How to Draw Mickey Mouse

Co-authored by Eric McClure

Mickey Mouse is a classic cartoon figure, and his big ears and expressive look make him an excellent choice when you’re trying to decide on what to draw. He’s also pretty easy to illustrate, even if you don’t have a ton of experience drawing. Between the button nose, 2 eyes, and 2 ears, he’s essentially a bunch of ovals layered in a certain order. The easiest way to draw him is facing forward, but you can draw him looking to the side if you want to increase the complexity a little. Once the head is done, you can add a body by drawing some trunks and some big goofy shoes!

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Illustrating Mickey in Profile

1
Draw a circle to make the main portion of Mickey’s head. Use a pencil to sketch a circle. This first circle will serve as the main portion of Mickey’s head, so make it roughly as big as you want the drawing to be. Make your circle as perfectly-round as possible.^{[1]
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- If you want a perfect circle to start, you can start by outlining a circular object, like a bottle of medicine or a glass.
- This method involves erasing a lot of lines after sketching Mickey’s general shape, so don’t press the pencil down hard as you make your first set of drawings.
2
Place 2 round, intersecting lines on the left side of the circle to make it spherical. Make your first line starting from the top of the circle. Bring your pencil around the left-side of the circle to make a crescent moon-shape on the leftmost side of the circle. Place another round line starting from the middle of the left side. Bring the pencil downwards to make a U-shaped arc. This will give the circle the impression of being round.^{[2]
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- These 2 lines are often called center lines, or contour lines. They’re used to serve as a guide for nose and eye placement. You will erase them eventually, so make them light.
- If you want Mickey to face right, reverse the directions and put the lines on the right side. Reverse the sides for each step so they’re on the other side.
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3
Draw a small circle that sticks out of the intersection where the lines meet. At the exact spot where your 2 center lines meet, start to draw a smaller circle roughly 1/10 the size of the big circle. Place the smaller circle so that the upper-right side of the circle shares the point where the 2 center lines meet.^{[3]
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- This smaller circle will be the middle of Mickey’s nose. You’ll eventually erase the lower half.
4
Put a slightly smaller egg shape on top of the smaller circle. On the upper-left side of the circle that you just drew, draw an egg sitting on top. Tilt it so that it is oriented 15-degrees away from the rest of the drawing. This will be the button on Mickey’s nose. You won’t erase these lines.^{[4]
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- If you don’t angle the button on Mickey’s nose slightly away from the rest of the head, Mickey will look like his nose is being pulled back. If the button is too flat, Mickey will look confused and angry.
5
Add 2 ears on the right and upper-right side of the big circle. Draw your 2 ears by adding 2 equally-sized circles on the upper-right and extreme right side of the bigger circle. Place them so that the bottom portion of each ear overlaps with the big circle.^{[5]
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- You will erase the section where the ears overlap with the rest of the head, but not the exterior portion.
- Make each ear about 3/5 the size of the big circle.
6
Divide the head by drawing a 3 in the middle of the big circle. To separate the black portion of Mickey’s head from the face, draw a 3 with top bar tilted down and the bottom bar tilted back like it’s falling over to the left. Merge the bottom bar into the line that forms the bottom of the circle, but keep the top bar separate from the top of the circle. Leave a little space between the top of the circle and the top bar on your 3. Once the top bar reaches the top left of the circle, draw a line running directly up into the head.^{[6]
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- This should be one continuous stroke.
- Mickey’s mouth will go in the bottom gap on the left. Mickey’s eyes will go in the upper gap on the left.
Tip: This is kind of a weird shape and it may feel kind of unnatural to add it. Make this line really light so that you can adjust it as you work through the drawing.
7
Connect the bottom of the small circle and the center of the big circle with a line. Start on the bottom of the small circle (not the egg, but the circle underneath it) and draw a U-shaped arc running into the middle of your big circle, slightly underneath the center. This will be the bottom of Mickey’s snout and the top of his lip.^{[7]
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- You will erase the bottom-right of the small circle, leaving the arc from the intersection of your center lines to the start of line you just made.
8
Add a smaller, deeper U-shape underneath the line you just made to make the mouth. Start right where the big circle meets the snout. Drag your pencil downwards and extend it a little bit past the edge of the big circle. Bring the pencil back up so that it meets the end of the line you just made.^{[8]
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- Make it look like a flattened-out U on top of a deeper U.
- You will erase everything inside of these 2 lines to make Mickey’s mouth.
- Make a tongue by drawing 2 connecting lumps in the bottom of the opening. It looks like a soft-M with rounded edges.
9
Draw the lower lip by adding a parallel arc under the bottom of the mouth. Draw a second U-shaped arc just outside of the bottom lip. Start from the snout and stop once you reach a little past the edge of the big circle.^{[9]
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- The gap between these 2 arcs should be very small. You will erase everything in between these 2 lines.
10
Add 2 eyes by drawing a larger oval on the right and a smaller oval on the left. Make your first eye by drawing a thin oval to the right of the center line and the left of your dividing 3-shaped line. Make a smaller oval on the left side of the center line but the right of the big circle’s left edge.^{[10]
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- Add pupils at the bottom of Mickey’s eyes. You can fill them in or leave them hollow.
11
Outline the initial sketch in ink or marker and erase the overlapping lines. You can erase the overlapping and guiding lines before or after you outline the drawing in pen or marker. Erase the connections between the ears, the inside of the mouth, the guiding lines, and the bottom-right of the snout. Outline the remaining lines in black ink to finish your drawing.^{[11]
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- If you’re adding color, make everything to the right of your dividing line black. Color the skin flesh-tone and make the tongue red.
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Finished.

