Most artists dread it. You spend hours meticulously crafting a face, getting the jawline just right and the eyes perfectly symmetrical, and then you hit the hairline. Panic sets in. You start scratching out little loops or, worse, you draw a solid, puffy mass that looks more like a chef’s hat than actual human hair. Learning how to draw male curly hair isn't actually about drawing every single strand. It’s about understanding volume. It’s about gravity. Honestly, it’s mostly about knowing when to stop.
If you look at the work of master illustrators like J.C. Leyendecker or modern concept artists like Ahmed Aldoori, you’ll notice they don't treat hair as a texture first. They treat it as a solid 3D form. Most beginners make the mistake of jumping straight into the "texture" phase. They grab a 0.5mm mechanical pencil and start scribbling tiny circles. Stop doing that. It makes the hair look flat and greasy.
Why Your Curly Hair Drawings Look Flat
The secret isn't in your hand; it's in how you see the light. Curly hair is essentially a collection of ribbons. Think about a gift-wrapping ribbon. It has a front side, a back side, and a side that catches the light. When you’re figuring out how to draw male curly hair, you have to visualize these ribbons wrapping around the skull.
The skull is a sphere. Or, well, an egg shape. Hair sits on top of that egg. This means the curls on top are going to catch the most light, while the curls tucked behind the ears or near the nape of the neck will be almost entirely in shadow.
Standard art advice tells you to "draw what you see." That’s actually terrible advice for curls. If you draw exactly what you see in a high-resolution photo, you’ll end up with a chaotic mess that confuses the viewer’s eye. You have to simplify. You have to lie a little bit to make it look "real."
The Three-Step Breakdown for Texture
Instead of thinking about "hair," think about "clumps." Big clumps. Medium clumps. Tiny stray hairs.
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1. The Silhouette and Mass
Start with the "helmet." I know I said don't make it look like a helmet, but for the first thirty seconds, that’s exactly what you do. Sketch the outer boundary of the hair. Is it a tight fade with curls on top? Is it a shoulder-length 4C texture? Define the silhouette. This is your foundation. Without a strong silhouette, the most detailed curls in the world won't save the drawing.
2. Dividing the "Big Shapes"
Once you have the mass, carve it into chunks. Use curved, "S" shaped lines. For male hair, especially shorter styles, these clumps often radiate from a single point on the back of the head—the vertex. Follow that growth pattern. If the hair is longer, let gravity do the work. The curls should feel heavy at the bottom and tighter at the root.
3. The "C" and "S" Stroke
When you finally move to the detail, use two specific marks: the "C" curve and the "S" curve.
- The "C" curve represents a curl that is turning away from the viewer.
- The "S" curve represents a coil that is unfurling.
Mix these up. If every curl looks the same, it looks like a 3D model that hasn't finished rendering. Randomness is your best friend here.
Lighting the Coil: The Secret to Depth
Here’s where people usually fail. They shade the whole head the same way. But because curly hair has so much surface area, it creates hundreds of tiny "pockets" of shadow.
Think about the "occlusion shadow." This is the dark area where two curls press against each other. If you want your how to draw male curly hair process to actually yield professional results, you need to go dark in those cracks. Use a 4B or 6B pencil (or a low-opacity chunky brush if you're digital) to punch in those deep shadows.
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Then, use a kneaded eraser to "pick out" the highlights on the crest of each curl. Don't use a white gel pen for everything. Just hit the spots where the hair turns most sharply toward the light source. It creates a rhythm. Dark, light, dark, light. That’s what gives hair that "bouncy" look.
Common Mistakes Beginners Make
One huge mistake? Drawing the hairline as a straight, hard line across the forehead. Nobody has a hairline like that unless they just stepped out of a very aggressive barber shop. Even then, there are "baby hairs" and transition zones.
Another one is forgetting the "stray hairs." Perfectly contained hair looks fake. Real hair has frizz. It has flyaways. After you finish your beautiful, structured curls, take a sharp pencil and draw five or six random, chaotic lines that break the silhouette. It feels like you're ruining it. You're not. You're adding the "human" element that tells the brain this is organic material.
Variation in Curl Type
Not all curls are created equal. You’ve got to know the difference between:
- Wavy (Type 2): More "S" shapes, less volume, follows the head shape closely.
- Curly (Type 3): Defined "corkscrews." You can see the light passing through the loops.
- Coily (Type 4): Tight "Z" patterns. This is more about texture and volume than individual "ribbons." For this, focus on the outer edge of the silhouette and use "stippling" or "scumbling" (messy circles) to suggest the density.
Tools of the Trade
You don't need fancy gear. But some things make it easier. A mechanical pencil is great for those final stray hairs, but it’s terrible for the initial shading because it’s too consistent. A dull, traditional wooden pencil is actually better for the "massing" phase because you can use the side of the lead to get soft edges.
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If you’re working digitally, like in Procreate or Photoshop, stay away from "hair brushes" that draw ten lines at once. They look like straw. Use a standard round brush with pressure sensitivity for the forms, and a fine ink brush for the flyaways.
Actionable Next Steps to Master Curly Hair
Don't just read this and close the tab. You won't get better by osmosis.
First, go find a photo of someone with a "curly undercut" or a "tousled mop top." Specifically look for high-contrast lighting—like a single lamp from the side. This makes the shadows easier to see.
Do a "Blob Study":
Spend ten minutes drawing just the silhouette of the hair. No eyes, no nose. Just the shape. Fill it in with one solid mid-tone gray. Then, use a darker gray to "carve" in three big shadow shapes. Finally, take a white pencil or eraser and highlight just the very top edges.
Practice the "Ribbon":
On a separate sheet, draw ten long, twisting ribbons. Make them overlap. Shade the parts where one ribbon goes under another. This is the exact mechanical skill you need for how to draw male curly hair at a professional level. Once you can draw a ribbon, you can draw a curl.
The "Flyaway" Finish:
On your next portrait, wait until you think you’re done. Then, add ten "mistake" lines. Curls that escaped the bundle. Frizz near the crown. It’s the difference between a drawing that looks like a plastic doll and one that looks like a person.
Stop worrying about perfection. Curly hair is inherently imperfect. That’s why it’s fun to draw. Embrace the mess, focus on the big shapes first, and let the texture happen naturally at the very end. The more you try to control every single hair, the worse it will look. Let it breathe. Drawing hair is a game of suggestion, not a technical manual.