Ideas For Disney Characters To Draw With Step-By-Step Video Tutorials
Looking for some cool Disney characters to draw? Then you’ve stumbled onto the right post cause I’ve listed some of the most fun characters you can learn to draw.
Each character in the list also has a link to a tutorial video showing you how to draw each one step-by-step.
This way even complete beginners can start drawing their favorite characters! With some practice, that is.
Donald Duck
The wacky white-feathered duck is a classic symbol of Disney’s early days. He dates back to 1934 with his first appearance in the cartoon The Wise Little Hen.
Granted Donald’s design has changed over the years, but he’s still the same old lovable duck we all know. His uniform is probably one of the easiest things you can start drawing since it doesn’t have too many detailed points.
Give Donald a shot if you’re new to drawing and want a fairly easy Disney character to get started.
Rapunzel
Disney’s Tangled was first released in 2010 and garnered massive support from fans.
The lead character Rapunzel offers a brilliant design for a Disney princess. Her varied facial expressions can be a lot of fun and her dress is pretty simple to draw once you get the hang of it.
But the most difficult part is definitely her hair! Perhaps a little ironic considering that’s a key point in the fairy tale.
If you spend some time working on this character and drawing from references/videos online you can get it down perfect.
Simba
Simba is, of course, not a human. That means his design can be challenging trying to draw if you’ve never done animals before.
But what I like about Simba is that you have two versions: a baby and a grown-up Simba.
Both offer their own sets of challenges with adult Simba featuring a brilliantly difficult mane of hair.
Really any character in The Lion King would prove fun and exciting to draw. Although it helps if you’ve practiced animals first, but anyone can learn to draw Simba with practice and repetition.
Chip ‘n’ Dale
The oft forgotten duo of Chip ‘n’ Dale gives you another small set of animals to practice drawing.
These two are designed almost identically with very minor differences in the eyes. In fact most of their differences stem from their color palette so you can draw one and duplicate for the other.
For tutorials I specifically like this one given at Disney Hollywood Studios. It’s a full lesson geared towards attendees who want to learn how to draw Chip.
But another option is this video showing you how to draw both rodents together.
Try working from both vids to see which one you like best.
Tarzan
Getting back to human designs we have a man of few words: Tarzan.
His design feels very natural and true-to-life with a muscular build and a strong bone structure. Plus he doesn’t have much going on in the wardrobe department so you can get by without any knowledge of drawing clothes.
The toughest part of Tarzan’s design has to be his dreadlocks.
These won’t come easily and you may have a tough time getting them to fall “naturally” so they look realistic.
I think hair is one of the toughest things to draw in general but once you figure it out you can start drawing Tarzan in any pose you like.
Elsa
Elsa may be one of the most well-known Disney princesses of the modern era.
The movie Frozen is actually the 10th highest-grossing film of all time in the entire world.
So naturally there’s a lot of drawing videos and tutorials out there on how to draw Elsa. She’s got a pretty technical design and her facial features do require some shading to get them just right.
Because of this I’d say Elsa is more of an intermediate-level character to draw. She won’t be all that tough but certainly not easy—especially with her crisp white braid and snowflake hair clips.
Winnie the Pooh
If you’re looking for a super-duper easy character to draw I can’t imagine anyone better than Pooh Bear.
His clothing style mimics Donald Duck where he only wears a t-shirt with no pants.
Weird, yes. But it also makes your job easier!
His shape is just a bunch of spheres so you should be able to draw his ears, face, belly, and even his honey pot with relative ease. If you’re still struggling to draw Pooh then try practicing basic shapes more.
For that I recommend Drawabox which is totally free and helps you learn to draw 3D-looking shapes on a flat piece of paper.
Stitch
Stitch takes the form of an ET shaped like a blue koala bear thing.
And he’s adorable.
You can learn to draw him just by studying references online and searching for videos on YouTube. Thankfully Stitch is one of the more popular characters in the Disney franchise so there’s a lot of videos out there.
Toughest part of drawing this guy is his little feet & paws. But much like everything else, practice makes perfect.
Tinker Bell
This floating fairy from Peter Pan has a whimsically simplistic design that I think anyone can learn to draw.
Tinker Bell features a tight hair bun and a single-length green dress. Not much work if you have a quick look at her design.
But the toughest part is likely her fairy wings since they’re supposed to be translucent. This can be tough to convey in just pencil so it helps if you can work with markers or colored pencils to add some value into the artwork.
Jiminy Cricket
Here’s one more bite-sized companion that’s pretty darn simple to draw.
The lovable Jiminy Cricket wears one heck of a getup. He’s got a top hat, an umbrella, and some pretty funky dress shoes.
All of these things require careful attention to detail so he’s not the simplest Disney character to put down on paper.
Although I would argue he’s one of the more fun characters to draw because of all his accessories and the many differing shapes in his design.