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Drawing Mickey’s Body

1
Start Mickey’s pants by drawing a round waist and extending the sides. Mickey’s pants look kind of like a rounded rectangle. You can put them in the middle, or off to one side. Draw the left, right, and top of Mickey’s pants by placing them underneath the head. Leave a little space between the head and the top of the pants. Try to make the top of Mickey’s pants smooth and round by sticking them out a little in the center. This will give the impression that he is poking his belly out.^{[12]
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- The amount of space you leave between the top of the pants and the bottom of the head will determine how long Mickey’s torso is. Traditionally, he’s a pretty stout fellow, so you don’t need a ton of room.
- You can do this in pen if you want, but you won’t be able to erase your marks if you make any mistakes.
2
Add the bottom of each pant leg by drawing wide openings on each side of the trunks. You can either draw each pant leg flush against one another or draw one leg in front to make him stand at an angle. Add 2 small rectangles at the bottom of the pants. Leave the top line on each rectangle empty to make the pant legs seem like they’re one piece.^{[13]
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- The openings for the pants are pretty stout. These should look like kind of like short shorts with a high waist.
3
Put 2 big buttons in the middle of his trunk by drawing ovals. The 2 buttons are essential if you want your body to look like it belongs to Mickey. Put 2 pronounced ovals in the upper-portion of the pants. They should be slightly more vertical than the average oval.^{[14]
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- If you want Mickey to look like he’s facing the left, make the button on the left a little smaller than the button on the right to create the impression that it’s further away.
4
Draw 2 shorter lines coming up from the sides of the pants towards Mickey’s head. Angle each line slightly inwards to give the impression that Mickey’s body is pointing towards the center of the head. These should be fairly small lines. Do not connect them to the head.^{[15]
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- These will form Mickey’s sides on his torso.
5
Add the arms and fold them around to the back to make things easy. Add the line for an upper arm starting from the head. Add the line for the lower arm starting from just under the end of the torso line you just made. Bring these 2 lines out and down at a 45-degree angle. Stop once you get near the middle of the buttons and then fold them back inwards to make it seem like Mickey is holding his hands behind his back. Repeat this process on the other side.^{[16]
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- This is a classic Mickey pose.
- Mickey’s hands are kind of complicated to draw. You can try to add them if you want. He typically has 4 fingers and his hands are about the size of his head. Don’t forget that he’s always wearing gloves!
6
Illustrate some legs sticking out of the middle of Mickey’s pants. Make each leg stick out in the direction that you want. Each leg should be as wide as Mickey’s arms to make them seem proportional. Traditionally, Mickey’s legs are about the length of his pants, so stop once you think you’ve reached the appropriate length.^{[17]
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- Make one leg slightly wider if you want to make it seem like Mickey is standing at an angle.
- Leave the bottom opening of the legs empty for a moment so you can add shoes.
7
Give Mickey some big, round shoes with donut-shaped ankles. Mickey has big, round shoes, but the connection at the ankle resembles a donut with the leg sticking through the hole in the middle. Draw a small arc under the opening of a leg to close it off. Draw a halo starting from the edge above the ankle and wrap it around the front of the arc. Leave a little room in the middle and draw a big oval to finish Mickey’s shoes.^{[18]
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- Color Mickey’s trunks red and shoes yellow if you want to add some color.
Tip: Mickey is sometimes given a tail, although sometimes people leave it out. If you want your Mickey to have a tail, draw it sticking out of his backside starting from the bottom-right of his shorts. It’s usually a very thin tail. Curl it around to make it seem fluid the closer you get to the feet.
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Finished.

