How to Draw Disney Villains | How To | Latest Technology News- Prosyscom

Final product image
What You’ll Be Creating

In the previous tutorials of this series, I’ve shown you how to characters, both human and animal ones. But they were mostly “good characters”. If you want to Disney , you need to learn a few more tricks

In this tutorial, I will show you how to mark a character as a villain with the style of drawing. I’ll also lead you step by step through the process of drawing three popular Disney villains: the Evil Queen from Snow White, Ursula from The Little Mermaid, and Scar from The Lion King.

Don’t forget to check the previous tutorials first, as this one will be based on what you can learn from those!

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  • How to Draw Disney Characters
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1. How to Draw a Disney Villain

If you’ve watched a lot of Disney movies, you’ve probably noticed something that most villains have in common: they’re not as pretty as the protagonist. They’re usually ugly, and they’re often disfigured, with exaggerated features. The Fairy Godmother of Cinderella is cutely plump, while Ursula is morbidly obese; all the princesses are slim and look healthy, while Cruella De Vil looks emaciated, and so on. Also, while protagonists (especially female ones) tend to have very similar faces, villains look unique, each in their own way.

Because villains are all so different, it’s impossible to create a single recipe for one. However, traditionally the contrast between the hero and the villain is accentuated through these areas:

Feature Hero Villain
Eyes Big pupils symbolizing innocence and trust. Eyes are usually wide open. Small pupils symbolizing distrust and dishonesty. The eyelids are often big, and the eyes are rarely fully open. The lower eyelids can also be visible, adding age.
Eyebrows Proportional, with a natural curve. Unnaturally highly placed, with an exaggerated shape.
Head Child-like proportions, smooth shapes. Natural proportions; the features are often exaggerated (clear jawline, clear cheekbones)
Neck Very slender; makes the head look bigger. More natural, proportionate to the body.
Face The face is perfect, with smooth skin. Freckles are allowed. Some imperfections can be found: wrinkles, beauty marks, scars.
Makeup If present, looks natural. Often heavy, over-the-top.
disney protagonist villain difference

Of course, it doesn’t mean that villains are simply older, uglier versions of heroes. These features are simply used to make a villain unique, but he/she can also be young and beautiful—the main difference lies in the facial expressions. The villain in Frozen (spoiler alert!) looked like a perfect prince all the time. The only things that mark him as a villain are his facial expressions and the tone of the voice that changes when his true intentions are revealed.

Let’s take a look at a few examples. A hero, when smiling, looks very friendly and trusting. Heroes see good in people, and they’re not afraid to show their emotions. A villain, on the other hand, doesn’t trust anyone. When they smile, it’s not pleasant. It’s more about disdain than about sympathy. The most neutral emotion that most villains express is boredom with a hint of annoyance.

disney neutral expression for villain

When something bad happens to a hero, they feel sad. A villain is more likely to react with anger—it’s always someone else’s fault, after all. This keeps us, the audience, from feeling too much empathy towards the villain.

disney sad expression for villain

Villains tend to be more theatrical in their expressions, more dramatic. They rarely show their true emotions; instead, they create a special, menacing image of what they pretend to feel. Their face is like a scene where a show is being played to manipulate the interlocutor.

disney villain emotions

But it doesn’t mean that heroes can never be angry or threatening. It’s just that when they are, it’s justified and portrayed in a sympathetic way. Villains tend to overreact, which stresses the wrongness of their actions.

disney villains overract

If you want to learn how to draw facial expressions, for both protagonists and villains, you should check out this huge tutorial:

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    Human Anatomy Fundamentals: Mastering Facial Expressions

    Joumana Medlej

2. How to Draw the Evil Queen From Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

The Evil Queen is the first real Disney villain (starring in a full-length animated feature film), and a very special one—she’s supposed to be beautiful by default, the fairest one of them all, in fact. So she couldn’t be made ugly to accentuate her evilness. Instead, the creators focused on a different kind of contrast between her and Snow White—she looks adult (but not old), and she never expresses positive emotions.

Let’s see how to draw the Evil Queen step by step!

Step 1

Draw a sphere.

draw a sphere

Step 2

Add some volume to the back of the skull. This will give it more realistic proportions.

make the sphere longer

Step 3

Divide the lower half of the sphere into thirds.

divide sphere into thirds

Step 4

Copy these thirds below the sphere.

add area for the lower face

Step 5

Sketch a line across the face. The chin should lie slightly above the last line.

divide the face in half

Step 6

The middle third on the lower half of the sphere will be the eye area. Split it in half.

add area for eye corners

Step 7

Outline the face. As you can see, it’s noticeably longer than the face of a young, cute princess.

outline face

Step 8

Draw the oval eyes in the middle third.

add ovals for eyes

Step 9

Draw the curve of the eyebrows.

add curve of eyebrows

Step 10

Draw the cheeks, nose, mouth, and chin.

add facial features

Step 11

Outline the eyes.

add upper eyelids
add lower eyelids

Step 12

Draw the irises and pupils. Keep the pupils small.

add iris and pupil

Step 13

Add the eyelashes.

