For much of this step, I've moved the file into Painter. You can
use Photoshop for this step, but I've
found that I get smoother brushstrokes
in Painter. There's an adjustable
'damping' factor at work in that program
that helps to smooth out the stroke.
Choosing a very small brush (either
pencil or ink pen will do), Make sure
that your brush is not set to pick up
paper grain. "Soft Cover" will do. If
you choose to remain in Photoshop,
just take a very small brush, and set
it to vary both opacity and size with
pressure. Experiment, and set the brush
softness to your liking. I begin the
work of painting a few strands flying
away in the wind. I keep one hand near
CTL-Z (undo in both programs) to get
rid of mistakes. For the strands flying
into the breeze, there's probably one
good one for every two that got erased.
I'm still working with just one basic color for now, just getting
the form, or outline of the hair done.
Experiment; this takes time. Don't fret
if you find yourself erasing quite a
bit of the hair away and starting over.
Every new picture is a learning experience.
On the redhead, notice I've moved my sampling colors closer to her
hair. Don't hesitate to move the palette
wherever you need it.
A bit more work painting. Time to get the brunette's hair up to speed
and caught up. I've erased some hair
on the left, painted it back in, sometimes
more than once. Added more hair on the
right. You may notice some hair painted
over her neck and shoulder. No problem.
In this particular image, I plan on
having all her hair behind her. What
do we do? It would be tough to erase
exactly along a line of her body. So,
in Photoshop, I hold down CTL while
clicking on her body layer. This creates
an active selection exactly along the
edge of her body. Then just grab your
eraser (E) and erase the hair in front.