How to Draw Zelda Characters

You loved the video game on Game Boy, Super NES and Nintendo 64. You beat the nastiest villains that were thrown at you, saved the princess (like 100 times) and wrote that online cheat-sheet guide. What is left for you to do in the land of Link and Zelda? Learn how to draw them! Follow these quick steps to be sketching your favorite Nintendo heroes in no time and do your part to create a little piece of Hyrule!

Instructions

Link

1. Link is really just made up of lines and angles--nothing fancy. Start by drawing the shape of his face, facing slightly off center. Make sure the chin comes to a harsh triangular point, and that half way up the face you puff the cheeks out a little to indicate the cheekbone

2. Draw his eyes on the top half of the face that you marked with the cheekbone. To get the right shape, sketch and oval and then draw a straight line through the middle of it. Erase the bottom half. Inside the oval, draw another oval for the iris that reaches from the straight line to the top of the big oval. Then inside that, draw another smaller, black oval for the pupil, leaving a small circle in the top left corner of it that you will leave white for a light spot. Repeat on the other side of the face

3. Draw the ears. Link's ears are long, thin, elfish and wild. You can have fun with them. Find the center of the eye you just drew and extend your line out from this point next to the head at about a 45-degree angle the length of the face outwards. Point the end of the line and bring it back toward the head in a thin triangle shape. Halfway back to the head, pull your line up and then back down to indicate an earlobe. Repeat on the other side of the head.

4. Draw in thin eyebrows slanting downwards from the outside of the face in to create an angry expression. You can also draw the nose in, as another small triangle just under the bottom of the eyes, and a thin straight line for a mouth. Add some blond hair in the form of curved triangles that are shaped around his face, and your Link head is done!

5. Draw Link’s body. His head should be a little disproportionally larger than his body. His body is small and a little scrawny under his big head and ears. Draw a thin neck under the head and extend it in either direction two-thirds of the head's length. At the end of the shoulders make a sharp, angular line down for his arms. His torso should be straight and flair out just slightly under the hips where his tunic ends. His legs are thin and straight. To finish him off, add the boots--just cylinder shapes over his feet.

Princess Zelda

1. Use the basics from Link's drawing to draw Zelda. They have the same head shape, eyes, ears, neck and shoulders. To draw Zelda, make a girly version of Link. Start by adding 6 long eyelashes on top of each eye. You also want to draw the eyebrows in a half moon shape over the eyes, instead of slanting downwards.

2. Zelda’s mouth should be small like Link's, but should have full, feminine lips. For the bottom lip, draw an upwards facing half-circle that links on either side with the straight line of the mouth. For the top lip, draw a shape that looks like a suspension bridge, or you can think of it like the other half of the circle with a slight dip in the middle.

3. The main difference between Link and Zelda is the way they are dressed: while Link has blond hair, Zelda’s hair is hidden behind a scarf. Similarly, while Link wears stockings and a tunic, Zelda wears a long dress. To draw Zelda’s dress, outline her body in the same way you did Link’s, except at the upper torso curve slightly (very slightly!) to hint at her woman hood. When you get to her hips, angle your line out on either side into a triangle shape to indicate the skirt part of the dress.

4. Zelda’s dress has puffy shoulders, so where you have the shoulders end and the arm begin, draw a 3/4 circle around the shoulder and link it back with your arm. Erase the shape of the shoulder inside the circle and you have just made the puffy sleeve for your dress.

Both Characters

1. When you have both character outlines the way you like them, you should start to color them in. Remember, Link’s tunic is green while Zelda’s dress is either light pink or white. Link’s hair is blond. Both of their eyes are blue.

2. Keep lines simple, dark, and straight as possible.

3. Less is more with these characters. Shading isn’t really needed, and will conflict with the neatness of the outlines