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Drawing Mickey Facing Forward

1
Draw a flattened oval in the middle of your page to make the nose. Start with Mickey’s nose by drawing the button on the end of his snout. Place an oval in the middle of your page that looks like it’s being flattened a little bit. This should look like a symmetrical egg tilted onto its side.^{[19]
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- Starting in the middle of his face and working your way out ensures that the facial features will stay proportional.
- This method doesn’t require any erasing, so you can start with a pen if you’re confident in your strokes. Otherwise, use pencil and outline it later. This makes it easy to fix mistakes before they become permanent.
2
Add an curved line above the nose and leave an equal amount of space in between the nose and the line. Place an arc that is identical to the top half of your oval a little above the nose. This will function as the base for Mickey’s eyes.^{[20]
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- Do not make this line longer than the oval itself or Mickey will look bug-eyed.
3
Draw 2 thinner ovals leading into the arc to make the eyes. From the front, the bottom of Mickey’s eyes look like they’re hidden behind Mickey’s snout. Draw 2 ovals of equal size extending out from the bottom of the arc that is sitting above the nose.^{[21]
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- The bottom 1/8 of the ovals should be missing as the eyes feed right into the line.
- Make the ovals thinner than the nose, and they should extend upwards a little bit with a little space between them.
4
Add the pupils by drawing them on the inside of each eye. Inside each eye, draw your pupils in the bottom of each oval. Place them so that they both fill in the corner closest to the middle. In other words, the bottom quarter of each pupil should be hidden.^{[22]
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- The bottom-right of your left pupil and the bottom-left of your right pupil should both be hidden.
5
Draw a simple smile with 2 cheek lines on each end of the line. Underneath the nose, draw a wide smile in a single pen stroke. The smile should extend to the horizontal plane where the center of your nose rests on each side of the face. Cap each end with a small, perpendicular line to give the mouth the classic Mickey look.^{[23]
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- Make the angle of this line near-identical to a basic smiley face.
6
Add a deeper U-shape underneath this line to make his mouth open. To open Mickey’s mouth, draw a deeper U-shaped line hanging from the middle portion of the line you just made. Start your line a little to the left of the nose and bring it down until you reach the center axis of the nose. Bring the line back up just past the right of the nose.^{[24]
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- Add the tongue by putting 2 bumps that connect in the middle at the bottom of the opening between these 2 lines.
7
Create the outline of Mickey’s face by drawing around the features. Begin to outline Mickey’s face by drawing a line that floats around the eyes and mouth. Start at the bottom and work your way around the rest of the face. Make sure that you puff out the cheeks a little when you’re going around the caps at the end of the smile.^{[25]
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- Sometimes Mickey has eyebrows, sometimes he doesn’t, it’s totally up to you if you want to include them. To add eyebrows, draw 2 little arcs over each eye in between this outline and the edge of the eye.
Tip: Draw all the way around every facial feature. This should be one line running around the eyes, cheeks, and bottom of the mouth.
8
Add 3 lines on the sides and top of Mickey’s head. Near the edge of where the left cheek sticks out, draw a parallel line that runs from the cheek to the space between the eye and the outline. Leave a little blank space for the left ear then draw a continuation of this line on top of Mickey’s head from the center of one eye to the center of the other. Leave another gap for the right ear and then draw a mirrored image of the first line on the right running down to the top of the other cheek.^{[26]
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- Make the gaps on each side an equal size to ensure that the ears are symmetrical.
9
Draw 2 circles on each side to make the ears. Start each ear where an exterior line ends and draw the rest circle leading into the adjacent line. Leave the bottom portion of each ear blank to give the impression that the 3 lines and 2 ears were made in one continuous stroke.^{[27]
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- You actually can do this in 1 continuous line if you have good pen control and a steady eye.
- It can be easy to accidentally make the ears look like ovals. If you do this, add more to the outline when you’re coloring the ears and back of the head in.
10
Color in the back of Mickey’s head and ears with black. Color in the ears and the back of Mickey’s head by coloring it black. If you want to give the rest of Mickey some color, make his tongue red and the skin flesh-tone.^{[28]
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Finished.

Community Q&A

Question

How do I make Mickey look angry?

Community Answer

Make his eyes squint and put angry-looking eyebrows on him.
Question

How do I make the body a good shape?

Community Answer

Start off with basic circles, for example, one large one for the base of the head and two smaller ones for ears. If you are drawing the full body you should start off with basic shapes. Usually, when I draw I only start with shapes like ovals and squares to then move on to detailing.
Question

Can I draw Mickey Mouse and change it a bit to make it Minnie Mouse?

Community Answer

Of course! My advice is to add eyelashes and a bow. Maybe add shoulders and color them pink, so it looks like she's wearing a pink dress.