Hair modeling and texturing

Ok, so im making a model of angelina jolie and i finished the face. Now, ive tried a few things for the hair but i cant seem to get it to work. I am going for a toomb raider model so its the pulled back and braided hair> I made an “acceptible” braid using particles but it like it to look better. It looks like the hairs growing from some sort of woven tail instead of comming off of the head. I am going to try to make a solid mesh weave and skin it as hair.

Im also wondering how i should do the rest of her hair, which is just pulled back, but at the same time its almost like its in corn rows because its not quite smooth all the way around. I am slowly loosing morale because i am quite annoyed. I am using a method in which i use planes as a base for a picture of some strands and it seems to work better than most, but i cant get the alpha to work so it has white lines on the planes where it should be see-through.

Any suggestions?? i am mostly looking for a good method to use, so i know im at least on the right track, and my failure is do to my lack of abilities rather than me using the wrong technique.

guitarplay101,

If you haven’t already seen this, it may be of some help.

http://www.blender.org/cms/New_Particle_options_a.721.0.html

Best of Luck!!