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Disney's Free Classes Teach You How To Draw Your Favorite Characters

Need a break from your TV and movie-watching marathons? Now's a great time to grab a piece of paper, sharpen a pencil and improve your art skills.

Disney is offering a free series of animation courses on its YouTube channel, teaching how iconic characters like Minnie Mouse, Elsa from "Frozen," Goofy and many more can be drawn.

The classes, 43 in all, are led by Disney animators and range from 10 minutes to close to 30 minutes -- and you don't need to have any drawing skills to try them.

For example, Animation Academy Artist Heather Worley shows how you can draw Ray the Firefly from "Princess and the Frog."

Drawing can be more than just a way to pass the time, according to the experts.

A study published in the August 2016 issue of Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity and the Arts showed that drawing can have a significant effect on your mental health, especially during times of emotional stress.

"You can get a positive effect with just 15 minutes of drawing," lead researcher Jennifer Drake, Ph.D., an assistant professor of psychology at Brooklyn College, told Psychology Today. "Drawing to distract is a simple and powerful way to elevate mood, at least in the short term."

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