Tutorial - How to do white stray hairs by Joanna-Vu

Tutorial - How to do white stray hairs by Joanna-Vu

Watch

Hello awesome people!

A lot of you have been asking how I do white stray hairs and I promised a tutorial ... a long time ago!

Well, better late than never right?

A big thanks to Angelic

. Rogue (from X-Men) was her suggestion and I think she was a perfect reference for this tutorial! (I hope you think the same!

)
And I can't believe I forgot to mention the name of the technique!

Oh, God! Anyway it is called INDENTING!!!
UPDATE: I was informed that "impressed lines" is a more common name for the technique. Hope it is helpful!

Here is the finished artwork:

PS: If you can't see some images clearly, I can upload them in my scrap folder. Just tell me!

JustSimone Featured By Owner Nov 16, 2014

Oh my, this is super smart! I always use a kneaded eraser, put you have to have lots of patience haha. I was only wondering, what if you smooth out the pencil? For example, by rubbing a paper or your finger over the surface, will the graphite fill up the lines?

Joanna-Vu Featured By Owner Nov 17, 2014

Thank you!

Sometimes if you rub the paper, eg blend with a tissue, there will be some filling of the lines. But it seems that the graphite that has been transfered stays on the surface, and I find it very easy to remove it using carefully a kneaded eraser.

JustSimone Featured By Owner Nov 17, 2014

Thank you for the reply, I am going to try this soon

Kauthar-Sharbini Featured By Owner Oct 16, 2014

So this is not a normal pencil to draw such amazing art ..
thank you for tutorial

ElectroHeart38 Featured By Owner May 18, 2014 Hobbyist Traditional Artist

I was searching for something like this!!! La la la la

This tutorial is really helpful, thank you so much Joanna!!

~Electro.H

Joanna-Vu Featured By Owner May 23, 2014

Thank you! Glad it's helpful!

Kefalion Featured By Owner Nov 30, 2013 Hobbyist Traditional Artist

This is very helpful. I tried it out as soon as I read about it. I didn't know about this trick before so I'm very thankful that you chose to share it, and in such a neat tutorial as well

Joanna-Vu Featured By Owner Nov 30, 2013

Aww, the pleasure is mine. I'm very happy to know that it is helpful!

SilentAsTheSky Featured By Owner Oct 21, 2013

Very interesting!

Joanna-Vu Featured By Owner Oct 23, 2013

Thank you!

Hope it helps!

SilentAsTheSky Featured By Owner Oct 23, 2013

It actually really did lol, you see I've been drawing for yrs and I've dabbled with PS n Painter n Pencil Crayons etc etc, but I love sketching however I have 2 downfalls in my sketching abilities at the moment 1. I always press really hard even when I'm trying not too x.x 2. I learned how to draw by tracing and never learned how to shade or draw still life and 3-D objects, I also never learned how to draw realistic people I've drawn anime nearly all my life but I can't stand Digital artwork bc it takes so long that I wind up getting frustrated and mad at my art plus I will never give up pencil and paper so I figured it was time to perfect that medium and the way you shaded all your pieces and that neat trick with the white is very interesting and I'll definitely give the white idea a try, plus your pieces are perfect for me to study when it comes to shading *Study not duplicate or steal dw (^▽^').
But tell me, how do you keep your sketches so clean? I always smudge my pieces -.- lol I have heard that some people use a clean piece of paper under their hand when they draw, do you do that?

Joanna-Vu Featured By Owner Oct 24, 2013

I use a clean piece of paper under my hand, indeed! Some people start drawing from left-to-right (if right-handed) to keep their hand away from graphite, it doesn't really work for me but it might work for you.

And I am really honored that you think my pieces are perfect for study!

SilentAsTheSky Featured By Owner Oct 26, 2013

Yea I figured that u did lol I'm still trying to get used to that x.x while I learn not to dent the page with my first line xD along with constantly knowing where my light source is, etc lol I will try out drawing left to right as I am right-handed ^^
Right now there's a lot of experimenting going on as I recently was given prismacolor pencil crayons, a bender for them, and an artists loft sketch kit with everything (blending stumps, kneeded erasers, sepia colors, charcoal, granite sticks, etc, etc lol and I'm used to a mechanical pencil and an it's eraser xD so these tools are very new for me but I'm having a blast with them >3
The one thing I seem to have trouble with atm is over shading, as in my main character who is pale as heck looked African American when I started shading -.- lol but practice makes perfect and I copied that piece about 8 times to practice many styles on it ^^
And your pieces really are perfect for study, they're gorgeous! And I can see how you've done certain things and based on the items I'm now using and testing I'm starting to see which tools you use for what so that's really neat to see too ^^

kingkostas Featured By Owner Sep 9, 2013 Professional Digital Artist

Bravo Joanna, cool creative solution!!!! Sunexise etsi dunamika, tromerh douleia

Joanna-Vu Featured By Owner Sep 10, 2013

E, emeis oi traditionals prepei na vriskoume kolpa gia na prosomoionoume ta layers!!!

FaeryWing Featured By Owner Sep 7, 2013 Hobbyist Traditional Artist

Awesome! I've seen this technique before but haven't tried it yet. I think I'll give it a go now.Thanks, Joanna!

