How to Draw Elsa from Frozen 2 l #DrawWithDisneyAnimation

Hi, everyone, my name is Wayne Unten and I'm an animator at Walt Disney Animation Studios.

I started at the studio in 2005.

And most recently, I was the animation supervisor of Elsa in Frozen one and Frozen 2.

So I'm here today to teach you guys how to draw Elsa.

So first we're going to go ahead and start with a circle, we're going to do this very lightly.

This is going to be kind of like the construction lines that we can anchor all the features on to.

the construction lines that we can anchor all the features on to.

So first we’re gonna draw a circle and going to do a line in between and then a line below that one between this middle line and the bottom of the circle Again very lightly And then I'm going to put a line not in the center, but a little bit to the left.

This is going to be our center line, but she's going to be looking a little bit to the left.

So that's why I'm just going to have it a little bit offset.

And, actually, you know, I actually don't really do construction lines like this.

It's funny, when I was practicing for this video, I started doing these construction lines because it's really helpful for putting in all the different features.

But I found that my drawing didn't quite look like Elsa.

Usually, when I'm drawing her, I think about what she's feeling and you know, what really what she's thinking what she's feeling.

And the drawing feels a little bit more looser, and it actually feels a little bit more like Elsa.

So just something to keep in mind.

Right now we're just starting to learn how to draw her, so this is really good and helpful.

But if you continue to draw her, just think about her personality as you draw her, and I think that helps loosen it up.

But right now we're just having fun.

So let's go ahead and gonna just put in some of her features.

So I'm going to start with the eyes.

And I'm going to put that where the bottom of the lid touches this line right here.

And I'm just doing this in a very, very, very lightly She has almond eyes, which means that this outer corner right here is a little higher.

And then I'm going to go ahead and put in a slight indication of the brows.

Before I do that I just want to show this centerline can come in really handy.

Instead of drawing the brows in right above the eyes.

I'm going to have it a little bit offset to the left and here's why.

So I have this little paper guy right here, and I folded it to have kind of like contours, the contour of a face and I have a line going straight down the center.

So it looks straight now but as soon as I turn the face, you can see how the brows are a little bit left of the center right here and so is the nose, the nose is a little bit to the left.

And that's because the brows and the nose are a little bit closer to us.

So they appear a little bit more to the left.

So, with that in mind, I'm going to go ahead and draw the brows a little bit to the left.

That's around the center line right here.

And just a hint of the brows I'll go into detail later.

All right, now let's do the nose.

The nose is kind of like a think of it as like a diamond.

And it's about about an eye height down And I'm just gonna put in a diamond just to kind of lock that in.

And then the mouth.

Probably going to have the mouth line up the center with this center line over here.

So probably around here.

The mouth I'm just going to indicate with kind of like a “V” shape For right now and then the bottom lip Let’s talk a little bit about that.

Here's the the nose And think of this as kind of like a triangle or a pentagon that comes off of that.

And the mouth can live within this area like it won't go off to here, but it'll kind of like live in this little area.

she's going to be smiling.

So, maybe around here.

I'm just going to put that in just for placement right now.

Then, we're going to put in the chin and the chin will be right around here.

Okay, so let's go ahead and flesh in all the little features now.

So first, let's go ahead and do the eyes.

Again I mentioned, she's got these almond eyes she's got really long lashes.

So I'm going to go ahead and put in these really nice long lashes.

And they they're longer on the outer edge and they're thicker on the outer part as well.

if you think of the eye kind of like a circle, and then you build the lash on top of that It's like a plane that sits on top of the eye.

And then again, it's a little bit thicker on the outside.

So it kind of looks like that and see this curve right here.

What's nice about this curve is it kind of says that this eye is a round shape.

So that's really nice to have that curve in there.

I'm going to go ahead and do that on this side as well.

And her bottom lids, she's just going to be smiling and the cheeks or her mouth corners are upright and her cheeks are going up and the cheeks push the bottom lid up.

like an S shape right here.

And then her cheeks are pushing up.

So it's this shape right here, and then her cheek is pushing this mass up And so I have a little bit of a line right here just to indicate that there's this lid right here.

So let's put a little indication right here.

And right here for the eyeball itself I'm just gonna go ahead and put in a circle for the eye she's looking at us so it's a little bit to the right.

