100 Easy Things to Draw When You’re Bored

Sometimes I find myself sitting at my desk, sketchbook open, pencil in hand-and no clue what to draw. Even as someone who draws almost daily, there are moments when my creativity stalls. That’s when having a go-to list of drawing prompts is a lifesaver. This guide is a big one: 100 easy things to draw when you're bored. Whether you're brand new to drawing or you just want something chill to sketch while listening to a podcast, this list has you covered.

I’ve grouped the ideas into different types of drawing inspiration: from quick observational sketches to more imaginative prompts, and even some offbeat ones to loosen up your style. You don’t need fancy supplies to do any of this. A simple pencil and scrap paper will do just fine-though if you want to nerd out over tools, I wrote a bit about what an Ebony pencil is and my favorite tape for watercolor paper.

You can also check out the Drawing section of my blog for more tutorials and weird little drawing experiments.

100 easy things to draw when you're bored

Sometimes all you need is a nudge in the right direction. Before we dive into the list, here are a few things that help me get into the right mindset.

Key Points

• Start with something small and observable-like your hand or a coffee cup. It helps you warm up without pressure.
• Don’t worry about the drawing being “good.” Drawing is imperfect by nature.
• Make it weird if you want. Combining random ideas often unlocks surprising creativity-like drawing an elephant wearing rain boots.

Observational Drawing Prompts

These are all about drawing what’s right in front of you—things that are part of your everyday environment.

I return to these kinds of drawings whenever I feel disconnected or stuck in my head. For me, observational drawing is less about getting every proportion perfect and more about slowing down and paying attention.

When I sketch something like my coffee mug or a plant on the windowsill, I start to notice little details I wouldn’t have otherwise: the way light hits the rim, or how one leaf has a tiny tear in it. That kind of noticing is what makes this practice worthwhile.

It's not about creating a polished piece—it’s about reconnecting with your surroundings and using drawing as a form of noticing and presence.

If you're new to this, don't stress over the outcome. Just pick something nearby and spend a few minutes drawing it without judgment.

• Your hand holding a pencil – Hands are complicated but great practice. Try not to overthink it.
• Your favorite coffee mug – Mugs have character. Add little chips or stains to make it yours.
• A pair of scissors – The symmetry can be tricky but satisfying.
• A houseplant leaf – Focus on the little veins and curling edges.
• The view outside your window – Capture just a slice of it. You don’t need to draw everything.
• A chair from an odd angle – Practice foreshortening and perspective here.
• Your shoe – Weirdly fun. Shoes have so much detail: stitching, laces, worn soles.
• A crumpled napkin – This one forces you to slow down and really observe light and form.
• A corner of your room – Good for basic perspective. Try using a single vanishing point (tips here).
• The inside of your fridge – Surprisingly fun. Try it in a loose, sketchy way.

Easy Animal Drawings

Animals are expressive and full of personality, which makes them one of my favorite things to draw when I want to relax or loosen up.

I often start by drawing from memory—especially animals I’m familiar with, like cats or birds—but sometimes I’ll pull up a photo reference or even sketch from a nature documentary playing in the background.

What I love about drawing animals is how much emotion and movement you can pack into just a few lines. You don’t have to worry too much about perfection—what matters more is capturing the gesture, the posture, or the overall feel of the animal.

For me, it’s a great way to practice observational drawing without the pressure of getting every proportion right. Plus, it improves your ability to simplify complex forms and develop a looser, more expressive style.

Even just spending ten minutes sketching a sleepy dog or a frog in mid-hop can leave me feeling more connected to the act of drawing again.

• A cat curled up – Try capturing the roundness and softness.
• A bird on a branch – Add little feather details if you're feeling it. Bird drawing tutorial here.
• A goldfish in a bowl – Use curvy lines to show the glass distortion.
• A giraffe head – Have fun with proportions. Giraffes are goofy.
• An elephant – Use big shapes and don't worry about perfect anatomy. Step-by-step elephant guide.
• A sleepy dog – Let the pose do the work. Sagging jowls and floppy ears add character.
• A hopping frog – Catch the bounce. Frogs are great for practicing gesture.
• A penguin waddling – Lean into the wobbliness.
• A sea turtle – Shell texture is a fun focus.
• A lizard on a rock – Play with contrast between textures.

Imaginative Prompts

These help me reset when I'm in my head too much or starting to overthink my sketches.

When I’m bored of drawing realistic subjects or just want to have fun, I give myself permission to be playful. I’ll often combine unrelated objects, exaggerate proportions, or create little worlds that don’t follow logic.

There’s something freeing about not having to follow reference images or rules. Sometimes I’ll just take two ideas—like a cactus and a pair of sneakers—and see what happens when I draw them together.

