Print

[Startear]

I have a problem with drawing or making braided hair. Mostly in dollmaking, but the problem is that unlike with ponytails which I have some basic knowledge of how to do this.

Anyone who can help?

[Faerydae]

This is one of the better examples I found out there:

http://browse.deviantart.com/?qh=&section=&global=1&q=braid+hair+tutorial#/d34yam

[Afke]

My advise for anything you have troubles with; take a look at the real thing. The person who made that tutorial probably did as well. Make a braid (preferably not out of hair but something that is pretty outlined like laces - makes it easier to start with) and look at the pattern that is in there. Try sketching that a few times until you can draw the pattern naturally, then you'll never have troubles with it again.

[Multimedea]

What afke said.  I'd also suggest looking at examples and outlines of Celtic knotting. Very useful in seeing how strands work together in a woven pattern (which is really what braiding is). Also, remember that braids have more heft and weight to them than individual strands, that they tend to conform to the skull's shape, that different hair textures braid a bit differently, and that adding flyaways and wisps will really help sell the idea of a braid.

[Pyreite]

Braids are relatively easy to draw, you basically need to break it down into it's components, two straight lines, and drawing a cross-weave between them so that parts interlock like the teeth of a zipper, only you're folding segments of hair underneath one another.  The braid will vary with the type of braid you want, there are many, I usually just keep the normal three plait one since it's the easiest to draw.

The best example I've seen drawn is this one: http://rah-bop.deviantart.com/art/Braid-tutorial-5269918

It's the most naturalistic and the most accurate.  You should never draw the braid with the two halves like a 'heart shape' it'll look like two halves of a seed sitting on a line.  Each part of the braid should be 'interwoven' bit by bit like in rah-bop's tutorial, and the edges and inner part of each segment of the braid should be rounded off.  It should also get thinner and smaller the thinner your braid gets and be fattest where the hair is the thickest i.e. from where the braid starts on the person's head, usually at the very roots of the hair.  Rah-bop does it right.  It is the best depiction of a three-plait braid that I've seen and it close to how I have drawn a braid myself.

~ Pyre

[Treefox]

Thanks Pyre for contributing to our "Tools of the Trade" section. It's always great to see some additions there. And teh tutorial for braided hair is good. That's exactly the way I do it.