PixelPerfect #135: Create Hair with Highlights in Photoshop

Learn how to make beautiful, wavy, realistic hair in Adobe Photoshop using custom brushes

Hair details in Layers
Last week, Bert showed us how to create some of Cindy Crawford's lacy clothes. This week, we're taking a look at how to create her wispy hair, full of waves and highlights. The hair is made of many different layers. Each element of the hair -whether it be the base, the highlights, the dark areas, or the wisps - is placed in separate layers so we can manage the details.

Create a custom brush that resembles hair
First, create a brown base for the hair with a large, brown brush in a new layer. Then, create a new brush that that is made of small dots and in the brush settings, turn down the spacing to zero so that the brush is a set of continuous lines. Add a fade to the brush so that the hair ends after a certain length. Bert uses 800 to begin.

Loosely brush the hair base in a new layer using a dark color (black), and feel free to increase the length of the brush for longer hair. Repeat until you are satisfied with the look of the dark hair. In a new layer, use a lighter brown color and brush to create highlights. Repeat a dark haired layer on top of the highlights. Watch closely to see how Bert makes the highlights realistic by brushing the hair in the opposite direction. Add random wisps of hair to the edges, and eventually, you'll have a satisfying head of hair.