Pascal
I mentioned Rapunzel earlier and wasn’t sure if I should list others from the Tangled world. Then I remembered her green chameleon friend Pascal who, much like Jiminy, is just so fun to draw.
Pascal has some pretty crazy facial expressions which makes him a delightful subject for art.
But he’s also got a chameleon’s body so you can contort a lot of features like his tail and legs into some pretty cool positions.
Have a look on YouTube for drawing guides and then check Google Images for reference pics. If you’re a big Tangled fan then Pascal is totally worth learning to draw.
And since Tangled is rendered in 3D you might find more inspiration from the Art Of Tangled artbook. This is one of my personal favorites and it’s part of our list of Disney artbooks since it features a ton of production art.
Just an example of how you can learn to draw Pascal by studying real drawings from Disney artists.
Ursula
The evil sea witch Ursula isn’t so fun to hang around, but she’s definitely fun to draw.
Her character design is much more complex than others in this list. And because of that it’ll take a bit more work to get her drawn with accuracy.
Yet it’s often the times when you push yourself that you learn the most.
That’s why I have so much variety in this list, to help artists from all backgrounds find Disney characters that’ll take their art skills up a notch.
Ursula’s body, tentacles, and facial features are all challenging. But stick with it and in time you’ll figure it out.
Esméralda
Not too many people think of Disney and connect it to The Hunchback of Notre-Dame. This was a popular animated film movie adapted from Hugo’s 1831 novel of the same name.
The movie featured some really inspiring character designs and the world itself followed an incredible medieval setting.
Esméralda is one of the lead characters and her design is incredible. Much of her anatomy is covered up by clothes so you’ll spend a lot of time practicing fabrics and getting pleats/folds just right.
Moana
Moana was first released in 2016 so it’s one of Disney’s newest films.
Her character design is pretty crazy because there’s a lot going on with… well, everything!
Her hair is gonna take a while to learn how to draw.
But the same goes for her clothes like the textures and layers in her skirt.
Any true fan of this movie will put in the time to get her design down just right.
It likely won’t be easy or happen in a day. But stick with it and focus on one area at a time until you get the whole character looking right.
Mushu
Mushu is a beloved character from the 1998 Disney film Mulan. He’s a little fire-breathing dragon that follows Mulan everywhere on her journey.
I’ve always liked Mushu’s design but it’s a weird one to draw. Mostly because his body is so long and his other features are much shorter than you’d think.
This also means he can contort his body and face into some pretty weird styles.
But you’re in luck because this video features Tom Bancroft, a Disney artist working at the company for 30 years who teaches you how to draw Mushu from scratch.
Pluto
Here’s an old-school classic from the early days of Disney.
Pluto the yellow dog feels opposite Goofy since he walks on all fours and barks like a real dog. His actual design is pretty easy to follow since it’s mostly just one color.
The toughest part is learning how to draw a dog accurately.
Pluto’s design does match up brilliantly with typical dog anatomy so if you can learn how to draw dogs then you can draw Pluto.
Mabel Pines
So far I’ve mostly focused on characters from famous Disney movies. But there are so many others you might try drawing from TV shows and cartoons.
Mabel Pines is one example from the hit Disney show Gravity Falls. She’s got wavy brown hair and braces that you can’t miss.
Luckily her design is also pretty simple because Gravity Falls is animated in 2D. This means it’s a lot easier to match up pictures from the cartoon and draw a pose accurately.
But just to help you get started I’ve also added a tutorial video on how to draw Mabel step-by-step.
Cruella de Vil
Cruella de Vil is, without a doubt, one of the most complex character designs you’ll ever face.
She wears a bunch of clothes and carries one heck of a grin. But the trickiest part is learning how to draw all this stuff together with accurate perspective.
The video above is really well done and it’ll take you all the way through Cruella’s design.
But just remember it may take you a few days or even a few weeks to really get this right. So don’t get discouraged if you can’t get Cruella right away.
Megara
Megara is the princess from Hercules and her design is a mixed bag.
She wears a classic garment from ancient Greece with hair for miles. Clothes should be pretty simple to draw but the hair may be a challenge getting it just poofy enough.
And the toughest part is likely gonna be her pose. It’ll take some time getting megara’s stance just right, along with her many facial features.
Yet I find she’s one of the most rewarding Disney characters to draw so in the end you’ll be glad you put in the time.
The Cheshire Cat
The 1951 film Alice in Wonderland features a whole cast of absurd characters.
But none compare to the most absurd of them all: The Cheshire Cat.
His design has seen many changes including the newer Alice in Wonderland released in 2016. But I still like his original design from the Disney film and it’s one of the easiest places to start drawing.
If you aren’t sure which Disney character to try first then Cheshire is a great starting point.
With a big grin and stripes to accentuate his outline you’ll have a lot of fun drawing this frenetic feline.
