Pixel Shaded Fantasy Hair

Please note: These are just my ways of pixel shading. I readily admit that I'm not the world best pixeller, so there may be easier/quicker ways to do what I am doing, feel free to play around! This tutorial is not written for any particular application. It can be followed in MS Paint, Ultimate Paint, PhotoPlus, PhotoShop, Paint Shop Pro or any other paint application you may use. It does assume that you are familiar with your chosen applications basic tools.

1. This tutorial aims to show you how I make some of my more imaginitve hairstyles. Try not to copy what I do exactly, have fun & go wild! I have not gone into great detail on how to actually shade the hair, more how to construct it. This technique works best on smaller bases. I always add the hair to my dolls last, but that's just my personal preference.	2. I haven't included any palettes in this tutorial as it does not focus on shading. If you are after some palettes, take a look at my Palettes page!	3. Using a medium colour from your palette (colour 3 or 4) draw in where you want the hairline of your doll to be. Recently, I been drawing hair pulled back from the face, but there are many different styles you can choose. This gives you a grounding for your hairstyle so you know how far up or down the hair needs to go without your doll looking freakish!

4. Now the fun bit! I usually start on the left hand side of the doll and just mirror the hairstyle on the right-hand side. Don't worry about how feasible/realistic the hairstyle is, just try drawing shapes & see what happens. Coils and loops are always effective. I've drawn a few quick styles here to get you inspired, but just scribble & see what happens!	5. Once you've picked a style you like, you get to add some decoration to the hair. I usually start by trying to figure out how the hair is kept in place - should you draw in ribbons, hair sticks, metal bands, nets?	6. Finish by shading the hair & any hair decorations.

Your hair is complete!
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