Braids seem hard to draw, but they’re pretty easy!
In this tutorial, you’ll learn easy ways to draw a basic braid, a fishtail braid, and a braided hairstyle.
I’ll be using Procreate, however, you can easily follow these steps even if you don’t have an iPad.
Let’s go through what we’re going to be doing in this tutorial.
Ok, let’s do this!
For this tutorial, I’ll be using:
I’ll be also using brushes from my Perfect Portrait Brush Bundle for Procreate since it has graphite and hair-brushes. However, you can use any brushes you want.
If you would like to test these brushes out, here’s a free sample for you.
Without further ado, let’s dive right in.
Let’s start by softly drawing two lines that go slightly inwards.
These lines will determine the space that your braid will be in.
Add a soft straight line in the center of the two lines you made before.
This will be the center of your braid.
Make a new layer.
On this layer, create a zig-zag line on top of the line you made in the middle.
When you make this line, keep in mind that the zig-zag should be bigger on the top and smaller on the bottom of your braid.
Start elongating the lines from the zig-zag to create a longer curved line that touches the one that is on top of it.
Repeat step 4 in all the lines from the zig-zag.
Using curvy lines that look a bit like an “S”, add the hairs that stick out from the point where the braid is tied.
Add a few soft lines to create the hair tie.
Elongate the lines on top of the braid using four straight lines.
Once you have that, add some extra lines that fan out in the center of them.
Turn off the layer where you have the guidelines, and, there you have the basic sketch for a regular braid.
Make a new layer.
Start adding shadows in the center and the edges of the braid.
This step is only to map out where the shadows will go, so don’t worry too much about making it look like hair just yet.
For this step, I’ll be using a Procreate hair brush on a new layer to create the hair strands and make it look more like hair.
Draw more hairs on the edges and in the middle of the braid, saving an area in the center of each hair strand for the highlights.
Continue doing this with the whole braid.
Once you’re done with this step, turn off the layer where you made the sketch.
Make a new layer.
Start making darker hair strands on the edges of each strand of hair in the braid to give it more dimension.
Do this with all the braid.
Draw a few lines to add a hair tie where the braid ends.
Merge all the layers.
Using an eraser brush, start adding highlights to the center of each hair strand.
Do this with the whole braid until you’re happy with how it’s looking.
To finish your braid, start adding some extra shadows in the darkest areas.
Continue to add shadows and highlights until you are happy with how it’s looking.
To make your braid look more realistic, start adding small hairs coming out of each section of hair.
Continue to add light hairs all over the braid.
Using an eraser add some final hairs and highlights.
Continue to add these extra hairs until you like the way it’s looking.
And there you have it, you just drew a braid!
For this tutorial, I recommend finding some reference images.
It’s always a good idea to thoroughly look at pictures of what you want to draw, this will help you recognize shapes and will make your drawing experience easier.
If you look at a fishtail braid, you’ll notice that the sections of hair used to make the braid are smaller than in a regular basic braid.
You’ll see that drawing a fishtail braid is similar to drawing a regular braid.
The main difference will be the size of the zig-zags you draw when you’re creating the sketch.
With this in mind, let’s start.
Start by softly drawing two vertical lines that are slightly pointing inward.
These two lines will determine the area that your braid will have.
Softly add a line that cuts those two lines in half.
This will be the center of your braid.
Make a new layer.
On this layer, draw a zig-zag line to mark the center of the braid.
The gaps in this zig-zag should be small for it to look like a fishtail braid instead of a regular one.
Start to elongate the lines in the zig-zag with lines that finish as an upward curve.
These lines should reach the two lines you drew at the beginning of this tutorial.
Do this for both sides of the braid.
Once both sides are done, it’s line to add the hairs that are sticking out of the braid.
So, at the endpoint of the braid, add soft curvy lines to create the tail of the braid.
Once you like how this is looking, add soft curved lines where the braid and the lines you did before meet to create the hair tie.
You’re almost done with your braid sketch.
To finish, go to the top part of your braid and elongate the lines at the top to create sort of a “folding fan” shape.
In the center of this, make more soft lines following the shape of the “fan”.
And there you have it! That’s the main sketch of your fishtail braid.
In this step, you will gently start to map out where the shadows will go.
Make a new layer.
Start to add soft shadows where on the edges of the braid and in the center area where the zig-zag is.
Add also shadows where the braid meets the head, and on the “tail” of your braid.
Try to not get too caught up in this step, the idea is just to map out the shadows, it doesn’t need to be perfect.
Make a new layer.
I’ll be using my procreate hair brushes for this part, you don’t need to use a hair brush but it will make your hair drawing experience easier.
Here’s a free sample of the brushes I’m using in this tutorial if you would like to try it out.