And for her eyes, She has blue eyes and that's shown in what's called the iris.

So this is the iris.

I have a little bit of a highlight right here, I'm not gonna shade that part.

And then I have the pupil, and the pupil is the black part of the eye.

And this highlight is kind of like take a chunk out of it, kind of like a bite of that pupil.

And then I'm going to go ahead and shade in the iris so that that color part I’m gonna shade that part in more toward the top and then leave the bottom part of the iris a little bit lighter.

That's where the light hits it.

So that's how I'm going to go ahead and draw the eye So first, let's go ahead and put in the highlight Again, that's the area I'm not going to shade And I'm gonna go ahead and put in the pupil Just draw that in Then I'm going to go ahead and shave that pupil in and then the iris a little bit more darker on the top part Onto the other eye Pupil, and the iris.

Something a little bit like that.

All right, and then, I'm gonna go ahead and fill in just a little bit darker this bottom lid.

She has bottom lashes too.

So I'm just gonna make that line just a little bit darker.

I'm thinking about how it's pushing up right here because she's smiling.

Okay.

All right.

Now let's go ahead and do.

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Oh, before we go into the brows.

There's a line right above the top lid.

It's a socket line.

This is really important to have in there.

When we're animating Elsa, this line is very expressive.

It actually echoes the shape that the brows are making and kind of adds a little bit of detail to show what she's feeling.

Cool.

And then let's go ahead and do the brows.

Again what's really nice about drawing it lightly right now, I could see that I probably want to lift those brows just a little bit so I only put it in very lightly so I can re-adjust as I go.

For the brows, we have the inner side, it's a little thicker, and then it tapers off.

And then there's a peak, the peak isn't right in the middle.

So it's, it's not in the middle of the brow but the peak is more of a third.

So this inner part is longer than this outer part.

I’m going to make this brow a little higher, maybe around here Maybe this brow is up higher too.

All right, now, I'm going to go ahead and do the nose, the nose, I'm just going to go ahead and Gonna just put in the details of the nostril And the other nostril And now for the mouth.

So I'm gonna do the lips, the top lip first, it's a little thicker toward the center as it goes out.

Give her a little bit of a smile.

And then for her bottom lip, actually let me just put in the top lip here.

Here’s the top lip It’s a little thicker in the center, and then the bottom lip has these two points and then the angle changes and it goes up toward the corner.

That's the bottom lip.

So now I'm going to go ahead and put in the cheek right here.

Sometimes I like to think of it —this doesn't isn't always the case depending on the angle— but sometimes I like to think of it kind of like there's this implied line that points to the chin, and then the cheek builds off of that.

So it comes out and it goes in.

So this is called a convex and a concave.

Depending on the angle, it doesn’t always do this, but something I kind of do.

So I'm going to start it from the brow that goes to about midway from the eye.

Then from there, here's the top of the cheek and wraps down and it goes into the chin.

Then I’m going to lightly put in the jawline and have it go up to where the ear will be.

And I still kind of do this a little bit light just so I can adjust if I need to.

so let's now go ahead and do the ear, put in a slight indication of where the ear will be.

And then here's the her sideburns.

And then now, we're going to do the hair.

She has really cool hair! So the hair.

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So she has hair that that starts from the center and it comes out in really cool curves It starts out and then it swooshes back.

It kind of looks like an S, these “S” shapes.

And then there's a top one.

Then, let's do this other side.

And then it actually goes over the ear, it covers the ear a little bit.

There's one strand that goes over her, or right above her left eye.

And then there's a little one right here.

Okay, so we're gonna start to put that in.

Start from here.

Have it go around here.

Have another one come over the ear.

Just have fun with this.

Just swishing it here down.

Then there's the top one.

It was really funny: when we were making the film, there's different groups who worked on the hair.

There's a group called look development and simulation setup that they would build the hair and then technical animation, they would be the ones animating the hair.

And if they had to critique the hair or call out the part of the hair, they had names for each little clump of the hair.

I think this one was called “Big Roost” I think.

And then this one was “Little Roost” they had fun names for each part of the hair.

Okay, so I'm going to go ahead and do this side.

Okay, then let's put in that one that hangs over.

All right.

Let's see what else.

Now let's do the braid.

Okay, so for the braid, I'm smudging a little.

That's okay.

