Even if the person has straight hair, the braid doesn’t need to fall straight down. Curved lines make it more interesting and lifelike.
Figuring this out can be tricky for many beginning (or even intermediate!) artists. It’s okay if you need to erase it and try again. It will get easier the more you practice.
How much hair is below the tie depends on you! There will need to be some (or the tie would fall off), but some people leave only a little at the end while others prefer to end the braid up higher.
The hair should go in similar directions to the surrounding hair, but it doesn’t have to be exactly the same. A little variation makes it interesting. How much hair falls out of the braid, and how far it goes from the rest, will depend on the looseness of the braid. Braids get looser over time, so if the person has been wearing the braid for a while, it will become messier.
Some people like to create a layer mask. If you use a mask, you can shade freely without worrying about whether you’re coloring outside the lines.
Think about where your light source is coming from. In this picture, the main light source is gentle and comes from the upper left. You can color the hair ring a different color, or leave it the same tone as the hair. Some people prefer to use hair rings that are a close match to their hair color, so that it blends in visually a bit more. A translucent brush can be useful if you want to avoid harsh lines.
This picture uses a gold color on Add (Glow) mode and a purple color on Linear Burn mode. A low opacity keeps the effect from being overpowering.