These kinds of imaginative prompts also help shake off perfectionism because they’re not meant to be accurate. The benefit is that I end up surprising myself with weird little ideas I wouldn’t have come up with otherwise.

It builds creativity, encourages storytelling, and gives me energy to keep drawing when I was about to quit.

• A robot drinking tea – What does a robot teacup look like? Go wild.
• A haunted house – Add quirky windows and leaning towers.
• A UFO picking up a cow – Old-school sci-fi fun.
• A dragon curled around a coffee cup – I like mixing fantasy with everyday objects.
• A pirate parrot – Add eyepatches and earrings.
• A creature with five eyes – Odd creatures help break your perfectionist habits.
• A cactus with legs – Give it sneakers.
• A sandwich with wings – What kind of bread? That alone changes the vibe.
• A city inside a jar – Great for playing with scale.
• A tree with a face – Let the bark suggest expression.

You can find more weird and imaginative prompts in my random drawing themes article.

Quick and Abstract Ideas

I lean on these when I want to get moving without pressure. They're especially good for warmups, or for those days when every drawing seems off and nothing is clicking.

The beauty of quick and abstract ideas is that there’s no way to do them wrong. I can scribble, play with shape, or fill a page with repeating patterns—and somehow it quiets the noise in my brain. It’s a form of visual meditation for me.

It helps me reconnect with the physical action of drawing rather than trying to “make something good.” When I take the pressure off, I usually end up having more fun and often stumble into interesting ideas or textures that I wouldn’t have discovered otherwise.

These prompts are also perfect when I’m short on time but still want to create something. The benefit is that they keep your hand moving, help you explore new marks and textures, and reset your creative mindset without judgment.

• A page full of spirals – Meditative and easy.
• Crosshatching a square in 10 different ways – Explore shading.
• Scribble, then make something from it – A classic. Kids do this instinctively.
• A page of connected triangles – Try rotating them as you go.
• Doodle without lifting your pencil – Focus on fluid motion.
• Left-hand drawing (or non-dominant hand) – Embrace the awkwardness.
• Draw your breath – Match your inhale/exhale with line weight or shape.
• A circle made of only short lines – Great for control.
• Copy the texture of your shirt – Look closely, it's probably weirder than you think.
• Random blobs turned into monsters – This always makes me laugh.

Faces and People

People used to be the last thing I wanted to draw – faces felt too detailed, and full-body poses seemed overwhelming.

But once I started messing around with stylized faces or cartoon versions of myself, I realized it didn’t have to be so serious. You can totally simplify features or exaggerate proportions to get something fun and expressive.

Sometimes I draw people with square heads, or make the nose absurdly large just for the challenge. The more I did this, the more confident I felt about figure drawing in general.

Drawing people, even in a silly or abstract way, has helped me understand posture, balance, and emotion. And honestly, it's made sketching in public less intimidating too.

So if you usually avoid people, try a goofy or loose approach—you might actually enjoy it.

• A cartoon version of yourself – Exaggerate features.
• A face made of only shapes – Abstract portrait.
• Profile of a friend or pet – Profiles are simpler than full faces.
• Someone with a giant nose – Focus on silhouette.
• A person walking a dog – Capture movement, not details.
• A head from above – Messy but useful.
• A tiny figure in a huge landscape – Good practice for scale.
• An expressive face with exaggerated features – Push it further than you think.
• A dancer mid-movement – Use flowing lines. Here's a guide on drawing movement.
• A historical character – Add some storytelling through costume.

Need more help? Face proportion tutorial here.

Fun Drawing Challenges

These are little drawing games I use when I need to shake things up or when I’m taking myself way too seriously.

They help me break out of a rut, stop obsessing over perfect lines, and just have fun with my sketchbook again. There’s something about setting a timer or drawing with your eyes closed that instantly lowers the stakes—it reminds me that drawing doesn’t have to be precious.

It’s okay to make weird, fast, or messy drawings. These challenges also teach me to trust my instincts more and explore new ways of seeing or moving my hand across the page.

I always walk away from them feeling looser, more creative, and honestly just happier to be drawing at all.

• Draw for 1 minute without stopping – Set a timer.
• Draw with your eyes closed – Embrace the chaos.
• Draw without outlines – Focus on shape and value instead. More on outlines.
• Use only straight lines – Limitations can be fun.
• Fill a page with 100 circles – Good for spacing and control.
• Mirror-image drawing (both hands at once) – Wildly awkward and funny.
• Copy a drawing upside-down – Great for retraining how you see.
• Trace your hand and turn it into something else – Monsters, birds, anything.
• Draw the same thing 10 times in different styles – Loosen up.
• Use implied shapes – Let gaps suggest form.

