9 Answers for What Should I Draw in 2025?

Every artist, from seasoned professionals to curious beginners, eventually faces the blank page and asks the universal question: "What should I draw?" This creative paralysis, often called artist's block, can be frustrating, but it's also a powerful opportunity for discovery. The key isn't to wait for one perfect idea to strike. Instead, the solution lies in actively exploring a variety of subjects that challenge your skills and ignite your imagination. This guide is built to break that creative standstill.

We have curated a comprehensive selection of diverse and engaging drawing prompts designed to provide instant inspiration. You'll find ideas ranging from the intricate details of a still life composition and the organic forms of nature to the limitless worlds of fantasy and the structured lines of architecture.

Each suggestion is more than just a prompt; it's a launchpad. We've included actionable tips, specific examples, and fresh perspectives to help you decide not only what to draw next but also how to approach the subject with renewed confidence. Forget the pressure of the blank page and get ready to fill your sketchbook with compelling new work. Let's transform that empty space into a vibrant canvas.

1. Self-Portraits: The Ultimate Study in Observation

When you ask yourself, "what should I draw?", one of the most powerful answers is looking right back at you in the mirror. A self-portrait is far more than just drawing your face; it's a foundational artistic exercise that sharpens your observational skills unlike any other subject. With yourself as the model, you have unlimited, free access to a subject that can be rendered in countless ways, from photorealistic pencil sketches to abstract emotional landscapes.

This practice forces you to translate three-dimensional forms, subtle light, and complex textures onto a two-dimensional surface. It’s an intimate process that connects you directly to the works of masters like Rembrandt and Frida Kahlo, who famously used self-portraiture to document their lives and explore their identities.

Actionable Tips for Your First Self-Portrait

To get started, you don't need fancy equipment, just a mirror or a reference photo and your preferred drawing tools.

• Establish Strong Lighting: Position a single light source, like a lamp or a window, to one side. This creates clear highlights and shadows, making it easier to see the planes and forms of your face.
• Start with Broad Shapes: Resist the urge to draw the eyes or mouth first. Instead, block in the basic shapes: the oval of the head, the triangle of the nose, and the general placement of your features. Details come last.
• Experiment with Mood: Don't feel obligated to maintain a neutral expression. Try drawing yourself smiling, frowning, or in a moment of surprise. This not only challenges your skills but also infuses the artwork with emotion.

For a quick overview of why this practice is so beneficial, consider these key takeaways.

These core advantages highlight how self-portraiture serves as a complete workout for any artist, combining practical skill-building with meaningful personal expression.

2. Still Life Compositions: Mastering Form and Light

If you’re wondering “what should I draw?” and want complete control over your subject, a still life composition is the perfect answer. This classic art exercise involves arranging everyday inanimate objects and drawing them, offering a fantastic, low-pressure way to study the core principles of art. Unlike dynamic subjects, your objects won’t move, allowing you to patiently practice form, light, shadow, texture, and composition.

This method provides a controlled environment to master the fundamentals. You are the director, choosing the items, arranging the scene, and setting the light. This practice connects you to a rich history, from the lush arrangements of the Dutch Golden Age to the revolutionary apple paintings of Paul Cézanne, who used still life to explore new ways of seeing.

Actionable Tips for Your First Still Life

Gather a few items from around your home, like fruit, books, or vases, to create your own unique scene.

• Use Odd Numbers: Arrangements with an odd number of objects, such as three or five, are often more visually dynamic and pleasing to the eye than even-numbered groups.
• Vary Heights and Shapes: Create a more engaging composition by selecting items of different sizes and shapes. Place a tall bottle next to a short, round piece of fruit to guide the viewer’s eye through the artwork.
• Overlap Objects for Depth: Don't be afraid to place items in front of one another. This technique is crucial for creating a sense of three-dimensional space and depth on a two-dimensional surface.

For a quick overview of why this practice is so beneficial, consider these key takeaways.

Key Takeaways for Still Life Drawing

• Total Control: You control every element, from subject choice to lighting, making it ideal for deliberate practice.
• Fundamental Skills: It's the ultimate training ground for understanding light, form, shadow, and texture without the pressure of a moving subject.
• Compositional Freedom: It provides endless opportunities to experiment with arrangement, balance, and visual storytelling using simple objects.

These core advantages make still life a powerful tool for any artist looking to build a strong foundational skill set while creating thoughtful, compelling artwork.