Joanna-Vu Featured By Owner Sep 8, 2013

Well, you don't need it Kath! Your newer artworks seem to improve ... exponentially!!!

FaeryWing Featured By Owner Sep 9, 2013 Hobbyist Traditional Artist

I'm getting there. But I seriously need to work on hair. I think I'll have to do some graphite pieces that focus on hair so I get some practice.

EternusNexxx Featured By Owner Sep 7, 2013

Oh wow I'd never heard of this technique before, I'll definitely give it a go

Joanna-Vu Featured By Owner Sep 8, 2013

That's cool, I hope it works for you!

ventimocha Featured By Owner Sep 6, 2013

Thank you for the tutorial. I've tried this technique before but I always regret where I made the mark because the hair I draw always takes life of its own, and the white hair would end up in the weird spot. I'm too noob for this hahaha!

Joanna-Vu Featured By Owner Sep 8, 2013

Haha, don't worry, everybody has been there!

I hope you'll make it work!

ZellyKat Featured By Owner Sep 5, 2013 Professional General Artist

Now that is a cool trick to know. Thank you for sharing.

Joanna-Vu Featured By Owner Sep 8, 2013

You're very welcome! I hope it is helpful!

Iris-ArTuts Featured By Owner Sep 4, 2013 Digital Artist

Ooooh yeah, I will definitely try this technique out to my traditional artworks! Love the tutorial, thank you for sharing! :heat:

Joanna-Vu Featured By Owner Sep 4, 2013

Βλέπω καλα η με γελούν τα μυωπικα ματακια μου; traditional works??! Wow, you're full of surprises Iris!

Iris-ArTuts Featured By Owner Sep 4, 2013 Digital Artist

Ahahaha no, no καλά διάβασες!

Δεν μπορώ να αποκοπώ από τα μολυβάκια μου,

αν και παραδέχομαι ότι δεν έχω αξιωθεί να σχεδιάσω κάτι αξιοπρεπές με τα μολυβάκια μου ακόμα.

TehAngelsCry Featured By Owner Sep 3, 2013 Professional Interface Designer

Hi there!

Your awesome tutorial has been featured in my weekly journal: Tutorial Tuesday #16!

I'd love it if you could come and take a look, and offer support to your fellow tutorial writers through comments on their deviations

Joanna-Vu Featured By Owner Sep 4, 2013

Wow, such an awesome collection! Thank you very much!

MadnessIsRising Featured By Owner Sep 3, 2013 Hobbyist Traditional Artist

Very good tutorial! I tried thist everytime with a rubber... and failed

. Now the secret is solved *-*. Thank you very much!

Joanna-Vu Featured By Owner Sep 4, 2013

Oh, I really hope it works out for you!

MestreAlmeida Featured By Owner Sep 3, 2013 Hobbyist Traditional Artist

That seems very clever. Never thought about it! Thanks for the tip.

Joanna-Vu Featured By Owner Sep 4, 2013

You're very welcome!

sycen Featured By Owner Sep 2, 2013 Hobbyist General Artist

thank you for this tutorial

Joanna-Vu Featured By Owner Sep 3, 2013

Is is my pleasure!

EtaniaVII Featured By Owner Sep 2, 2013 Hobbyist Traditional Artist

So. Darn. Helpful.

Joanna-Vu Featured By Owner Sep 3, 2013

Oh, I really hope so!

Veyrius Featured By Owner Sep 2, 2013 Hobbyist

Wowww~ Thank you so much! XD

Joanna-Vu Featured By Owner Sep 2, 2013

You're very welcome! Trully my pleasure!

Henu-Chan Featured By Owner Sep 1, 2013 Hobbyist Traditional Artist

_{Nice tutorial!}

Joanna-Vu Featured By Owner Sep 2, 2013

Thank you Henna!

JoannaMoory Featured By Owner Sep 1, 2013

Oh right! I haven't thought about that. Thank you!

Joanna-Vu Featured By Owner Sep 2, 2013

Thank you Joanna as well!

I hope it is helpful!

bolsterstone Featured By Owner Aug 31, 2013 General Artist

Nice work, and I hate correcting artists (especially a good one

). But you called the technique you used to generate the white lines, "indenting". I guess this is partially true, but just in case anyone wants to look into the technique further, the more commonly used name for the technique is "impressed lines" (see this Youtube video for example: www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLJ22B…, and it is a subset of sgraffito techniques.

Joanna-Vu Featured By Owner Sep 2, 2013

Thank you very much for letting me know!

I will update asap!

PhilipMessina Featured By Owner Aug 31, 2013 General Artist

Really nicely produced tutorial, clearly written and skillfully illustrated. Great work

Joanna-Vu Featured By Owner Sep 2, 2013

Thank you very much Philip!

You made my day!

Willie51 Featured By Owner Aug 31, 2013 Professional Traditional Artist

Very nice tutorial! I use the same technique myself. I also use my kneaded eraser to remove any graphite that may get into the indentations. You must be very careful when doing this as not to remove graphite from the wrong areas by mistake.