Cheryl Lynn isn't quite sure who she is, but she's pretty sure of what she wants to be. A warrior woman. A bad-ass mamajama. Perhaps an earth goddess extraordinaire. She spends her days abusing keyboards and screaming at computer screens while she waits for her cult following to finally show up.

She changes her mind more often than extras in rap videos change thongs.

Remember: save to your own server, sweets!

Reading SELF Magazine.

Writing To-Do lists.

Hearing Thunder.

Watching General Hospital.

Building Nothing.

Eating Vitamins.

Drinking Iced Tea.

Buying Comic books.

Thinking "It is HOT!"

Playing Episodes from Liberty City.

Adoring Cold water.

Saying Very little.

Abhorring Bigotry.

Feeling Calm.

Hoping To get in gear.

Black hair, comics and you.

If you have been sent here, the likelihood is that someone asked you to draw a black woman at one point and you completely screwed it up. I kid! I kid! Seriously though, I'm here to help. Together, you and I will go through some of the most popular hairstyles for black women. Never again will you have leagues of black women giving you the side-eye and bitching you out in blogs. Ready? Let's go!

Hairstyle # 1 – Naturally Straight

This one is the easiest style to draw, so let's get it out of the way first. Some black women do have naturally straight hair. My aunt has it. Ananda Lewis has it. You already know how to draw this. Damn near every female character in comics has hair like this. Just do what you've always done and you're good to go.

Characters: Storm (Black Panther), Empress (Young Justice)

Example 1

Hairstyle # 2 – Press & Curl / Dominican Blow Out

This is hair that has been temporarily straightened with the help of a hot metal comb or hairdryer. It frizzes up easily. Humidity is its enemy. It differs from naturally straight hair in that it usually has a simple sheen instead of the shiny appearance of naturally straight locks. It's thicker and slightly poofy. You can see a real life example in the snapshot section of this page.

Characters: Thomasina Lindo (Welcome to Tranquility)

Example 1

Hairstyle # 3 – Relaxed

This is hair that has been permanently straightened with the aid of chemicals such as sodium hydroxide, guanidine hydroxide and ammonium thioglycolate. These chemicals penetrate the hair shaft and permanently break down the protein chains in the hair in order to remove the curl pattern. They can also burn the hell out of your scalp if you aren't careful. Short styles usually work better with relaxed hair because relaxed hair is delicate and prone to breakage. Relaxed hair has a pretty sheen that is similar to hair that has been pressed and curled (2) but is usually not as thick.

Characters: Vixen (JLA), Amanda Waller (Checkmate)

Example 1

Hairstyle # 4 – Afro

This hairstyle is extremely tightly coiled all over. Occasionally, the front of the hair may be pulled back tight enough for it to appear straight. Alternatively, the front section of the hair might be tightly woven into cornrows. This is not your mother's Afro. Wait, this is not my mother's Afro. Your mother didn't have an Afro. If she did, you wouldn't need to be reading this.

Modern Afros have a less structured shape than older styles. All Afros do have a visible texture and all Afros do reflect light. Do not use a solid black color or perfectly round circle to depict this hairstyle if you are not an artist with a "cartoony" style. The contrast will be jarring and the hairstyle will appear dated.

Characters: Misty Knight (Heroes for Hire)

Example 1
Example 2

Hairstyle # 5 – Texturized

Very similar in style to the Afro, but the curl pattern is not as tight.

Characters: I can't think of one character with this hairstyle! This is funny to me, because so many people I know are wearing it. I even wear it once in a while.

Example 1
Example 2

Hairstyle # 6 – Cornrows

Hair is tightly braided close to the scalp in neat rows. This is a popular hairstyle for several black characters in comics. Unfortunately, many artists who choose to portray characters with this hairstyle get the hair to scalp ratio wrong. It makes the characters they draw appear to be suffering from extreme hair loss. There should generally be more hair than scalp visible.

Characters: Starlight (52)

Example 1
Example 2
Example 3

Hairstyle # 7 – Box braids

Hair is divided into small sections and braided. The number of individual braids can range from a few dozen to several hundred. This is a very simple hairstyle to have...if you have telekinetic powers.

Characters: Lightbright (Silver Sable)

Example 1
Example 2

Hairstyle # 8 – Twists

Hair is divided into sections. Each individual section is then divided into two sections. The two sections should then be twisted around each other in a clockwise direction. When completed, each two-strand twist should resemble a rope. Two strand twists do have a texture and do reflect light. Do not use flat black lines to depict this hairstyle.

Characters: Monica Rambeau (Nextwave)

Example 1
Example 2
Example 3

Hairstyle # 9 – Locks (dreadlocks, sisterlocks)

Explaining how to do this would take entirely too long and I want to eat my dinner. But I do have pictures!

Characters: Cecilia Reyes (X-Men)

Example 1
Example 2

Okay, folks. We're done. And yet there are so many more hairstyles that I haven't even mentioned yet! Bantu knots are pretty neat. And weaves are a whole damn post in itself. But that'll have to wait for another day. Anyway, feel free to e-mail me and tell me how awesome I am for actually caring enough to do the research that so many artists have refused to do.

Cheryl Lynn @ 01:39 AM EST Link