Tutorial:Hair
Program: Photoshop CS/Corel Paint Shop Pro XI
Author: Melissa/crossroadscca
Date: 29th July 2009

In this tutorial we will be learning how to create a coiffure you’ll be proud of.     

When extracting your loved ones, there is one thing that is absolutely terrifying to tackle.  H-A-I-R!  In this tutorial, I’ll be showing you some quick and easy tips and tricks that will have you feeling like a master stylist in no time at all.  *big grin* 

Let’s get started. 

This is an advanced tutorial and the instructions are written with the idea that you are familiar with Corel Paint Shop Pro and/or PS.  

This layout was originally created in Corel Paint Shop Pro XI, however this tutorial can also be used in PS, CS or other photo editing software, although the defining terms may be different.  

This adorable little girl is Annette’s daughter, Holli.  Annette is the owner of Pickleberrypop.com and proud mom to Holli.  She graciously trusted me to use Holli in a layout.  Thank you, Annette!  :) 

Here is the original photo:

First I extracted her.  I’m going to focus on Holli’s hair and face so I’m just going to show her face … and hair.

Whew … that lime green background is hurting my eyes!  Heh 

I wanted to give Holli more of a smile. 
I will be using the “Warp Brush”

These are my settings:

Don’t forget to duplicate your layer.  You might want a copy of the original later to compare to.  Make sure the background layer you’ll be working on is highlighted and hide the original.   

I pushed up Holli’s cheeks (both sides), opened her mouth, raised her brow line and her little nose. 

In order to feel comfortable you’ll just have to play with your image.

Also, to smooth out any graininess on Holli’s face, I smudged the colors a bit.  I find that this technique gives a smooth polished look.  Here are my settings using the “Smudge Tool”.  You should be able to find this application on your tool bar.

The size of your brush may vary depending on the size of your image. 

*TIP*  Move your brush in small circular motions.  This gives a more even complexion.  You should adjust the size and opacity of your brush around the laugh lines and facial creases such as lips and nose areas.  You want the nose, etc. to have definition … and changing the size and opacity allows this to occur. 

OK … that was for free.  Here comes the real reason you’re here.  ;) 

Each extraction is different.  Sometimes you have straight hair, other times it’s curly.  There are many different ways to work with hair; I’ve drawn on hair, used brushes and this is also one of the methods I use.   

Let me introduce you to a wonderful resource site that is amazing in its diversity in both quantity and quality.  Deviantart.com  The materials I used for Holli’s hair can all be found here.  Try browsing under Resources and Stock Images.  Such a wondrous bounty! 

I’ve placed Holli on my background and am now going to do her hair.  Well … first I replaced her stockings with bare feet.  My baby girl, Morgan had pudgy feet at that age so Holli now has Morgan’s piggy toes.  :D

I found this hair texture rendering @ Deviantart. (Credits below) I know that rederosity.com also sells some quality hair. For this tutorial, I think that this model will do very nicely.

It almost matches in color and I like the style.  The back of the hair is similar in shape to the original photo.  I usually have both the image I’m working on and the original photo placed side by side for easy referencing. 

I’ve resized and rotated the hair texture rendering.  Here I have three layers of the hair.  I placed one layer behind her left ear.  I’ve placed the second hair layer behind her head on the right side and the final layer on top of her shoulder. 

This does not look natural at all to me.  I’m going to reshape the hair.   

In PSP, use your Pick tool.  It looks like an arrow.  You can find it on your toolbar

In Photoshop, it’s called the transform tool.  Use Free Transform and Perspective transform (Edit > Free Transform and Transform > Perspective) 

In the original photo, Holli’s hair is short and sweet.  I’m going to push up the layers of hair to shorten her locks.

If you’re familiar with using brushes … let’s move on to brush work.  I’m not going to explain how to upload brushes in this tutorial.  One – it’s already lengthy and my fingers are getting tired.  Ha!  Two – Photoshop and PSP brushes are quite different and I think it merits its own tutorial.   

If you are not familiar with brushes … you might want to skip the next few steps. 

I want the color of the brushes to match the color of Holli’s hair so I’m going to add her hair color and texture to my Materials palette. 

Extract a square portion of hair.

Add it to your Materials palette and set it as your foreground color.

I really like the windblown look to this brush.  Also found @ DA. (Credits below)

Add a new layer to your palette and tap your brush on.  We’re brushing!  Depending on whether you want a light breeze or a hurricane gale force winds, continue brushing on wispy layers. 

One final step.  The hair texture rendering color looks a bit off.  It doesn’t match as nicely as the rest so I’m going to change the color.   

I’m going to create a selection that includes the area that I want to recolor.

Create a new raster layer, then flood fill the selection with the extracted portion of hair that you’ve just added to your Materials palette and set as your foreground color.  Now change the opacity of this layer to Color (L).  Voila!  Instant hair color.  Better than L’Oreal.  Because you’re worth it!

Here’s the final layout.

Thank you for reading and I hoped you enjoyed this tutorial. 

Credits:

Photo – Annette “Pickleberrypop.com Owner”

Background Papers – E-lena Designs “Spring Wonderland” and “Where My Dreams Live”

Sand – E-lena Designs “Where My Dreams Live” and Magical Reality Designs “Sea of Dreams”

Lamp and Sparkles – Magical Reality Designs “Sea of Dreams”

Palm Tree – ON Designs “Anticipation of Summer”

Starfish, Seagulls – E-lena Designs “Where My Dreams Live”

Sailboat – Magical Reality Designs “Sea of Dreams”

Photo – Baby Ducks @ sxc.hu

Hair Texture Rendering – silver @ DA

Hair Brushes – alicefaux @ DA