We get the erase out later.

For the braid, she's got this elegant braid from any angle that you draw her.

Let's just say if it’s like this angle.

Her hair that comes around and over, it swoops.

Okay, so this now comes around, goes behind her neck and over her left shoulder.

So same on this side it comes around, and then it goes over her left shoulder.

But there's this nice curve that you see happening here.

So what we're going to want to do is we're going to have that nice curve.

So again, very lightly, I'm just going to go ahead and put in indication of where I'm going to put the braid.

Not doing the braid yet.

Let me just put in her neck too.

just so we have that as a reference.

Okay, so that's where the braid will go.

So the braid itself, let me show you a little shortcut that I do.

It can be a little complex so I have a little cool little way of doing it.

Really simple, just simplifying it.

So think of it as like a diamond.

and then you taper the top and then you taper the bottom and you round this part off.

Okay, so that is going to look like something like this.

Okay, so it kind of looks like an “S” here and an “S” here.

It kind of looks like a leaf, right? So I've got that.

And now I'm going to make several of these.

So like this, and I'm going to put another one, and it's going to be a little bit offset to the left and another one.

And as I go, they're going to get smaller and smaller.

Okay, and now we have half of a braid.

So for the other half of the braid, we're going to make a “C” shape.

So starting from right here, and then going to here Okay, and then I'm going to do another one.

And another one.

I'm gonna keep going until the end There's her braid.

So I’m going to do it one more time.

So here’s a couple leaves.

And then to put a “C” shape And it tapers down.

And then for the very tip actually she has a hair strand that ties the braid.

And then what you can do is draw a “C” shape and a reverse “S”.

It almost looks like a little paintbrush.

Again, it's a “C” shape and a reverse “S”.

Cool.

So let's go ahead and put that in.

Again just have fun with this.

Yeah, it's putting in a leaf.

And then you know, I just put it in like, you know just have fun And then it gets a little smaller.

And then I'll do the “C” put that in, All of this is very light as well.

I'm putting it in very lightly because then I can refine it later.

There we go.

Now let's tie that off the “C” shape and then the reverse “S”.

Now- Oh, right here, see like how this right here has a little chunk like, remember how I was saying her hair is this nice swoop? sometimes if there's a chunk like that in there like there's a notch in her hair or like right here if it's like notched, you could fill this in with a flyaway hair that comes out and then it curls back in.

So it goes out and then back in.

And then that way the silhouette has that nice curve again.

Okay, so let's go ahead and next do her coat.

So she has this really cool travel coat that was designed by Brittney Lee.

Gonna put in her shoulders first and the coat has this really cool corner right here to it.

And the coat, it comes down and you can't really see on this side it's under the hair but what it looks like is You have her neck and shoulder and then it has a collar and it comes down, it's like a “V” and then she has a belt.

We're not going to draw the belt, but that goes down to the belt.

And then you could see the dress that she wears underneath, you can see the top part of that.

Those are the one that you that when she's running in the dark sea.

She's got that.

There's this coat and it has this really cool snowflake pattern right here.

You can just do the little triangles.

All right, so let's go ahead and put that in.

So you don't really see it right here, but you do see the dress underneath.

And then you can just put it in really lightly the the detail.

This side, snowflake, the snowflake centers right here on the edge.

Cool.

So now we're pretty close to like having everything in there.

Now what we can do is we can just really go ahead and flesh it out So all the parts that I sketched in really lightly, we can go in now and make those lines a little nicer and darker and have weight to it.

So here, I'm just gonna have, just gonna make it a little darker.

And then taper darker, taper.

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There's like little details like the ear, I didn't do the inner part.

I'm just going to just a little indication of the ear, still keep it simple.

Make the bottom part of the hair a little darker.

Shows a little bit of weight.

Have fun with these swirls.

I really loved animating this character she was a lot of fun to animate.

You kind of miss her after you finish the film.

She's like a real person to you when you work with her for so long Yeah, so so proud of her she overcame her fear and now she's grown so much.

Very happy for her.

I'm gonna just go ahead and erase out these construction lines.

You don't have to do that but, you know also if there's any smudges, now you can erase out those smudges.

Cool, I think that's, I think that's about it.

Yeah.

Cool.

Well, thank you so much for following along.

I hope you guys had fun.

Bye!.