The tutorial explains the way I had drawn the hair in this original portrait of Carrie Fisher as Leia Organa. Check the "Star Wars" gallery to see the work in progress for the whole drawing.
Note: In my drawing, I first drew the upper part of her hair and once it was complete, I worked on her braid. This time, I did everything at the same time just to show which pencil was used in each step (since I worked in the same order for each parts of her hair).
Click the thumbnails to see the larger images.
Step 1
I started my drawing by making a detailed sketch with an H pencil, so the main locks were already in place. Here, I worked with a print of my initial sketch.
Step 2
In this step, I place the darkest pencil strokes with a 4B pencil, following the shape of the locks drawn in Step 1.
Step 3
I finish applying the 4B pencil with a sharpened lead. Using Blu-Tack, I make little white spaces for the hair located in front of her ear.
Step 4
With a B pencil, I keep on drawing the locks, still following the shape previously drawn both in the upper part of her hair and in the braid. I also start adding the roots of her hair on her temple. I’ve also added the hair below her ear but in the actual drawing, it was done only after applying the graphite on her neck.
Step 5
All that’s left of the hair will be made with an HB pencil so in this step, I drew the “darkest” parts. I also finished drawing the roots of the hair and the little locks in front of her ear.
Step 6
I finished applying the HB pencil, darkening the top part of her hair where needed.
Step 7
Using Blu-Tack, I created some highlights in the braid where needed. In order for the hairdo not to look “too perfect”, I added some wisps of hair just above where the braid starts (at the level of her ear) and also a few strands of hair getting out of the braid.
Drawing Hair: Leia Organa 
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