and painted a lot of hair over the years.
not to make this post even longer, but here’s the process for vanetta’s hair and chemise in case y’all wanted to see that lol
After drawing Hemlock’s undergarments a while back, I had to do the same for Roxanna and Vanetta! So here are all three of my current dnd characters in their underclothes.
here’s progress shots for painting roxanna’s hair and chemise
May I ask, whats your process for drawing the curls to begin with, and deciding which areas are shadowed/less detailed? Im struggling to find a balance between drawing a bouncy cloud and defining every single lock of hair.
it depends on the hair texture and how i think that specific character would treat their hair. for roxanna, even tho it’s a pain in the ass, i basically draw every lock of hair because she is a high maintenance girlie with very curly hair and a thorough curl regimen.
i literally picked out the majority of her cantrips to support her hair care routine: shape water to get it wet, prestidigitation to apply product (using the “dirty” or “clean” a surface function), shape water + mage hand to finger curl each strand, then prestidigitation again to dry it. that’s how she gets her hair into these perfectly defined, bouncy, ringlets that still have individuality and character and don’t look like uniform heated rod creations.
when it comes to shading and deciding detail, it’s all about figuring out where the light hits. depending on your lighting, most of your detail is either going to be where the light illuminates the hair the most or (if the light is so bright it blows out those areas and causes loss of detail) in the mids. typically where things are turning away from the light you want less detail. but it really depends on the situation.
all hair is basically made of many tiny ribbons that you can clump together in larger forms to simplify the shapes/drawing process, but the curlier or more coily the hair is, the less clumping you can get away with. very very curly/coily hair that is more textured typically looks better painted rather than drawn, imo, because painting is much better at capturing the depth of the hair and the way it catches and bounces light. not to say it can’t be done, but in my own work i think i am more successful at painting it than drawing it, as you can see in the two pieces below where one is more “drawn” and one is more “painted”
what’s important to realize about the “bouncy clouds” in hair is that these are actually a representation of many, many many teeny tiny coils of hair so densely packed together that trying to individually draw every individual coil will never properly capture the way uniquely beautiful way very textured hair reflects light. because at the end of the day, hair is all about texture and light.
and ngl im not sure im the best person to come to for advice on simplifying how to draw curls because i am a freak that draws and paints basically every clump of hair. maybe because i primarily draw wavy and curly hair, maybe because i’m a freak idk, maybe because i still have learning and growing to do as an artist.
i also wouldn’t consider myself an expert on textured hair (i still have a lot to learn), but these are my observations as someone who has drawn and painted a lot of hair over the years.