Pixel Joint Forum: Shading frizzy, curly hair!

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Pumpkinbot
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Topic: Shading frizzy, curly hair!
Posted: 30 August 2013 at 5:25pm

I've got a, uh...head. Title says it all, really. I can't even begin to think of how I'm supposed to shade her hair. :/ I'm trying to get it something like River Song's hair from Doctor Who, seen here: http://sciencefiction.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/riversong.jpg

Here's the head itself, sans hair shading because asfdkhjhkafa

The arrow there's the light source, and the palette's to your left. The ones with holes in 'em are ones I haven't used yet.

There will be a body (and a second person), I just haven't the slightest idea how to even begin shading curly hair. >.<

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Pumpkinbot
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Posted: 31 August 2013 at 3:09pm

Welp, I gave a stab at it.

I'm pleasantly surprised with how the right side turned out, but I dunno how I'm supposed to do the lighter side. If I shade it the same way, it makes the hair look flat and...not like hair. I also added that hair highlight thing, which I think helps, but I think I could also make it much better somehow.

...Oh, I also cropped the picture. I suppose since I'm just working on the head right now I don't need all that extra space.

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jalonso
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Posted: 31 August 2013 at 3:18pm

That looks fine tho I think the highlight cab break to suggest the hair pattern as what you have is for straight hair and this looks curly or wavy :/ Its small so you can't expect too much 'hair' detailing.
The right eye position is weird.

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Pumpkinbot
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Posted: 31 August 2013 at 6:32pm

Originally posted by jalonso

That looks fine tho I think the highlight cab break to suggest the hair pattern as what you have is for straight hair and this looks curly or wavy :/ Its small so you can't expect too much 'hair' detailing.
The right eye position is weird.

Well, I think the hair highlight looks a bit off, too (and you're probably right as to why), but it looks too bare without it, I think. I might be able to make a wavy sort of hair highlight, though.

And our right, right? The left one's right, and the right one's wrong?
*clears throat*
You mean -our- right, I assume? :P I suppose I could make her eyes a pixel further apart. How, exactly, does it look off to you?

Edited by Pumpkinbot - 31 August 2013 at 6:32pm

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jalonso
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Posted: 31 August 2013 at 6:38pm

Its not the highlight, that's fine. I just meant to break it up so its still the same area of highlights (maybe more) but broken in a way that suggests the hair curls or waves or whatever you want to show. This straight clean line suggest slick flat hair but the outer shape suggests curls.
The eye on the viewers right. Its so close to the glasses she looks cross-eyed.

Edited by jalonso - 31 August 2013 at 6:39pm

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r1k
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Posted: 31 August 2013 at 11:19pm

while I wouldnt suggest that coloring reducing photos is the best way to go about analyzing how to simplify shading something, its probably the quickest way to demonstrate it. So here Ive taken a number of photos close to your refernce and color reduced them for you:

http://imageshack.com/scaled/large/844/u4ng.png

And Ive noticed that in all but the lower right one, what seems to be happening is the hair is colored in with a dark base color. Then some of the curls are suggested in a lighter color, and on top of that there are some highlights. Hopefuly you can just analyze the picture to get the idea there.

Now whether youll be able to dipict that in such a small space, Im not sure. But the key is that you dont need to draw every curl, just imply some of them. Also, the silloughette shows a few curls sticking out on the sides and top rather than a smooth outline (I think you had this a little better in the first version you posted)

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Pumpkinbot
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Posted: 01 September 2013 at 3:36am

Originally posted by jalonso

Its not the highlight, that's fine. I just meant to break it up so its still the same area of highlights (maybe more) but broken in a way that suggests the hair curls or waves or whatever you want to show. This straight clean line suggest slick flat hair but the outer shape suggests curls.
The eye on the viewers right. Its so close to the glasses she looks cross-eyed.

Well...that's actually what I intend to do with the highlights. xP (Just later when it's not 3 AM.)
And, as for that eye, I've always had that problem with 3/4 views. :/ The eye furthest from the viewer needs to be foreshortened a bit, but...well, with an eye two pixels wide, I've got one of two places to put that pixel. Wat do? I mean, I guess I could widen both eyes, or something. Meh, I'll play around with it.

Originally posted by r1k

while I wouldnt suggest that coloring reducing photos is the best way to go about analyzing how to simplify shading something, its probably the quickest way to demonstrate it. So here Ive taken a number of photos close to your refernce and color reduced them for you:

http://imageshack.com/scaled/large/844/u4ng.png

And Ive noticed that in all but the lower right one, what seems to be happening is the hair is colored in with a dark base color. Then some of the curls are suggested in a lighter color, and on top of that there are some highlights. Hopefuly you can just analyze the picture to get the idea there.

