Hair mini-tutorial

Hi guys!
I promised that I would maybe make a sort of tutorial for how I make my hair, and I'll just do it now. Remember, this does NOT mean you should do it the exact same way, I'm just showing the very basics of this technique for other beginner graphic designers, so they can improve it their own way!
Remember to read all the text and not only the pictures, because there is not a picture for every step!
*NOTE: some of the pictures are zoomed more in than others, don't get confused!*

1. Add a new layer to your graphic. I'll speak about it as 'layer 1'. Draw the outline of your hair. If you're not very good at it, try to start with simple hairstyles like completely short hair, buns and straight hair. Do NOT start on curly hair before you have, like, loads of experience with straight hair! Curls are much harder, in my opinion!
Now, fill it using the brush or paint bucket tool. Make the color slightly darker than the desired hair colour - for example, for blond hair you need a dark beige.

2. Add one more layer, 'Layer 2'. Now use the lasso select tool if you have a tablet or polygonal lasso/scissors select tool if you don't have one. Select several zig-zag shapes there, where there should be highlights (if you're not sure, try to take a picture of yourself and try to see which parts of the hair are lighter, and which are in the shadow. Or try to look at professional graphic designers' work (I'm not talking about myself lol) and try to see where their hairstyles are highlighted.
Now, fill them in with a color slightly paler than the background, but not too much. This balance is hard to find - either there's too much difference and it ends up looking horrible or there's too little contrast and it looks like it's not shaded/highlighted in any way. But don't worry, you will find this balance. Practice makes perfect.

The screenshot above shows an example of one of the shapes you should make, and the one below shows  how it looks when you have added all the highlights that you need. Can you see where they are?

3. Now add a new layer, 'Layer 3'. Here you repeat step 2 with an even lighter color for the highlights, and to make sure that these will be 'inside' the shapes of Layer 2, hide Layer 1. It will look a bit weird, but in the end you will of course make it visible again.

it looks like this when you 'hide' layer 1

The shapes you will make now will be even more narrow and zig-zaggy, like this:

4. Finally, add the 4th and last layer that you will need for the hair. Repeat step 3 - hide layer 1 and 2, pick an even lighter color and make even smaller zig-zags on top of the previous layer. Don't worry if you think they are too small or not very visible, Layer 4-highlights add that special shine to your hair.

5. Quickly check that it looks okay so far, that you haven't made too much or too little contrast with the colours.

6. Now we have done the highlights, but we still need the shading. Select the original hair color again with the color picker, and make it slightly darker this time. Now go on Layer 2, and make some zig-zag shapes the places where there are no highlights. These should be more narrow, and be careful not to make a shadow touch or cover a highlights! Think that they are enemies, and they shouldn't come close.

On the picture I've shaded the places that are circled with red. Inner corners, opposite side of where the light is coming from and the hair parting.

7. Repeat step 3, only with shading instead of highlighting.

8. I don't think it's necessary to make even more layers of shading, so you won't need to use Layer 4. However, this is my own opinion and if yours is different, that's fine with me.

9. Here is what the finished hair looks like:

... and the finished graphic:

I hope this helped to you other beginners out there! :D
I won't make many tutorials from now on, but I'm planning to make a guide on 'made by...' labels and credits on graphics - how visible they should be, where they should be on a graphic and why you need them at all. But let's save that for another time, and if I forget it, remind me in about a week. :)

If you don't understand what I am babbling about in this tutorial, or you have another question, remember to ASK!

That's all for today,
  - Maria/mgirl07

P.S. Today was my birthday party and it went great! It was the best birthday party I've ever had! And tomorrow I will be 13 years old! Yayayay! (Ok, that was random.)