Coco has captivated audiences worldwide, and the film’s vibrant culture and music have inspired countless artists. Among the many iconic elements of Coco, Miguel’s guitar stands out as a symbol of passion and musical heritage. If you’re an artist looking to capture the beauty of this instrument in your fan art, accuracy is key. While creative interpretations are always welcome, referencing the original design ensures your work resonates with fellow Coco enthusiasts. This guide serves as your masterpost for drawing the guitar from the Coco movie with precision and detail.
First, it’s essential to grasp the proportions of the guitar. For a foundational understanding, @im-fairly-whitty’s guide provides invaluable insights into the basic guitar proportions, specifically referencing the Cordoba version inspired by the Coco guitar. You can find this helpful resource here: basic proportions of a guitar. It’s worth noting that the Cordoba guitar, much like the one the author owns, is a 7/8 size model, slightly smaller than a standard guitar. Keep this in mind when considering overall dimensions for absolute accuracy.
The size of the guitar in relation to Miguel is another crucial aspect. Miguel Rivera is portrayed as a young boy, and the animators cleverly played with scale to emphasize this. A fascinating fact is that the filmmakers even constructed a real-life oversized guitar prop to aid in animating scenes with adult characters alongside the instrument. This photo illustrates the size difference perfectly:
Alt text: Animation reference showing young Miguel character standing next to a disproportionately large white guitar prop used in the Coco movie, illustrating the size difference for animators.
As you can see, the guitar appears quite large next to Miguel. This intentional scaling is mostly relevant when drawing Miguel or other children with the guitar. For adult characters in the film, the guitar is depicted as a standard, traditionally sized instrument.
Let’s delve into the decorative details that make the Coco guitar so unique and recognizable:
For artists focusing on Miguel’s homemade guitar, remember that it’s depicted as being built from memory, leading to some inaccuracies compared to Ernesto de la Cruz’s iconic guitar. For instance, Miguel’s version features 10 teeth on the headstock, while the original has 12.
The sides of the guitar are characterized by alternating dark and light stripes, arranged in columns of 7 polished, pearlescent rectangles that shimmer in the light. The guitar neck itself is a clean, bright white.
Both the front and back sides of the guitar are framed by a rim of these same decorative rectangles, albeit thinner and shaped like parallelograms. A delicate gold border further outlines this rim. The back of the guitar maintains a simple, plain white aesthetic, contrasting with the detailed front.
The sound hole is encircled by 12 gold triangles, each pointing inwards like hour markers on a clock face. A dark outer border completes the sound hole design. Notably, unlike many guitars, the Coco guitar lacks a brand sticker inside the sound hole, keeping its design clean and focused.
String detail is also significant. The E, A, and D strings (the thicker strings at the top) are silver wound strings. Conversely, the G, B, and high E strings (the thinner ones at the bottom) are depicted as wound nylon strings – a less common choice that adds to the guitar’s distinctiveness.
Alt text: Detailed close-up image showing the wound nylon strings on the guitar from the movie Coco, highlighting the unique string type.
One of the most charming and often overlooked details is the tuning keys. These, also known as pegheads or machine heads, are sculpted into adorable metal skulls, adding a whimsical yet slightly gothic touch to the instrument.
The headstock, the part of the guitar housing the tuning keys and shaped like a skull with a gold tooth, is slightly angled or “tilted back” when viewed from the side. It features a “slotted” headstock design, allowing the tuners to be visible through slots that are cleverly decorated to resemble skull eyes. The Coco guitar’s headstock is proportionally larger than those found on many standard guitars, a point to consider when using typical guitars as reference.
Alt text: Zoomed image of the Coco movie guitar headstock featuring skull-shaped tuning keys, gold tooth detail, and slotted design, emphasizing the unique skull aesthetic.
Observe the teeth on the headstock – there are 12 in total, with the gold tooth standing out as the second from the right on the top row. The black designs on the headstock aren’t solid black paint; they appear to be stone inlay with dark swirls, adding depth and texture to the ornamentation.
Moving down the neck, the frets, those horizontal lines across the fretboard, are gold-colored. The fretboard markers, indicating fret positions, follow a distinct and memorable pattern:
- 3rd fret: small skull
- 5th fret: circle
- 7th fret: diamond
- 9th fret: circle
- 12th fret: diamond
- 15th fret: circle
The Coco guitar has 19 frets in total, which is standard for a classical guitar.
For a comprehensive view, here are some full-body shots of the guitar to aid your artistic endeavors:
Alt text: Full-body image of the white guitar from the movie Coco, showcasing its overall shape, proportions, and decorative elements.
Alt text: Alternate full view of the Coco guitar, highlighting the side profile and curvature of the body, useful for drawing different angles.
When seeking reference material, prioritize images directly from the Coco movie itself. While recreations like the Cordoba guitars are available, and even officially licensed, they often contain inaccuracies, whether intentional or not. Take the Cordoba Coco guitar collection, marketed as the closest real-life replica, for example. Even these versions miss key details: the diamond fretboard markers are absent, the gold detailing on the outer edge border is simplified, and the bridge is too long. Color accuracy can also vary. While these Cordoba guitars are beautiful instruments in their own right, they should be used cautiously as direct references if your goal is to draw the truly canon Coco guitar.
Finally, tackling different angles of the guitar can be particularly challenging without appropriate references. Fortunately, Sketchfab offers a fantastic resource: interactive 3D models created by users, freely available to explore.
For basic acoustic guitar models to practice angles and forms: basic acoustic guitar model, another acoustic guitar model, and a very basic model for simplified form study.
And finally, for the ultimate reference: a 3D model of the actual Coco guitar itself, created by Sketchfab user oday: 3D Coco Guitar Model. While minor details or colors might slightly deviate from the film, this model offers an exceptional way to visualize the guitar from any perspective.
Now, equipped with this comprehensive guide and a wealth of visual resources, it’s time to bring Miguel’s iconic guitar to life on your canvas! Go forth and create!
