Photo: Mint Owl
Practice is a vital part of perfecting your drawing skills. Learning the basics and repeating them over and over again is the only way to improve. For proof, just check out what a few years of drawing practice can do. It’s truly incredible the progress that you can make by dedicating time to this pursuit. Those who do have gone from scrawling simple figure sketches to fully-rendered portraits in seemingly no time.
Photo: EndOfAllHope
Although the best way to improve your drawing is to just get started, figuring out what to sketch can be challenging. Like all creative endeavors, everyone goes through “blocks” where they can’t figure out what to put pencil to paper. Well, have no fear! We’ve got a list of 100+ easy drawing ideas for you to try and fill up your sketchbook with. They range from everyday objects to fantastical cityscapes—we recommend trying a variety in order to flex every bit of your drawing muscle.
But First, Gather Your Supplies
Graphite Pencils
Investing in great supplies will help ensure that you expand your sketching capabilities. So, check out our recommendations for the best drawing pencils, best sketchbooks, and best type of paper. Although pencils are the most popular tools when it comes to drawing, charcoal is also fairly popular for those who like to sketch and do it fast. While working on drawings that have deep shadows, charcoal will offer rich black tones perfect for shading. You can check out our selection of the best charcoal pencil sets for artists.
Drawing Pens
Does your artwork depict intricate details? Try using a drawing pen. Pens offer consistent linework and precision. There is a pen for almost every type of linework, including sketching, cartooning, drafting, calligraphy, and more. Check out our picks for the best drawing pens. And if you’re looking to add color to your work, we’ve identified some of the best colored pencils to use, too.
Photo: Pixabay
Drawing Ideas That Anyone Can Try
Still Life Drawing Ideas You Can Find at Home
You don't have to go far to find inspiration for what to draw. Just look around your house for what to sketch. Every object is an opportunity for drawing. If you're feeling ambitious, try combining them into a still life.
- The interior of your living room
- A houseplant
- Kitchen utensils, like a whisk or slotted spoon
- A necklace, ring, or another piece of jewelry—try combining them in a still life
- House keys attached to a keychain
- An interesting knick-knack (or knick-knacks) off your shelf
- An interesting doorknob or door knocker
- Crumpled fabric or a pile of laundry
- An object in a glass dish
- Your dinner that night…
- … before you've prepared it (the ingredients)
- Collection of your favorite things
- A still life featuring old technology
- Your favorite condiment from your kitchen—be sure to draw the label
- Things that make you feel cozy
- Your most interesting pair of shoes
- The items on your coffee table
- The view from your window
Ocean Waves, Trees, and More: Creativity Inspired by Nature
Nature has long provided artists with inspiration for drawing. Trees and the sandy beach are both beautiful to look at and are also fun to draw. As you improve on your drawing, try revisiting these same subjects to see how differently they now look.
- Trees outside your window
- A fresh bouquet of flowers (try colored pencils with this one)
- A myriad of mushrooms
- A landscape scene from your favorite vacation
- Head to a park and draw what you see
- Your favorite tree
- A seashell or collection of seashells
Have a Lot of Fun Drawing People With These Ideas
People can be a daunting subject matter to tackle, but humans are exciting models to explore. From self-portraits to sketching the body, you'll never tire of these interesting and challenging ideas that revolve around people.
- Your self-portrait
- A famous person you admire
- Your feet (or someone else's feet)
- Your hands (or someone else's hands)
- A closeup of your eye
- Sketch someone on public transit
- A portrait of your significant other
- Someone who looks worried and is biting their lip
- What you're wearing today
- The back of someone's head
- Curly hair, from gentle waves to ringlets
More Great Drawing Ideas
- A furry friend (working from a photograph is probably best)
- The exterior of your favorite building
- A cute baby animal
- Fresh fruit that's been cut in half (citrus fruit works well)
- A cup of coffee and pastry from a local cafe
- Your favorite wild animal
- A spider in a spiderweb
- Play with perspective by looking straight up at a skyscraper or at a bridge
- Make a copy of your favorite painting or statue (bonus points if it's in a museum)
- Recreate scientific renderings of bugs or birds (such as John James Audubon)
- What you see from your car's rearview mirror
- Frog on a lily pad
- The view from a bridge—either from or underneath it
- The inner workings of a mechanical object (like a watch)
- A ballerina on their toes
- Draw your to-do list
- Find a receipt and draw one item that is on it
- Sketch the same subject in at least five different ways
- Document your day, each hour, as a comic
- Aerial view of your favorite place
Photo: Syda_Productions/DepositPhotos
Creative Drawing Ideas Inspired by Holidays
Get into the spirit when you sketch. Holidays have their own imagery that you can source when trying to think of something to draw.