3. Nature Studies: Capturing the Beauty of Organic Forms

When wondering "what should I draw?", turning to the natural world offers an infinite source of inspiration. A nature study involves drawing plants, animals, landscapes, and other natural elements, blending artistic interpretation with careful observation. This practice is essential for learning how to render organic shapes, intricate textures, and the complex patterns that define life.

Engaging with nature as your subject connects you to a rich history of artist-naturalists like John James Audubon and Maria Sibylla Merian, who used their art to document and understand the world. From the delicate veins of a leaf to the powerful form of a distant mountain, nature studies challenge you to see and represent the world with both accuracy and feeling.

Actionable Tips for Your First Nature Study

You can start with something as simple as a fallen leaf in your backyard or a houseplant on your windowsill. The key is to observe closely.

• Start with Stationary Subjects: Begin with plants, flowers, shells, or rocks. Their stillness allows you to take your time studying their forms, textures, and the way light interacts with their surfaces without the pressure of a moving subject.
• Focus on a Single Element: Instead of trying to draw an entire landscape at once, isolate one element, such as a single tree branch, a patch of moss, or a cluster of mushrooms. This focused approach makes the complexity of nature more manageable.
• Practice Quick Gestures for Movement: For drawing animals or birds, start with very quick gesture drawings (30-60 seconds). Your goal isn't a perfect outline but to capture the essence of their movement, posture, and energy. This builds your ability to draw dynamic subjects from memory.

For a quick overview of why this practice is so beneficial, consider these key takeaways.

These core advantages demonstrate how nature studies provide a versatile and deeply rewarding practice for any artist looking to grow their skills while connecting with the world around them.

4. Fantasy and Mythology: Crafting Worlds Beyond Reality

When the blank page feels daunting and you ask, "what should I draw?", turning to fantasy and mythology offers an endless wellspring of inspiration. This genre invites you to create imaginative artwork featuring mythical creatures, magical worlds, and epic scenarios. It's an opportunity to move beyond the constraints of the real world and build something entirely from your imagination, informed by the rich tapestry of global folklore and classic literature.

Drawing fantasy subjects allows for complete creative freedom while still providing a structural foundation. You can invent entirely new beings or put your unique spin on classic creatures like dragons, elves, and griffins. This practice is championed by artists like Brian Froud and Frank Frazetta, whose work defined the visual language of fantasy and demonstrated its power to create immersive, believable worlds that capture the imagination.

Actionable Tips for Drawing Fantasy Creatures

To bring your mythical creations to life, ground your imagination with a dose of realism and research.

• Study Real-World Anatomy: Before stylizing, understand the anatomy of real animals. To draw a convincing dragon, study the bone structure of lizards and bats. This anatomical grounding makes your fantastical creatures feel more believable.
• Research Mythological Sources: Dive into the folklore and mythology behind the creature you're drawing. Understanding its traditional descriptions, abilities, and symbolism will add authenticity and depth to your interpretation.
• Build a Compelling Composition: Use your composition to tell a story. Place your character in a dynamic pose or an evocative environment that hints at a larger narrative, whether it’s a tranquil forest or a chaotic battlefield.

Drawing from fantasy and mythology is more than just doodling monsters; it's an exercise in world-building and narrative storytelling. It pushes you to blend research with imagination, developing a unique visual style while exploring timeless themes of heroism, magic, and adventure.

5. Urban Sketching: Capturing the Pulse of the City

When the question "what should I draw?" feels tied to finding a dynamic environment, the answer is to step outside your door. Urban sketching is the practice of drawing on location, capturing the life, architecture, and energy of towns and cities. More than just drawing buildings, it's about documenting the world in real-time, embracing spontaneity, and finding beauty in the everyday hustle.

This artistic discipline turns your sketchbook into a visual journal of your experiences. The focus is less on creating a perfect, polished piece and more on conveying the atmosphere of a specific moment and place. Artists like Gabriel Campanario, founder of the global Urban Sketchers organization, have shown how this practice connects us to our surroundings, telling stories one sketch at a time. It’s a powerful way to see your own city with fresh eyes.

Actionable Tips for Your First Urban Sketching Session

Getting started is simple. All you need is a portable kit and a willingness to observe the world around you.

• Pack Light and Stay Mobile: Your kit should be easy to carry. A small sketchbook, a waterproof pen, and a compact watercolor set are often all you need. The goal is to set up and start drawing in minutes.
• Start with a Focal Point: Don't try to draw everything you see. Instead, pick a single element to anchor your composition, like a unique doorway, a street lamp, or a particularly interesting cafe patron. Build the rest of your sketch around that focal point.
• Embrace Imperfections: The charm of urban sketching lies in its authenticity. Wobbly lines, skewed perspectives, and unfinished details are not mistakes; they are part of the story and reflect the vibrant, ever-moving nature of a city.

