Drawing Prompts: 100 Ideas for When You Don't Know What to Draw

How to use these prompts

Pick a prompt without thinking too long, set a timer for 10 or 20 minutes and stop when it rings. A small finished drawing teaches you more than a big one you never start. If a prompt feels too hard, draw just one part of it: the mug without the cat, the house without the cloud.

Animals

1. A cat curled up inside a coffee mug
2. A dog wearing a raincoat
3. A duck splashing through rain puddles
4. An owl reading a book
5. A fox asleep in the snow
6. A turtle carrying a tiny garden on its shell
7. A goldfish that thinks its bowl is the ocean
8. A hedgehog holding a strawberry
9. A penguin on holiday
10. A sleepy sloth on a branch

Food

1. Your breakfast, seen from above
2. A slice of watermelon with a bite taken out
3. A stack of pancakes with syrup running down
4. A bowl of ramen with every topping
5. A cupcake with a face
6. A lemon cut in half
7. Your favourite sandwich, taken apart layer by layer
8. A picnic basket and what's inside
9. An ice cream melting in the sun
10. A teapot and two cups

Nature

1. A single leaf, as big as the page
2. A sunset over a lake
3. A mushroom ring in a forest
4. A cactus in a pot
5. A tree in four seasons, split into four parts
6. Waves crashing on rocks
7. A rainbow after a storm
8. A dandelion blowing apart
9. A mountain with a cloud hat
10. A night sky full of stars

Places

1. A tiny house on a cloud
2. The view from your window
3. A lighthouse at night
4. A treehouse with a rope ladder
5. A cozy café on a rainy street
6. A boat on a calm lake
7. A castle made of sand
8. A secret door in a garden wall
9. A train crossing a bridge
10. Your dream bedroom

Cozy objects

1. A candle and its shadow
2. Your favourite mug
3. A pair of old sneakers
4. A stack of books with a plant on top
5. A knitted scarf
6. A record player
7. Your keys and everything on the keyring
8. A lamp lighting up a dark room
9. An umbrella left open to dry
10. A blanket fort

Characters you invent

1. A monster that is scared of spiders
2. A robot that loves gardening
3. A dragon that is too small to fly
4. A wizard who forgot their spell
5. A cloud with feelings
6. A superhero whose power is very useless
7. A ghost who wants to make friends
8. An alien tourist taking photos
9. A knight made of vegetables
10. Yourself as a cartoon

Patterns and doodles

1. Fill a circle with tiny triangles
2. A page of different flowers, all the same size
3. Stripes that turn into waves
4. A mandala built from leaves
5. Your name in bubble letters
6. A grid where every square has a different pattern
7. Overlapping circles in three colours
8. A border of vines around the page
9. Zig-zags that slowly change colour
10. Doodle everything on your desk, very small

Seasons and holidays

1. A snowman that is starting to melt
2. Spring flowers pushing through the snow
3. A beach umbrella and a sandcastle
4. An autumn leaf pile with a dog jumping in
5. A steaming cup of hot chocolate
6. A kite on a windy day
7. Lanterns at a night festival
8. A birthday cake with too many candles
9. A pumpkin patch
10. Your favourite holiday meal

Draw your day

1. The best thing that happened today
2. What you had for lunch
3. The view on your way home
4. How you feel right now, as weather
5. Something you saw that made you smile
6. Your shoes at the end of the day
7. The song stuck in your head, as a picture
8. The person you talked to most today
9. What's on your bedside table
10. Tomorrow's plan, in three tiny pictures

Challenge prompts

1. Draw something using only circles
2. Draw without lifting your pen
3. Draw with your other hand
4. Draw something in exactly 60 seconds
5. Use only three colours
6. Draw an object from memory, then from life, and compare
7. Draw the same cat five times, each in a different style
8. Turn a random scribble into an animal
9. Draw a scene upside down
10. Draw a picture half each with someone else, without looking at their half

Drawing ideas to do with someone

Drawing with someone takes the pressure off: nobody has to be good, and the funniest part is seeing what the other person adds. In Draw Together you both paint on one canvas at the same time, each on your own phone or computer, from a free invite link. It has a pen, a see-through marker, crayon, rainbow, stamps and fill, and you can save the finished picture.

• Split the page: one of you draws the background, the other the thing in front.
• Take a prompt each: pick two prompts from this list and combine them in one picture.
• Finish my drawing: one starts a creature, the other adds the rest.
• Draw each other as the animal you think the other person would be.
• Stuck? Tap *Need an idea?* in the game for a prompt to paint together.

More ideas for two: date night ideas at home and games for couples.

Tips if you're just starting

• Start with shapes. Almost everything is circles, boxes and triangles. Sketch those first, then add the details.
• Draw light lines first. Keep the first sketch faint so you can draw over it without erasing.
• Big shapes, then small ones. Fill the big areas first and add the details last.
• Fill, then shade. Fill a shape in one tap, then go over one side with the see-through marker in a darker colour for a soft shadow.
• Keep it small and quick. Ten small drawings teach you more than one big one.

Keep a list of the prompts you liked and draw the same one again next week. You'll see how much you've improved.

Frequently asked questions

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