Nature Drawing Ideas

Nature is one of my favorite sources of inspiration, especially when I want to slow down and reconnect with the joy of drawing.

There’s something about sketching natural objects—like a feather, a seashell, or a tree trunk—that feels grounding and meditative. I often take a walk with a sketchbook or just look around my yard or a nearby park.

Even a photo of a pinecone or a cloudscape can spark ideas. Drawing from nature helps me observe texture, rhythm, and structure in a deeper way, which then shows up in all my other drawings too.

These prompts are especially helpful if you're feeling anxious or creatively stuck—they're a gentle way to ease back into sketching without pressure.

I also love how drawing natural objects teaches you to look for beauty in the small things you might otherwise overlook.

• A feather – Good for line variation.
• A seashell – Embrace the curves.
• A bird feather up close – Zoom in. Add texture.
• A pinecone – Study the pattern.
• A twig with leaves – Capture gesture first.
• A tree trunk – Practice bark texture.
• A mountain range – Use overlapping shapes.
• A cloud study – Light and soft.
• A bunch of rocks – Play with shading and contrast.
• A single flower in detail – Try to capture fragility.

If you're into this, try wildlife sketching or how to sketch crows.

Everyday Object Prompts

I think everyday objects are incredibly underrated when it comes to drawing prompts. These are the things that are always around us—keys, mugs, chargers—and because they're so familiar, we tend to ignore them.

But I’ve found that when I take the time to really look at these things and sketch them, they become so much more interesting. It’s a great exercise in seeing—noticing textures, tiny details, or the way light hits a curved surface.

Plus, drawing these kinds of objects helps build your visual memory and confidence in tackling more complex forms later. You get to practice form, proportion, and shading using things that are right in front of you.

I often return to these prompts when I want to draw but don’t want to overthink what to pick. They’re simple, accessible, and surprisingly satisfying. I can grab anything from my desk, start sketching, and within a few minutes feel that quiet rhythm of drawing settle in again.

• Your keys – Tangle of shapes.
• Sunglasses – Try reflections.
• A phone charger – Simple but fun linework.
• A stack of books – Great for practicing angles.
• Your toothbrush – Add toothpaste for texture.
• A coffee maker – Industrial shapes.
• An open notebook – Play with the perspective.
• A ball of yarn – Tangles galore.
• A spoon – Tricky shine and curves.
• A remote control – Challenge yourself to draw all the buttons.

Stylized and Experimental Ideas

This is where I really loosen up and let my curiosity take over.

These prompts are perfect for pushing the boundaries of your style or getting unstuck from your usual way of drawing. I like to set aside perfectionism and just explore marks, values, and shapes in new ways.

Sometimes that means using only shadows to define a form, or trying a continuous line drawing to see how it changes my focus. Other times, I’ll switch between a super expressive sketch and something more controlled just to feel the contrast.

These exercises help me experiment without judgment—and more often than not, something I try here ends up influencing how I draw everything else.

It’s also a good space to test materials or surfaces I’m not used to. If you’re feeling stuck or bored, give one of these a go. You might stumble into something that really surprises you.

• Draw using only dark shadow shapes – Forget the outlines.
• Use only two values (light and dark) – Simplify.
• Fill an entire page with a single object repeated – Good design practice.
• Switch between expressive drawing and precise outlines – See what feels best.
• Use messy drawing intentionally – It often feels more alive.
• Draw on black paper – Here's how to start.
• Try colored pencils on black paper – The contrast is stunning.
• Focus on negative space – What’s around your subject?
• Use a single continuous line – No lifting your pencil.
• Add an abstract background before you draw – Makes the subject pop.

Drawing from Other Artists and Art History

I’ve learned so much by studying other artists—both the old masters and contemporary illustrators.

When I feel stuck or uninspired, copying a classic sketch or reinterpreting a famous painting can give me new ideas and techniques. It’s not about mimicking them exactly, but about noticing how they approached form, composition, or storytelling.

Sometimes I’ll try drawing in the style of an artist I admire just to understand their rhythm or process. It’s like having a quiet conversation across time with someone who’s figured out a few things.

These exercises always remind me that art isn’t created in a vacuum, and tapping into the history of drawing is a great way to stretch your own style.

• Copy a da Vinci sketch – Here's my take on drawing like da Vinci.
• Interpret a painting in your own style – Mix eras.
• Combine two different artists' styles – Weird but fun.
• Redraw a sculpture from memory – Test your recall.
• Sketch your favorite artist's tools – Add personal meaning.
• Reimagine a famous artwork with animals – Lightens the mood.
• Combine styles from two centuries – Like Impressionist manga.
• Make a piece in honor of E. Michael Mitchell
• Turn a serious painting into a cartoon – Good humor practice.
• Draw your own version of the Mona Lisa – Make it weird.