draw eyelashes

Step 14

Add the eyelids.

draw full eyelids

Step 15

Draw the eyebrows.

draw eyebrows

Step 16

Finish the lips. They’re big and curvy, giving an impression of disappointment even as a neutral expression.

draw smile
draw full lips

Step 17

Finish the nose. It’s very subtle; the outline of the nostrils is not visible.

finish the nose

Step 18

Add the neck.

draw the neck

Step 19

Divide the upper half of the sphere into thirds.

add proportion to forehead

Step 20

Divide the lowest third into halves (roughly).

find guide line for hood

Step 21

Add the outline of the “hood”.

draw the ghood

Step 22

Draw the crown.

draw crown sketch
draw full crown

Step 23

Finish the drawing.

draw evil queen from snow white

3. How to Draw Ursula From The Little Mermaid

Ursula is a full-blown villain—exaggerated in her body and facial features, theatrical in her expressions and tone. She’s a great example of how far you can go when you’re not limited by any official standards of beauty. It’s quite sad that protagonists never get to look so unique!

Let me show you how to go from a classic Disney face to a more interesting one to draw Ursula step by step.

Step 1

Start with a sphere.

start with sphere

Step 2

Divide its lower half into thirds.

add proportions of lower face

Step 3

Add a big oval to the sphere.

add the full face

Step 4

Find the middle of the face. Mark the half of the oval.

find middle line of face

Step 5

Divide the upper half of the sphere into thirds. Draw a line under the sphere.

add more guide lines

Step 6

Mark the lowest third of the upper third. Then draw another one under it, symmetrically.

add guide lines of forehead

Step 7

Add the extreme curve of the eyebrows.

add curve of eyebrows

Step 8

Draw the oval of the eyes under the halfway line of the sphere.

add oval eyes

Step 9

Add the details of the face: the cheeks, nose, mouth, chin, and ears.

add facial features

Step 10

Add the outlines of the eyes.

add upper eyelids
add lower eyelids

Step 11

Draw the little irises and pupils.

add eyes

Step 12

Draw huge upper eyelids and smaller lower ones.

add full eyeldis

Step 13

Finish the eyebrows.

draw eyebrows

Step 14

Add the eyelashes.

draw eyelashes

Step 15

Finish the nose.

finish nose
draw charcteristic nose

Step 16

Finish the mouth.

draw curve of smile
draw lips
finish lips

Step 17

Because the smile is so wide, it squishes the cheeks under the eyes.

add smile

Step 18

Add the hair.

add hair line
add hair curve
add more hair
finish hair

Step 19

Finish the drawing.

how to draw ursula from little mermaid

4. How to Draw Scar From The Lion King

The evilness of Scar is accentuated with his general unhealthiness—he’s in bad shape, skinny, with a sparse mane and a scar. He’s drawn this way in contrast to Mufasa and Simba, who are both harmoniously built, with full manes. 

You can easily see what makes Scar look “evil” by comparing him to Kovu from The Lion King 2—they share almost all the colors and even the scar, yet Kovu looks friendly and trustworthy. Scar’s physique also plays an important part in the story—as he’s too weak to overthrow Mufasa in a fight, he must use his cunning to take the throne some other way.

Let me show you how to draw Scar step by step!

Step 1

Start with a sphere. It should be smaller than in other lions, and tilted (you can clearly see the difference in this image). This gives Scar a menacing look.

syart with tilted sphere

Step 2

Add the muzzle below, following the tilt of the head.

draw oval muzzle

Step 3

Add the chin.

draw the chin

Step 4

Divide the muzzle into thirds, horizontally.

add guide lines to muzzle

Step 5

Mark the front of the muzzle.

mark front of muzzle

Step 6

Draw the nose.

add nose

Step 7

Divide the upper half of the head into halves.

mark the forehead

Step 8

Divide the lower of these halves into thirds.

add guide lines for eyes

Step 9

Divide the upper half into thirds, too.

add guide lines for eyebrows

Step 10

Draw the top of the muzzle.

draw top of muzzle

Step 11

Add the curve of the eyebrows. Connect them to the nostrils.

add curve of eyebrows

Step 12

Finish the area of the eyes.

draw curve of eyes
how to dra lion king eyes

Step 13

Draw the eyes.

draw oval eyes
draw upper eyelids
draw lower eyelids
draw whole eyes

Step 14

Draw the eyebrows.

draw scar eyebrows

Step 15

Draw the cheeks.

draw lion cheeks

Step 16

Draw the mouth.

draw mouth

Step 17

Outline the muzzle and the cheeks.

draw scars features

Step 18

Add a thin neck.

draw scar neck

Step 19

Add the ears. They should be big enough to still be visible once you add the mane.

draw scars ears

Step 20

Add the mane.

draw scars mane structure
finish scars mane

Step 21

Finish the drawing.

how to draw scar from lion king

Magnificent Job!

Now you know how to draw Disney villains, both real and your imagined ones. If you want to keep drawing, you may be interested in our series on how to draw cartoon characters:

how to draw disney villains