before we start there is a lot of way to make hair in blender and im going to teach you most of them
here on this guide

(NEW) with blender 3.3 we now have hair system which is really good and you can do a lot of stuff with it.

1- before that we had particle system which we still have it was similar to new hair system but it has a lots of options that you could work with.

2- one other method is sculpting hair which was used mostly for cartooni approach and it was not
low-end friendly.

3- then there was fake hair method which is used by game devs here is one example from T.L.O.U 1 :


and from cyberpunk2077 (judy 3d model) :


so as you can see this is basically just plane with texture and maps applied to them .

(Q&A) why they did this ? because of low end hardware that they had to produce game on such as ps3.

4- and last one is to use curves which is a cool and easy way to make hair.


guide order is going to be like this :
1- curve method
2- new hair system
3- particle system
4- sculpting
5- bonus (eyebrows)

all of the texture and stuff i'm going to use in this guide will be available at reference section if you want to practice.

1- add your model and hide it for later

2- add this two that you see in photo
3- if you know why i said add this two curve then you know this step
if not then follow this photo
4- click on circel curve and give it a uniqe shape
here is two example of uniqe shape :

NOTE: for making handlers move indpendently without moving the otherone withthem self
go to control point then set handeler type and use one of the 3 option i recommend using free

need more point on that circel? ugo to segments while you selected at last 2 segment on your circle
and click on subdivide


3 things you should know before starting :














1- CTRL + T can do this


























2- ALT + S can scale the segment

3- dont copy - paste after you made one hair

1-after you done making your hair go start placing them on you models head

there is two approach to this :

1- you are making a guide and you are lazy like me so you end up like this :
2- you care about your work you end up like this :
pro work

NOTE : after you done placing hairs on your model you can also go to shader editor and make something like this:

( Delusion of depth ) or make something better.

i will show you how you can make those on OLD BUT GOLD method

done.

1- add your model

2- select your model right click and choose empty hair from curve.
3- go to sculpt mode for adding hair
NOTE : before we start remember more key point smoother hair


thats all. you play with those brushes until you get the result that you like you also have to play with
geo nodes (guide on nodes soon ...)

brushes in action :


1- add
in action:

2-remove
in action:

3-comb
in action:

4- snake hook
in action:

5- grow
in action:

6- pinch
in action:

7- puff
in action:

8- smooth
in action:


9- slide
in action:


10- paint select (its for when you want to move specific group of hair)

1- add plane.

2- add particle system and set it to hair (also rotate it 180 on x axis).

3- because we looking for a cartooni look on this we dont need this much hair .





















change the value here from 100 to 1

now we need it on middle delete and add another one
for that go here and choose particle edit

delete that one hair

you can add by this

get back to particle edit mode and enable children.





if its hard for you to see hairs go to render tab and set curves to strip like the photo

















go to hair shape and adjust the values to your liking. (also close tip give it a nice look )


NOTE: this step is kinda like play with it until you get something you like
best thing to do here is to play with all of those factors until you understand what they do
they give hair a shape based on the value you set

1- now its time to add more hair i did 500 you can go up as much as you want.

2- you have to give it a shape for later by going to clumping then
enable it and use your mouse to give it a shape

something like this for me :























3- you want to make it smooth ? go to viewport display and give it some steps like the photo :


should be like this :




















4-moreeeeeeeeee? go to path which is under the render section and enable B-spline.



















NOTE :if you want to scale it on any axis you want just remember first go to edit mode then scale it on y.x.z i did something like this .































5- don't like the plane that is above your model ? go here and disable show emitter option.















6- want a unique shape ? roughness option can give you some unique shaped like this two.


















[q&a] but where is roughness and what i have to do? its part of children section and you can play with factors until you get something you like.




NOTE :
you can also sub-divide the plane(hair plane) and give it a unique shape plus with this you can use it for casting light and shadows later.

oh yeah its time to go to the shader editor .

NOTE: before we start later when we duplicating the hair remmber 3 things

1- copy & paste a hair object makes a separated shader setting
2- duplicate will also copy everything you did on shader editor
3- after you done making hair select all hair and re select the main hair object with all of the shading node and press CTRL+ L to link the material (if you need)


because steam guide is not meant to be used to write book im going to just post photo of shader editor write every note you need for this section and explain as much as i can for you

all you have to do is to add them to your shader editor and connect them just like the photo

1- curve info
2- texture coordinate
3- noise texture
4- color ramp (5 of them)
5- diffuse BSDF
6- shader to rgb (2 of them)
7- mix (3 of them)
8- map range
9- vector math ( add )
10- specular BSDF
11- transparent BSDF
12- mix shader
13- material outpot (its already there)
14- frame (4 of them)



NOTE : to rename them and give them color click on them and press N key





after you copy paste the nodes now you need to organize them before you connect them to each other (follow the photos for each group)

noise grope :

(this gives you the delusion of depth )

with noise:

without noise:




diffuse group :


specular group :

(this one give hair a glassy refflection)
without specular :

with specular :




transparency group :

(this hides some part of your hare to give it a better look)
with transparency:

without transparency:



gradient group :

(this is main color for hair)
mix group :

after you done with that now you have to connect them to each other
(use the map below )
main map :

i dont think there is a need to explain sculpting.

you just add a sphere and sub-divide it a couple of times scale it according to your models head


then switch to sculpt tab


start sculpting

after you done with your sculpt you can paint it with paint brush

done
(same thing for eyebrows too)


something that i made. took me about 5 min .

1- import your model and select the eyebrow area
area







2- duplicate and separate the area with P KEY








3- go to wight pain mode and paint the area that you want hair to be there
(if you cant paint smooth just subdivide it)
(its good to use a reference image to know the shape of eyebrow)

4- go to property and rename the group that is there for later

1- add particle system and set it to hair

2- on vertex group add that group that we made on density




















should now be look like this :















3- go to particle edit mode and start combing it











4- go to render section and set the curve to strip















5- go back to particle section
there is 3 section that you can work with to customize your eyebrow

children:





clumping:





rughness:












result after working with those :

now if you go to sculpt mode and use the grab brush you can move the eyebrows to your liking



after that give it a material and you are done

well this one is a easy but fake method


all you have to do is to add import image as plane add-on (its free) on blender
import an eyelash image (mine is on reference section)

add some loop cut to it

and thats it.