Pick a Number From 1 to 100 and Start Drawing

If you are bored and cannot decide what to draw, pick a number from 1 to 100 before you look at the list. Whatever number you choose is your subject.

I like doing this because searching for the perfect drawing idea can take longer than the drawing itself. A mug, shoe, leaf, weird cartoon animal, or five-minute challenge is enough to get started.

You only need paper and something to draw with. Keep the first version simple. If the idea turns into something better, keep going.

1–20: Things You Can Draw Without Finding a Reference

I would start here if I wanted to draw immediately. Most of these subjects are probably already somewhere around you.

1. Your coffee mug: include the handle and one cast shadow.
2. Your keys: let the overlapping shapes create the composition.
3. One shoe: draw the side profile and the most obvious seams.
4. Your non-drawing hand: keep the fingers as simple shapes at first.
5. A spoon: pay attention to the strange reflection inside it.
6. A tangled charging cable: follow it across the page as one long line.
7. Your sunglasses: draw the lenses first and fit the arms around them.
8. A stack of books: let the rectangles tilt instead of making them perfectly straight.
9. One houseplant leaf: enlarge it and include the veins and damaged edges.
10. A crumpled receipt: draw only the strongest folds and shadows.
11. Your water bottle: notice the ellipse at the top and bottom.
12. A pair of headphones: simplify the curves into a few large shapes.
13. Your wallet: draw it open with a few things sticking out.
14. A lamp: concentrate on its silhouette.
15. Your backpack: leave the zippers and pockets until the end.
16. A watch: enlarge it so the face fills more of the page.
17. A chair: look closely at how perspective changes the seat and legs.
18. A remote control: simplify most of the buttons instead of drawing every one.
19. Your feet from above: include a little of the floor around them.
20. Whatever is closest to your left hand: no switching objects once you look.

21–40: Animals, Food and Nature

These are easy things to draw when I want a recognizable subject but do not want to invent an entire scene.

21. A sleeping cat: begin with the curled body before adding the head and tail.
22. A stretching dog: exaggerate the long back and front legs.
23. A bird in side view: concentrate on posture rather than individual feathers.
24. A fish: start with the overall tapered silhouette.
25. A sea turtle: draw the shell first, then attach the flippers.
26. A sitting frog: make the folded legs part of the main shape.
27. A snail: combine one spiral with a long curved body.
28. A rabbit: exaggerate the ears if you want a simpler cartoon version.
29. An owl: work from the large body shape and two prominent eyes.
30. An elephant head: focus on the ears, forehead, and trunk.
31. An apple with one bite missing: use the bite to break the silhouette.
32. A banana: build it from two long curves.
33. A fried egg: keep the white irregular instead of making a perfect oval.
34. A slice of pizza: start with the triangle and crust.
35. A cupcake: combine a ridged wrapper with a loose frosting shape.
36. A mushroom: use the cap, stem, and dark underside.
37. A fallen leaf: include holes, bends, or torn edges.
38. A feather: draw the central shaft before adding the softer edges.
39. A seashell: follow its ridges or spiral instead of trying to make it perfectly symmetrical.
40. A pinecone: simplify the scales into a repeating pattern.

If animals are the part of this list you keep coming back to, my animal drawing guide goes much further into drawing them from observation.

41–60: Cute, Funny and Slightly Weird Things to Draw

When observational drawing feels too serious, I like taking something familiar and changing one detail.

41. A happy ghost: give it tiny arms and an oversized expression.
42. A frog wearing a backpack: make the backpack almost too large for it.
43. A cat inside a cardboard box: show only the head, paws, and tail.
44. A cactus wearing sneakers: add tiny legs beneath the pot.
45. A slice of toast waving: keep the face and arms extremely simple.
46. The moon sleeping on a cloud: give the crescent one closed eye.
47. A snail delivering mail: turn the shell into part of its delivery gear.
48. A dinosaur trying to hold a mug: make the tiny arms part of the joke.
49. A penguin with an umbrella: tilt everything as if the wind is strong.
50. A robot watering a plant: build the robot from basic geometric forms.
51. A shark wearing glasses: exaggerate the difference between the glasses and the face.
52. An owl sitting at a desk: make it look overly serious.
53. A tiny dragon asleep in a coffee cup: use the rim as part of the composition.
54. A raccoon stealing pizza: simplify the pose into one clear action.
55. A frog under a mushroom umbrella: make the mushroom much larger than normal.
56. A fish riding a bicycle: do not worry about whether the anatomy makes sense.
57. A bear in a tiny hat: exaggerate the size difference.
58. A grumpy cloud: give it a face and a few drops of rain.
59. A pigeon carrying a briefcase: make it look late for work.
60. Your favorite animal doing your least favorite chore.