For a quick overview of why this practice is so rewarding, consider these key takeaways.

These benefits show how urban sketching is an exciting way to improve your artistic skills while creating a meaningful, personal record of your world.

6. Character Design: Bringing Imaginary Personalities to Life

When you find yourself asking "what should I draw?", inventing a new character is an incredibly rewarding answer that blends storytelling with visual art. Character design is the process of creating a unique, believable personality from scratch, defining their appearance, backstory, and spirit. It's the foundation for everything from animated films and video games to comic books and personal projects, turning abstract ideas into memorable figures.

This practice challenges you to think like a storyteller, using visual cues to communicate who a character is without a single word of dialogue. You are joining the ranks of legendary creators like Hayao Miyazaki and Glen Keane, who built entire worlds by first designing the inhabitants within them. Each line you draw contributes to a character’s identity, function, and emotional appeal.

Actionable Tips for Your First Character Design

To begin, you only need a clear idea and your favorite drawing tools. The goal is to make your character feel intentional and alive.

• Use Shape Language: Start with basic shapes to define the character's core personality. Squares often convey stability and stubbornness, circles suggest friendliness and softness, and triangles can imply dynamism or villainy.
• Develop a Clear Backstory: Who is this character? Where do they come from? Answering these questions will inform their clothing, posture, and expressions, making your design more cohesive and believable.
• Create Expression and Turnaround Sheets: Don't just draw your character standing still. Explore how they look from different angles (a "turnaround") and what their face looks like when they're happy, sad, or angry. This makes them feel three-dimensional.

This approach is more than just doodling; it's about creating a visual biography. For more ideas specifically on this topic, you can explore detailed guides on how to approach a fantasy character design.

By focusing on these elements, you can design a character that not only looks compelling but also feels like a complete, living being with a story to tell.

7. Architectural Drawing: Capturing Structure and Grandeur

If you're asking "what should I draw?" and find yourself captivated by the lines of a skyscraper or the charm of an old house, architectural drawing is your answer. This discipline is a fantastic blend of technical precision and artistic expression, challenging you to render buildings and structures with a sense of place, scale, and atmosphere. It’s an exercise in discipline that pays huge dividends in your understanding of form and space.

Drawing architecture connects you with a rich history, from the dramatic prison fantasies of Giovanni Battista Piranesi to the visionary cityscapes of Hugh Ferriss. You are not just drawing a building; you are capturing a human-designed environment, telling a story about its function, its history, and its relationship with light. It’s a practice that fundamentally improves your grasp of perspective and proportion.

Actionable Tips for Your First Architectural Drawing

All you need to begin is a compelling subject, whether it's a famous landmark or the corner of your own street, along with a pencil and a straight edge.

• Master One-Point Perspective First: Before tackling complex scenes, start with a simple one-point perspective drawing, like looking straight down a road or hallway. This builds a strong foundation for understanding how objects recede in space.
• Simplify to Basic Shapes: Look at a complex building and break it down into its core geometric forms: cubes, cylinders, pyramids, and rectangles. Sketch these large shapes first to establish accurate proportions before adding any intricate details.
• Focus on Light and Shadow: The way light hits a building defines its form and creates a sense of three-dimensional depth. Pay close attention to cast shadows and highlights to make your structure feel solid and real, not flat.

For those eager to dive deeper, you can explore detailed elements like windows, doorways, or ornate stonework. You can learn more about architectural detail studies to further refine your observational skills. This focused practice is a powerful way to enhance the realism and character of your larger architectural compositions.

8. Portrait Drawing: Capturing the Essence of Humanity

When the question of "what should I draw?" arises, few subjects offer the depth and challenge of the human face. Portrait drawing is the time-honored practice of capturing not just a person's likeness, but their personality, emotion, and very essence. It’s a discipline that pushes you to see beyond surface features and understand the intricate anatomy and subtle planes that make every individual unique.

This artistic pursuit connects you to a rich history of masters, from the detailed studies of Leonardo da Vinci to the expressive charcoal works of John Singer Sargent. Engaging in portraiture develops a profound understanding of light, shadow, and proportion, making it one of the most rewarding challenges an artist can undertake. It’s an exercise in empathy as much as it is in technical skill.

