girl with weird hair

[maggie]

Hello guys,
So I'm trying and trying to paint this girl's hair but it just doesn't work. I don't want to paint it like in the reference because her actual hair is weird and I don't like it.
Here are 3 versions but I really don't like any of them.. I just don't know what I'm doing wrong. It always seems so weird...
I would be very happy if you could give me an advice or do a quick rough paintover or whatever. I'd appreciate anything!





this is the worst.


ref: http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs42/i/2009/1...eeping.jpg

[Psychotime]

Use a different reference for the hair.

[maggie]

Tried that too! The last one is from ref but it still doesn't work..

[crackedskull]

Perhaps these videos will help.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHewz3Jb...23462tQzBg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74Bj_EmF...2WmoC90Meg

[Amit Dutta]

Well, perhaps step back a little and ask yourself what are you going for exactly? Is there something you want the hair to convey about her character, or is it just a thing to frame her face? This may help you determine a style (Straight hair, more controlled character, wavy curls more down to earth?)

I think the middle one is probably the most natural of the three and fits her character better, but what I see is that you are trying to paint individual strands and it ends up looking a bit spidery. Rather think of the hair in general large volumes, block that in and then add the broad highlights to accentuate the form. You can then do some individual strands to indicate detail. The type of brush you use also can matter. Rakes can be good for implied "strandage". Depends on the level of detail you want I guess

[Chris P]

Check your proportions. I get the feeling that the top of the skull should be a bit larger overall. That makes the hair look a bit out of proportion, especially in the first two. (Remember that the thickness of the hair adds to the size of the skull.) In the third one the overall proportions of the hair look fine, but it looks like there is a gap between her forehead and hair where there shouldn't be one.

Overall, I like the third one the best, but the colors seem odd. The lighting on the hair doesn't seem to match the lighting of the rest.

[maggie]

Thank you all for the helpful advices and videos.
I made more changes today. I've never painted so many variations of something. It kinda drained me haha.

Here's what I came up with. Her collar looks weird now that I look at it..
I think the hair now looks fine, although I spent so much time looking at this painting that it no longer excites me. If you have any critiques, please share with me!