Now whether youll be able to dipict that in such a small space, Im not sure. But the key is that you dont need to draw every curl, just imply some of them. Also, the silloughette shows a few curls sticking out on the sides and top rather than a smooth outline (I think you had this a little better in the first version you posted)

Mmm, that's actually...pretty smart. xP So, should I take the darkest color and work my way up with the curls, like in the upper-left picture?
I'll mess around with that a bit, too. But later. It's 3 AM and I'm about to fall asleep on my keyboiabhkrj,b fjhk

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Pumpkinbot
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Posted: 02 September 2013 at 2:29am

How's this? Fixed the eye, though she's looking in a different direction, now.
Also shaded the hair a bit. Doesn't look too bad, I think. Anything I could do to improve?
I think I'll update the thread for the entire picture, rather than just the head. :P Gonna start workin' on the body!

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r1k
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Posted: 02 September 2013 at 3:04am

heres a quick edit. Looks a bit like a curly mop on her head though. Hope it helps a little though

hmm, hope I didnt use the word 'though' too much in my post though...

Edited by r1k - 02 September 2013 at 4:00am

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Karabass
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Posted: 02 September 2013 at 4:23am

r1k, this is more like it)

Edited by Karabass - 02 September 2013 at 4:22am

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Pumpkinbot
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Posted: 02 September 2013 at 4:35am

Originally posted by r1k

heres a quick edit. Looks a bit like a curly mop on her head though. Hope it helps a little though

hmm, hope I didnt use the word 'though' too much in my post though...

Holy shnikies, that's amazing! I'll look through this.
And that's a good idea, raising the saturation of the colors like that.

Edited by Pumpkinbot - 02 September 2013 at 4:35am

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WIP (Work In Progress)
Pixel Joint Forum : Pixel Art : WIP (Work In Progress)

