I can say that if you have skill to do in paper and has knowledge of digital you can do anything.
try getting ps or gimp brushes and see the use of them, or you can make your own.
I can say you can do it different ways, I use a brush and do some strokes with pressure sensitivity, change colors from darkest to lightest.
also this is how 3d hair works.
the hard part is that you need to rotate the canvas for cleaner strokes.
try gimp and use the otion that auto rotates the brush in the direction of the stroke and experiment with that.