50 Easy Things to Draw When You Have No Idea What to Draw

Pick one. Draw it badly. That is the method, and there is no step two. These are sorted by how much effort you have, because "what should I draw" was never a shortage of ideas. It is a shortage of energy. The blank canvas isn't judging you; you are handling that part yourself.

Thirty Seconds

For being on hold, or pretending to take notes.

1. A single eye
2. A cube
3. Your own hand, without looking at the paper
4. A cloud
5. A cat, in five lines or fewer
6. The letter A as a person
7. A leaf
8. A wave
9. A key
10. A face made only of shapes

Two Minutes

1. Your breakfast
2. The last thing you drank from
3. A house with something wrong with it
4. Your pet, from memory, badly
5. A jellyfish
6. A pair of shoes you own
7. A tree in wind
8. A bird that doesn't exist
9. Your keys, actual size
10. Someone's hairstyle from across the room
11. A plant on your windowsill
12. A hot air balloon
13. Your phone, without looking at it
14. A mushroom
15. The view out the nearest window, in outline only

Ten Minutes

1. Your desk, exactly as it is, mess included, no tidying first
2. A self-portrait using your non-dominant hand
3. The same object three times, faster each time
4. A room you lived in as a child
5. Your hand holding something
6. A crowded bus stop as stick figures
7. A bicycle from memory. Far harder than it sounds, which is the point.
8. Your favourite meal, plated
9. A building you walk past often
10. A face showing an emotion you felt this week
11. Everything currently in your bag
12. A cup of coffee from directly above
13. A shoe from three angles
14. Someone reading
15. A tangle of headphone cables

Prompts With a Twist

For when straightforward drawing bores you.

1. Draw a dog without lifting your pen
2. Draw your current mood as weather
3. Draw a monster made from three household objects
4. Draw the inside of your head as a floor plan
5. Draw an animal you've never seen, from its name only
6. Draw a conversation you had today, with no words
7. Draw your commute as a line
8. Draw the same face at ages 5, 30, and 80
9. Draw a machine that solves one small annoying problem
10. Draw what tomorrow feels like

If You're Stuck

Draw the nearest object. Always available, always works, and it removes the choosing, which is the part actually stopping you.

Set a timer for two minutes. A deadline too short for quality is the fastest way to begin. Quality was never invited.

Draw it wrong on purpose. Get the first bad drawing out of the way and the second stops being terrifying.

Draw the same thing five times. The fifth is always better, not because you improved but because you finally stopped negotiating with it.

Frequently Asked Questions