Author	Message
Pumpkinbot Commander Joined: 05 May 2009 Online Status: Offline Posts: 202	Topic: Shading frizzy, curly hair! Posted: 30 August 2013 at 5:25pm
	I've got a, uh...head. Title says it all, really. I can't even begin to think of how I'm supposed to shade her hair. :/ I'm trying to get it something like River Song's hair from Doctor Who, seen here: http://sciencefiction.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/riversong.jpg Here's the head itself, sans hair shading because asfdkhjhkafa The arrow there's the light source, and the palette's to your left. The ones with holes in 'em are ones I haven't used yet. There will be a body (and a second person), I just haven't the slightest idea how to even begin shading curly hair. >.<
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Pumpkinbot Commander Joined: 05 May 2009 Online Status: Offline Posts: 202	Posted: 31 August 2013 at 3:09pm
	Welp, I gave a stab at it. I'm pleasantly surprised with how the right side turned out, but I dunno how I'm supposed to do the lighter side. If I shade it the same way, it makes the hair look flat and...not like hair. I also added that hair highlight thing, which I think helps, but I think I could also make it much better somehow. ...Oh, I also cropped the picture. I suppose since I'm just working on the head right now I don't need all that extra space.
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jalonso Admiral Joined: 29 November 2022 Online Status: Offline Posts: 13537	Posted: 31 August 2013 at 3:18pm
	That looks fine tho I think the highlight cab break to suggest the hair pattern as what you have is for straight hair and this looks curly or wavy :/ Its small so you can't expect too much 'hair' detailing. The right eye position is weird.
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Pumpkinbot Commander Joined: 05 May 2009 Online Status: Offline Posts: 202	Posted: 31 August 2013 at 6:32pm
	*Originally posted by jalonso* That looks fine tho I think the highlight cab break to suggest the hair pattern as what you have is for straight hair and this looks curly or wavy :/ Its small so you can't expect too much 'hair' detailing. The right eye position is weird. Well, I think the hair highlight looks a bit off, too (and you're probably right as to why), but it looks too bare without it, I think. I might be able to make a wavy sort of hair highlight, though. And our right, right? The left one's right, and the right one's wrong? clears throat You mean -our- right, I assume? :P I suppose I could make her eyes a pixel further apart. How, exactly, does it look off to you? Edited by Pumpkinbot - 31 August 2013 at 6:32pm
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jalonso Admiral Joined: 29 November 2022 Online Status: Offline Posts: 13537	Posted: 31 August 2013 at 6:38pm
	Its not the highlight, that's fine. I just meant to break it up so its still the same area of highlights (maybe more) but broken in a way that suggests the hair curls or waves or whatever you want to show. This straight clean line suggest slick flat hair but the outer shape suggests curls. The eye on the viewers right. Its so close to the glasses she looks cross-eyed. Edited by jalonso - 31 August 2013 at 6:39pm
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r1k Commander Joined: 01 April 2014 Online Status: Offline Posts: 336	Posted: 31 August 2013 at 11:19pm
	while I wouldnt suggest that coloring reducing photos is the best way to go about analyzing how to simplify shading something, its probably the quickest way to demonstrate it. So here Ive taken a number of photos close to your refernce and color reduced them for you: http://imageshack.com/scaled/large/844/u4ng.png And Ive noticed that in all but the lower right one, what seems to be happening is the hair is colored in with a dark base color. Then some of the curls are suggested in a lighter color, and on top of that there are some highlights. Hopefuly you can just analyze the picture to get the idea there. Now whether youll be able to dipict that in such a small space, Im not sure. But the key is that you dont need to draw every curl, just imply some of them. Also, the silloughette shows a few curls sticking out on the sides and top rather than a smooth outline (I think you had this a little better in the first version you posted)
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Pumpkinbot Commander Joined: 05 May 2009 Online Status: Offline Posts: 202	Posted: 01 September 2013 at 3:36am
	*Originally posted by jalonso* Its not the highlight, that's fine. I just meant to break it up so its still the same area of highlights (maybe more) but broken in a way that suggests the hair curls or waves or whatever you want to show. This straight clean line suggest slick flat hair but the outer shape suggests curls. The eye on the viewers right. Its so close to the glasses she looks cross-eyed. Well...that's actually what I intend to do with the highlights. xP (Just later when it's not 3 AM.) And, as for that eye, I've always had that problem with 3/4 views. :/ The eye furthest from the viewer needs to be foreshortened a bit, but...well, with an eye two pixels wide, I've got one of two places to put that pixel. Wat do? I mean, I guess I could widen both eyes, or something. Meh, I'll play around with it. *Originally posted by r1k* while I wouldnt suggest that coloring reducing photos is the best way to go about analyzing how to simplify shading something, its probably the quickest way to demonstrate it. So here Ive taken a number of photos close to your refernce and color reduced them for you: http://imageshack.com/scaled/large/844/u4ng.png And Ive noticed that in all but the lower right one, what seems to be happening is the hair is colored in with a dark base color. Then some of the curls are suggested in a lighter color, and on top of that there are some highlights. Hopefuly you can just analyze the picture to get the idea there. Now whether youll be able to dipict that in such a small space, Im not sure. But the key is that you dont need to draw every curl, just imply some of them. Also, the silloughette shows a few curls sticking out on the sides and top rather than a smooth outline (I think you had this a little better in the first version you posted) Mmm, that's actually...pretty smart. xP So, should I take the darkest color and work my way up with the curls, like in the upper-left picture? I'll mess around with that a bit, too. But later. It's 3 AM and I'm about to fall asleep on my keyboiabhkrj,b fjhk
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Pumpkinbot Commander Joined: 05 May 2009 Online Status: Offline Posts: 202	Posted: 02 September 2013 at 2:29am
	How's this? Fixed the eye, though she's looking in a different direction, now. Also shaded the hair a bit. Doesn't look too bad, I think. Anything I could do to improve? I think I'll update the thread for the entire picture, rather than just the head. :P Gonna start workin' on the body!
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r1k Commander Joined: 01 April 2014 Online Status: Offline Posts: 336	Posted: 02 September 2013 at 3:04am
	heres a quick edit. Looks a bit like a curly mop on her head though. Hope it helps a little though hmm, hope I didnt use the word 'though' too much in my post though... Edited by r1k - 02 September 2013 at 4:00am
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Karabass Seaman Joined: 31 August 2013 Online Status: Offline Posts: 22	Posted: 02 September 2013 at 4:23am
	r1k, this is more like it) Edited by Karabass - 02 September 2013 at 4:22am
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Pumpkinbot Commander Joined: 05 May 2009 Online Status: Offline Posts: 202	Posted: 02 September 2013 at 4:35am
	*Originally posted by r1k* heres a quick edit. Looks a bit like a curly mop on her head though. Hope it helps a little though hmm, hope I didnt use the word 'though' too much in my post though... Holy shnikies, that's amazing! I'll look through this. And that's a good idea, raising the saturation of the colors like that. Edited by Pumpkinbot - 02 September 2013 at 4:35am
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