61–80: Drawing Ideas From Imagination

If drawing purely from imagination feels difficult, I start with something recognizable and change only one part of it.

61. A city inside a jar.
62. A treehouse built for a bird.
63. A doorway into an underwater world.
64. An animal made from two different species.
65. A vehicle designed for the moon.
66. Your ideal studio.
67. An abandoned lighthouse during a storm.
68. An island shaped like an animal.
69. A plant from another planet.
70. A favorite memory using only three values.
71. A room where gravity works sideways.
72. A backpack designed for an explorer 500 years from now.
73. A house built inside a giant tree stump.
74. A tiny village on the back of a turtle.
75. A machine with no obvious purpose.
76. A familiar street after nature has reclaimed it.
77. An imaginary map with three landmarks.
78. A library for animals.
79. An ordinary object redesigned as a creature.
80. Two completely unrelated objects combined into one.

If you like this kind of prompt but want combinations that are less predictable, use my random themes to draw or the larger drawing prompts collection.

81–100: Quick Challenges When the Subject Is Not the Problem

Sometimes I already have plenty of things I could draw. I am just bored with the way I have been drawing them. In that case I change the rule instead of changing the subject.

81. Draw the nearest object in 60 seconds.
82. Draw a shoe with your non-dominant hand.
83. Make a self-portrait without looking at the paper.
84. Draw a cat using only straight lines.
85. Build a robot using only circles.
86. Draw an object without outlining it. Use only light and dark shapes.
87. Draw the nearest object using only five lines.
88. Turn a reference upside down before drawing it.
89. Fill nine tiny boxes with one-minute sketches.
90. Make six different textures in six squares.
91. Draw an entire face with one continuous line.
92. Fill a page with spirals that gradually change size.
93. Make random blobs and turn them into creatures.
94. Draw only the shadows of an object.
95. Draw the same thing realistically, geometrically, and as a cartoon.
96. Translate a song into lines and marks.
97. Draw the negative spaces around a chair instead of the chair.
98. Draw something white on black paper.
99. Redraw something from an old sketchbook without looking at the old version.
100. Pick two numbers from this list and combine those ideas.

Idea 82 is one of my favorite ways to break out of overly controlled drawing. My guide to non-dominant hand drawing explains why the awkwardness can actually be useful.

What to Draw When You’re Bored With Only a Pencil

You do not need special supplies for any of these ideas. If all you have is a pencil, I would choose subjects with a clear silhouette and one obvious light-and-shadow pattern.

Good choices from the list include:

• your mug
• a shoe
• your hand
• a crumpled piece of paper
• a leaf
• a mushroom
• a pinecone
• a sleeping cat
• a rock
• a mountain silhouette

I would begin with the largest shape, then add one shadow and only the details that make the subject recognizable. You do not need a full set of pencils to make a useful drawing.

If pencil is specifically what you want to practice, I keep that intent separate in easy things to draw with pencil.

Make an Easy Idea More Interesting Before You Abandon It

If I pick number 1 and immediately think, “I don’t want to draw a mug,” I try changing the rule before choosing another number.

I could draw that same mug:

• from directly above
• extremely close up
• using one continuous line
• with only three values
• without using an eraser
• with my other hand
• as a cartoon character
• from memory after looking at it for thirty seconds

An ordinary subject often becomes interesting once the drawing problem changes.

If You Are Still Scrolling, Stop at the Next Number

The purpose of a list like this is to remove the decision, not create another hour of browsing.

So if you made it this far without drawing anything, use the last digit of the current time, your birthday, a random number generator, or simply close your eyes and point at the screen.

Give the result five minutes.

If it goes badly, you still made a drawing.

If it starts becoming interesting, forget the list and keep going.

If what you really need is a structured beginner practice rather than a boredom fix, use my easy drawing ideas for beginners. If you want prompts you can revisit over a longer period, continue with drawing prompts. And if you want permission for the page to stay rough, my messy drawings guide is a good next stop.