Ever since I was little I’ve been a fan of Disney movies. This series of illustrations features some of my favorite princesses that I turned into simplistic movie posters. Featured in this collection are Rapunzel from Tangled, Pocahontas from Pocahontas, Jasmine from Aladdin, Ariel from The Little Mermaid, Elsa from Frozen, and Belle from Beauty And The Beast.

I did the same zentangle illustration style on all of the posters, incorporating things from each movie into each girl’s hair. Because the focus is really on the individual hair of each princess I wanted to eliminate their facial identity and so every princess’ face is covered in hair.  This also was a main reason why I picked the princesses that I did.

TANGLED

When working on this illustration of Rapunzel, I decided to pose her with her long hair drifting off the page. I wanted to make her hair into a scene that represents the journey she goes on in the movie.  You can see her tower covering up her face, the sun motif on the left side of her head and the glowing lanterns floating up towards the top.

As for the pop of background color to pick for Rapunzel I went with a soft lilac from her dress that really shows the spirit of her personality. When styling the photo I gave her the signature frying pan (who knew?) and paint brushes.

POCAHONTAS

Pocahontas was definitely one of my all time favorite Disney movies growing up and as such has evolved into one of my favorites in this series.  I love the way I could play with her hair whipping through the wind, and added in various aspects of nature within.  Some of the things included are geometric trees and mountains and clouds that whip around in the wind and the leaves.

I went with the turquoise of Pocahontas’ mother’s necklace she wears to use as her pop of color, and I love the calm, freshness the color brings.  Finally, I styled this photo with some tiny pinecones to keep up the nature motif.

ALADDIN

I have always been obsessed with Jasmine’s hair. I would very unsuccessfully try to duplicate it when I was younger. So when I went to illustrate her I wanted to make sure I got the beautiful fullness down. Within her thick locks I’ve put in the Cave of Wonders, the Palace, magic carpet, Raja’s stripes, and the lamp.

For her pop of color I decided on the mintier green color of her outfit as opposed to the more teal version because it felt richer to me.  I styled her photo with gold embellishments to show the wealth of Agrabah in contrast with half a loaf of bread to show the poverty that Aladdin overcomes.

THE LITTLE MERMAID

Ariel is everyone’s favorite red-headed princess AND everyone’s favorite mermaid.  She is actually the first illustration I did for the series and still one of my favorites.  Within her hair are fish, bubbles and everything under the sea.

Very obviously, Ariel’s background color had to be red for her hair. In the photo are the typical starfish and seashell next to a small dinglehopper.

FROZEN

Queen Elsa may not exactly be a princess anymore, but she is the newest favorite royalty in the Disney world. Throughout Elsa’s iconic “let go” braid are some icy motifs, snowflakes, snowmen and sweater inspired patterns.

I picked a very appropriate cool light blue as her pop of color, and highlighted a snowflake in her hair. I added some snowflake cutouts in the styled photograph to give the whole look a colder feeling.

BEAUTY & THE BEAST

Belle is the original beauty. For this illustration I wanted to use her more glamorous half-up hair style instead of her everyday low ponytail. I placed roses, dishes and candlesticks throughout her hair.

Her iconic golden gown provided the inspiration for the background color that I used in this particular illustration.  I added a tea cup and a rose to hint at plot points in the movie in my photograph of the poster.

Any other beauties you’d like to see in the future? Doesn’t even have to be princesses. Let me know in the comments, and maybe there will have to be another set in this series!