Painting Hair 
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Many people have asked for a tutorial on painted hair.  I have modified my earlier version just a little.  All I'm able to do is give you some screen shots and ideas.  There are many different methods for painting hair.  I don't always use the same method.  You have to be willing to experiment and take some time.  Some hair styles I have created have taken several hours.  Decide what hair style you would like to create.  You may want to use a model to help determine shadowing. 

I'm going to show you three examples and give you an idea what I did to help you get started.  I do not undo much on hair unless I really go off.  Hair is so unique, you can just about do anything with what you spray on the canvas.  Sometimes I just start spraying and smudging until I like the image.  Experiment!!!!

Select the head you want to place the hair on.  If you're using my painted face tutorial, create neck and shoulders under head.  I made the image a little smaller and then increased the canvas size to allow room for the hair.

For this first style, I selected three hair colors to work with: base color, lighter highlight, and darker shadow color.
 

Finished Example

Create a layer behind head.
Airbrush back hair in:  I used these settings:
20-80-80-30-100

Create a layer in front of the head.
Airbrush style you want.

 

Click on the head layer and add a new layer on top
Use darker shadow and airbrush.  This is where you will have to experiment with the settings.  They will vary depending on the size of image you are working with and amount of shadowing you want to create.  I use these settings: 
20-30-50-30-30.
Then added more detail by decreasing the size to 7.
Change back and forth between different sizes if you need to.
When you are satisfied Select All and Float (Ctrl A & F)
Apply a Gaussian Blur of 1 to 3.

Keep selected.
New Layer
Use you lighter highlight color and airbrush.
I used these settings:
10-20-30-30-30
Apply Gaussian Blur 3 to 5.












 

Click back on layer below the neck.
Select All and Float (Ctrl A & F)
Use the same method as you did on the top.
Remember to add new layers for each color.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
Now would be a good time to empty the Command History.  Edit - Empty - Command History.

Now it's time to Smudge.  Select the Retouch Tool.  I used these settings: 14-50-50-25-100.
Start smudging.  Follow the contours of the shadow and highlights you created.  For the bangs, I used a smaller size.  You can always push back toward the hair.


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