Halloween Drawing Ideas
- A bat flying in the sky
- Your idea of a haunted house
- A massive spider web (you decide how big)
- Pumpkins with scary faces
- A group of witches brewing a boiling cauldron
- A spooky ghost that could live in your town
- A glamorous vampire and their vampire hunter nemesis
- Zombies walking through the city
- An old graveyard that is coming alive
Thanksgiving Drawing Ideas
- A cornucopia of different fall foods (like pumpkins and corn)
- Your favorite Thanksgiving dinner dish
- Colorful fall leaves falling from the trees
- A portrait of a turkey
- Something that you're thankful for
Christmas Drawing Ideas
- A Christmas tree decorated by you
- A portrait of Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus
- All of Santa's reindeer playing in the snow
- The biggest snowman that you can imagine
- Santa's sleigh with Christmas lights
- Your family as gingerbread people
- A snow globe containing a beautiful winter scene
- Your Christmas stocking (filled with goodies)
- A yard filled with candy canes
Photo: Javier Gonzalez
Drawing Ideas Inspired by the Imagination
Imagine Your World With a Dragon and a Rainbow
Draw the world that you want to see. If it's cloudy out, imagine a sunny day with a vibrant rainbow. Want a protective pet? Sketch what a friendly dragon would look like. With these ideas, the sky is the limit to what's possible on the page.
- Design the exterior of your dream house
- Now, the interior of your dream home
- Build your own castle
- What's at the end of the rainbow?
- Imagine life underwater
- Picture a home in outer space…
- … and the ship that will take you there…
- … and the creatures you'll meet
- A neighborhood of treehouses
- Superheroes in real life
- Your world in LEGOs
- M.C. Escher-style interior
- Imagine a city in outer space
- Imagine an album cover for a fictitious band (or real band)
- Make up your own flower—for an added challenge, make it a whole bouquet
- Make up a music band and draw their album cover
- Draw a new album cover for an existing musician
- Combine multiple animals into one creature
Cool Drawing Ideas Inspired by Fantasy
Fantasy is all about imagining things. We often think about it in terms of grand worlds like Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter, but at its core, fantasy is about picturing things that don't exist today.
- Imagine a wolf made of branches
- Combine two subjects that don't go together into one scene
- Draw a new fish tank for a fish
- Draw a still life in the Cubist style
- Everything in the world is topsy-turvey (up is down, down is up)
- Animal dressed like a human
- Give an object a face
- Mashup of two characters in pop culture
- A mad tea party
- A forklift lifting spaghetti and meatballs
- It's raining… (not water)
- Randomly select three words and draw what they mean together
- An animal holding a balloon
- A llama that's about to tap dance
Patterns and Other Easy Things to Draw
You don't have to draw dragons to exercise your imagination. If you like design, try creating your own patterns or filling a sheet of paper with stylized flowers. These ideas will get you started.
- Cover a sheet of paper with an array of flowers
- Fill a silhouette portrait with geometric designs
- Make your own pattern
- Many mandalas in different shapes and patterns
- Reimagine a famous pattern like paisley
- Illustrate a vivid dream you or someone else has had
- Render your favorite memory
- An unlikely pair of friends
- A drawing of a drawing
- Swap the scale of two subjects
- Illustrate the phrase “it's a small world”
- Illustrate the phrase “your head in the clouds”
- Illustrate part of your favorite song
- Illustrate an idiom in a literal way
- Your favorite video game character
- A cityscape in the lenses of sunglasses
For even more drawing prompts, pick up your copy of 642 Things to Draw!
Learn How to Execute Your Drawing Ideas Step by Step
Photo: rawpixel
While there are seemingly endless cool drawing ideas floating around, some of the most popular subjects tend to be nature-themed or revolve around the human figure. Get acquainted with how to draw them with some of the step-by-step guides below. You never know—learning to draw them might spark even more drawing ideas!
Drawing Animals
Photo: Art: Sara Barnes | My Modern Met
How to draw a cat in two different ways — Whether you want to sketch countless tiny fur hairs or are looking to design the next Garfield, this guide will introduce you to basic cat anatomy and how to draw them in a realistic or stylized way.
Photo & Art: Margherita Cole | My Modern Met
Draw a tiger step by step — Ready to draw a big cat? Learn how to draw a tiger in 10 steps.
Photo & Art: Margherita Cole | My Modern Met
Learn how to draw a panda — Pandas are some of the most beloved animals on the planet, and it's easy to understand why. This tutorial will teach you how to draw a panda sitting while holding a shoot of bamboo.
