100+ Drawing Ideas That Will Get You Sketching Right Now

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. They range from everyday objects to fantastical cityscapes—we recommend trying a variety in order to flex every bit of your drawing muscle.

Investing in great supplies will help ensure that you expand your sketching capabilities. So, check out our recommendations for the best drawing pencils and our guide for the best type of paper to use. 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

Easy Drawing Ideas Inspired by Real Life:

The interior of your living room
A houseplant
Kitchen utensils, like a whisk or slotted spoon
Your self-portrait
A family photograph that you cherish
A famous person you admire
Your feet (or someone else's feet)
Your hands (or someone else's hands)
A necklace, ring, or another piece of jewelry—try combining them in a still life
A furry friend (working from a photograph is probably best)
A fresh bouquet of flowers (try colored pencils with this one)
Trees outside your window
The exterior of your favorite building
The items on your coffee table
Your most interesting pair of shoes
A cute baby animal
Fresh fruit that's been cut in half (citrus fruit works well)
House keys attached to a keychain
A cup of coffee and pastry from a local cafe
An interesting knick-knack off your shelf
Your favorite wild animal
A spider in a spiderweb
The back of someone's head
Sketch someone on public transit
An interesting doorknob or door knocker
Play with perspective by looking straight up at a skyscraper or at a bridge
Crumpled fabric
A landscape that you love
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)
A closeup of your eye
An object in a glass dish
What you're wearing today
The view from your window
What you see from your car's rearview mirror
Your dinner that night…
… before you've prepared it (the ingredients)
A myriad of mushrooms
A still life featuring old technology
Your favorite farm animal
Collection of your favorite things
A portrait of your significant other
Head to a park and draw what you see
Frog on a lily pad
The view from a bridge—either from or underneath it
Things that make you feel cozy
A scene from your favorite vacation
The inner workings of a mechanical object (like a watch)
Your favorite condiment—be sure to draw the label
A ballerina on their toes
Someone who looks worried and is biting their lip
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

Seasonal Drawing Ideas

Photo: Syda_Productions/DepositPhotos

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

Drawing Ideas Inspired by the Imagination

Photo: Javier Gonzalez

Cool Drawing Ideas Inspired by the Imagination:

Combine two subjects that don't go together into one scene
Draw a new fish tank for a fish
Imagine a wolf made of branches
Cover a sheet of paper with an array of flowers
Design the exterior of your dream house
Build your own castle
Fill a silhouette portrait with geometric designs
Make your own pattern
Draw a still life in the Cubist style
Illustrate a vivid dream you or someone else has had
Imagine life underwater
Picture a home in outer space…
… and the ship that will take you there…
… and the creatures you'll meet
Render your favorite memory
Everything in the world is topsy-turvey (up is down, down is up)
Animal dressed like a human
Give an object a face
A neighborhood of treehouses
An unlikely pair of friends
A mad tea party
A forklift lifting spaghetti and meatballs
Aerial view of your favorite place
Superheroes in real life
Mashup of two characters in pop culture
M.C. Escher-style interior
Your world in LEGOs
A drawing of a drawing
Swap the scale of two subjects
It's raining… (not water)
Your dream house
Illustrate the phrase “it's a small world”
Illustrate the phrase “your head in the clouds”
Imagine a city in outer space
A llama wearing a top hat
Many mandalas in different shapes and patterns
Illustrate part of your favorite song
Reimagine a famous pattern like paisley
Illustrate an idiom in a literal way
Imagine an album cover for a fictitious band (or real band)
Randomly select three words and draw what they mean together
Your favorite video game character
A cityscape in the lenses of sunglasses
An animal holding a balloon
Make up your own flower—for an added challenge, make it a whole bouquet
Combine multiple animals into one creature
Give an object a face
Make up a music band and draw their album cover
Draw a new album cover for an existing musician

**For even more drawing ideas, 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.