amby0es

[Style!] 3 is a good number

Added 2025-10-24 19:27:01 +0000 UTC

But I don’t mean the amount, I mean the shape!

If there’s one thing that I admit I don’t know how to draw, is hair. You know some artists out there who have exactly everything down and they know how to draw hair to make it look perfectly in their style, be it realistic, anime or otherwise?

There’s almost like a science behind that, which is why I skipped that class. But admittedly, I think it is one thing I owe to myself, but never looked into.

Instead, when I have to “round out” some hair or fur, to prevent it from looking super flat, I think of three’s! I’m not bullshitting you, 3s will keep appearing the more you look at my art, especially in the chin, cheeks, inner ear fur, or hair areas of a character’s face.

Let’s see if our friend Lee can offer us some help.

So, first, you have the general sketch, right? You can see Lee’s shape, but can you see the shape of the three’s?

It’s clearer now. Now Lee looks more like himself.

Once the details start coming in, the picture starts to look either well put together, or not…

And there they are! A bunch of 3’s!

…Well, actually it’s just bumpy lines, but if I had a nickle for every bumpy line I draw at a time, I’d have 2 nickles, which isn’t a lot but it’s weird that I draw them only in pairs.

That’s why I think they look like three’s.

I also draw them on elbows, tail ends, or anywhere where I need to draw a fluffy texture, whether it’s fur, hair, feathers or leaves.

So, if I draw your fluffy character, chances are I would use three’s to draw the hair in my style.

Join me next time on [Style!] and we’ll figure out what the deal is with diagonal lines.

Link to the file folder: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/4rryb36usnlz6t5nfcla7/ALusoApN2KdFelqO5V2UHWY?rlkey=upiw6d6dyxtyy7wb49m3eio33&st=m3ffwnem&dl=0

(Credit goes to the owner of each character.)