Photo & Art: Margherita Cole | My Modern Met
Master drawing a cow lying down in a field — No depiction of a bucolic landscape is complete without a content cow, grazing away on some grass. Learn how to draw a cow with these step-by-step instructions.
Photo & Art: Margherita Cole | My Modern Met
Sketch a polar bear step by step — In this tutorial, we will go through the steps of sketching a polar bear walking through the arctic under a full moon.
Photo & Art: Margherita Cole | My Modern Met
Draw a sleeping arctic fox in nine steps — With their plush coats and charming personalities, it's no wonder foxes are among the most beloved animals on the internet. Now you can learn to draw one!
Photo & Art: Margherita Cole | My Modern Met
Make your own drawing of a sea turtle — Follow this illustrated guide to learn how to draw a sea turtle in pencil and then go over it in ink.
Photo & Art: Margherita Cole | My Modern Met
Learn a bat step by step — Bats are often regarded as a symbol of Halloween and all things spooky. Learn how to draw a bat with these step-by-step instructions and illustrations.
Drawing Human Anatomy
Photo & Art: Sara Barnes | My Modern Met
A “handy” guide to drawing hands — Drawing human anatomy is tricky, and the hands might be the most challenging body part of all. In this guide, we break down the internal structure of the hand and how you can articulate the bones and muscles under the skin. Follow these steps to bring your drawing to life.
Photo & Art: Sara Barnes | My Modern Met
Know your nose with this tutorial — Of all the facial features, the nose is one you might not give a lot of thought to. But don't ignore it—this feature helps define the face. We'll go over the anatomy of the nose and how you can draw it in a realistic way.
Photo & Art: Sara Barnes | My Modern Met
Set your sights on realism — Learning how to draw a realistic eye is all about understanding that it’s not just the pupil that makes it appear lifelike. The shape of the eye, the creases in the lid, and the eyelashes are also important in achieving likeness—and we'll go over all of it.
Photo & Art: Sara Barnes | My Modern Met
Perfect your portraiture in this tutorial — Portrait drawing has long had an important place in art history and remains a popular subject for contemporary artists. If you too are a creative who wants to carry on this tradition, it’s important that you know how to draw a face.
Photo & Art: Sara Barnes | My Modern Met
Learn to draw a skull — It’s a necessary and helpful exercise to learn how to draw a skull—even if you’ve rendered a portrait before. In this tutorial, we’ll look at the proportions of the head as well as an easy step-by-step process to sketching the bones.
Nature-Inspired Subjects
Photo & Art: Margherita Cole | My Modern Met
Embrace the fall spirit and draw a pumpkin — Whether they're orange, green, smooth, or bumpy, pumpkins are synonymous with autumn. We've put together this step-by-step drawing tutorial that will help you draw a pumpkin in just a few steps.
Photo & Art: Margherita Cole | My Modern Met
Sketch a sunflower in nine steps — Channel Van Gogh's painting when you follow this step-by-step guide.
Photo & Art: Sara Barnes | My Modern Met
Learn how to draw a rose — The rose is an enduring symbol of love. Just as writers have spoken of its beauty, artists draw its delicate petals. But just because the rose is popular doesn't mean it's easy to sketch. Loaded with layers of petals, it can be a challenge. But have no fear—we break a rose drawing down so that it's both approachable and fun.
Interested in other blooms? Here's how to draw a variety of flowers —There are so many types of botanicals in the world that it’s impossible to learn how to draw each one. But once you understand the basic structure of a flower, you can use that knowledge to sketch any botanical you like.
Photo: Rawpixel
If you're itching to sketch all the things, check out the top drawing tutorials on YouTube. These artists will help you learn to draw for free. And if you're looking to empower your creative journey even further, check out our illustration courses on My Modern Met Academy.
Photo: Art: Melissa De Nobrega | My Modern Met Academy
Portrait Drawing for Beginners: Learn How to Draw Anyone You'd Like — Learn to draw facial features, characters, and people. Melissa De Nobrega breaks down one of the most complex subjects into bite-sized lessons where drawing the human face becomes simple and approachable.
Photo: Art: Demi Lang | My Modern Met Academy
Architectural Illustration for Everyone: Draw Buildings in Ink and Colored Pencil — Draw architecture like a pro with this course by Demi Lang. She'll take you step by step through the process of drawing buildings using ink and colored pencil.
Looking for others who love drawing? Join our Art, Design, Photography, and Drawing Club on Facebook!
This article has been edited and updated.
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