With the brush, start to add hairs in the areas where you added the shadows.
Continue to do this in the whole braid.
Once you’re done with this step, you can turn off the sketch layer.
Extra tip: You can use the same brush like an eraser to tidy up your drawing a bit. Using the same brush you’re using to draw as an eraser helps all the lines look cohesive and the drawing seems more realistic.
Start to make darker hair strands in the areas where there are more shadows, like in the center, and the edges of the braid.
This will help you clean up the edges of your drawing a bit.
Once you’re done with this, add a few soft curved lines at the end of the braid to draw the hair tie.
Merge all the layers but the layer where you have the sketch.
Using the hair brush as an eraser, start to add subtle highlights in the center of the hair strands.
Softly bring up the highlights, try not to go super hard on this step, and this way you’ll have more values which will help your drawing look more realistic.
Make a new layer and continue to build up the values of the dark areas.
Once you’re happy with how it’s looking, merge all the layers and start to bring in some finishing highlights with the eraser.
Continue to do this until you’re happy with how your braid is looking.
To finish your braid, start adding soft single hairs all over your drawing to make it look a bit messier and not so perfect.
We have too many hairs to be able to keep them all in order, so adding some wild hairs helps you create a real looking braid.
Continue to add wild and crazy hairs all over your braid.
Once you like how it’s looking, pull out the eraser tool and continue to add some wild hairs.
Add some finishing highlights, and there you go!
You drew a fishtail braid!
I’ll be using this reference image to do this tutorial.
Let’s start by mapping out the area that the hairstyle covers.
Draw rough lines that help you determine the space that the braids will have.
Don’t worry about it looking perfect.
Make a new layer.
Let’s divide the head in sections where the braids will be.
Draw “horizontal” lines that divide the head in sections.
Now draw perpendicular curved lines to divide those sections into small squares.
Now, let’s start making the braids.
Draw two lines from the center of these squares, they will sort of create a “tube” where each of the braids in the hairstyle are.
Continue to do this with all the hair.
Look at your reference image during this step to see where the braids go for each of those small squares.
After you’re done with all the squares, continue to add tubes for the braids that are missing, like behind the head, the bun, etc.
Look at your reference image to make sure that the braids are in place.
It’s not necessary that you follow it exactly, but the reference image will help you get an idea of how the hair behaves.
Go to each of the tubes and make a line that divides the tube in two parts.
This line doesn’t have to be exactly in the center of each tube.
Do this with all the tubes.
Merge all the layers you’ve made so far and rename it “Base”
Make a new layer.
Over one of the centerlines of a tube, draw a zig-zagy line.
This zig-zag should be smaller the more down you go in the braid.
This will be where the hairs intertwine on each braid.
Continue to do this.
Pro tip: Since all the braids go in different directions, you won’t be able to see the center of all of them. Some of them will be in a side view, to achieve this in your drawing, do some small “C” shapes all over some of the tubes.
Start to elongate the lines on the zig-zag with curved lines to turn the tubes into braids.
Do this with all the tubes.
A braided hairstyle can end in a bead or with the hair that is left on the braid.
In this case, I’ll draw beads to finish the braids.
At the end of each braid, draw a small circle to create the beads.
You can draw more than one bead or beads with different shapes in a braid to make it more fun.
When you’re done with that, it’s time to join the braids to the head.
To do that, add some lines going out of the top of the braid that fill the square space on the base.
Once you’ve done that, turn off the base layer, merge all the other layers and rename it “sketch” to keep your illustration organized.
Make a new layer.
Start to softly add some shadows where you see them in your reference image.
Do this in all the illustration.
Don’t worry about making it look like hair just yet, just have fun mapping out the shadows.
Make a new layer.
Using a brush for hair, start to make it look more like hair.
Take your time and have fun on this step.
This is just the base of the hair so don’t worry too much about it being perfect.
Using the same brush you used before as an eraser brush, start to slowly build the highlights of each braid.
Extra tip: keep in mind that the braids that are in the shadow areas will have softer highlights than the ones that are more illuminated. Make sure that they have different values of line.
Continue to go over your illustrations adding shadows and highlights until you are happy with how it’s looking.
Merge all the layers except the sketch.
Add some small hairs coming out of the braids to make them messier and more realistic.
Do this with a small brush and a small eraser brush to add more detail into your artwork.
Add some baby hairs coming out at the base of the forehead to finish your illustration.
And there you have it! An illustration of a braided hairstyle!
That’s all folks!
That’s how you can easily draw braids even if you’re a beginner!
I would love to hear from you.
Which of these tutorials was your favorite?
Let me know in the comments.
I hope you found this helpful!
Until the next time.
Stay awesome!