Actionable Tips for Your First Portrait

A successful portrait hinges on a solid foundation. You can start with a live model or a high-quality reference photo.

• Master Basic Proportions: Before anything else, learn the general rules of facial proportion, like the Loomis method. This provides a reliable scaffold for placing the eyes, nose, and mouth correctly.
• Start with the General Shape: Don't get lost in the details of an eye or lip initially. Block in the overall shape of the head, the angle of the jaw, and the hairline. This ensures the entire portrait is structurally sound.
• Focus on the Eyes: The eyes are often the focal point and convey the most emotion. Pay close attention to their placement, shape, and the subtle shadows around them to bring your subject to life.

For a quick overview of why this practice is so beneficial, consider these key takeaways.

These core advantages demonstrate how portrait drawing is a complete artistic endeavor, blending technical precision with the deeply personal act of capturing a human soul on paper.

9. Animal Drawing: Capturing Life in Motion

When considering "what should I draw?", turning to the animal kingdom offers a boundless source of inspiration. Animal drawing is a discipline that challenges artists to capture not just form, but also life, movement, and personality. It’s an exercise in understanding diverse anatomies, from the powerful musculature of a lion to the delicate structure of a bird’s wing. The subject is universally beloved, making it a rewarding pursuit for any artist.

This practice is a fantastic way to improve your understanding of form, texture, and proportion. It connects you to a rich history of artists like George Stubbs, renowned for his anatomical horse paintings, and John James Audubon, whose bird illustrations are legendary. By studying animals, you learn to observe and interpret complex living systems, a skill that translates to all other areas of art.

Actionable Tips for Your First Animal Drawing

Getting started is as simple as finding a good reference photo or, if possible, observing an animal in real life at a zoo or park.

• Start with Geometric Shapes: Don't get lost in the details of fur or scales. Block in the animal’s body using simple shapes like circles for the head, ovals for the torso, and cylinders for the limbs to establish accurate proportions first.
• Study the Skeleton: A basic understanding of an animal's skeleton will dramatically improve your drawings. Look up anatomical diagrams to see how the bones connect and influence the animal’s posture and movement.
• Focus on a Unique Feature: Try to capture the essence of the animal by focusing on a key characteristic. Whether it’s the intense gaze of a predator, the gentle curve of a swan’s neck, or the playful flick of a dog’s tail, this detail will bring your drawing to life.

For those ready to tackle a powerful subject, you can find more inspiration with these animal drawing ideas for a majestic lion portrait.

The key takeaway is that drawing animals is a comprehensive exercise. It forces you to combine anatomical knowledge with textural skill and an eye for capturing personality, resulting in dynamic and engaging artwork.

9 Approaches to Drawing Compared

Your Next Drawing Awaits

The persistent question, "What should I draw?" is not a sign of a creative dead-end; it's the beginning of a new artistic adventure. This guide has journeyed through nine distinct and enriching territories, from the introspective practice of self-portraits to the intricate details of architectural studies and the boundless realms of fantasy. Each category offers more than just a subject; it provides a unique framework for growth, a different lens through which to see the world, and a specific set of skills to develop.

The true value lies not in picking the "perfect" subject, but in the act of choosing and committing. Whether you felt a pull towards the dynamic energy of urban sketching or the quiet observation required for a still life, you now possess a structured map to guide your hand. The goal is to transform the abstract desire to create into a tangible mark on the page. Remember the core takeaway: consistent practice across diverse subjects is the fastest way to build both confidence and competence.

Turning Inspiration into Action

So, where do you go from here? The answer is simple: you begin. Don't let the vastness of options lead to paralysis. Instead, use it as a source of power. Here are your actionable next steps to ensure your sketchbook never stays empty for long:

• Select One Category to Master: Instead of jumping around randomly, pick one of the nine areas explored in this article, such as character design or nature studies, and dedicate a week or even a month to it. This focused approach allows you to see measurable improvement and build specialized skills.
• Establish a "Minimum Viable Drawing": Set a small, achievable daily goal. This could be a 15-minute sketch of an apple, a quick gesture drawing of your pet, or a study of a single architectural element like a doorway. The habit of drawing is more important than producing a masterpiece every day.
• Create Your Own Prompt Jar: Write down 20 to 30 specific ideas from this article on small slips of paper (e.g., "draw a self-portrait with a dramatic shadow," "sketch a fantasy creature in a modern setting," "draw your pet sleeping"). When you're stuck, pull one out and start immediately, no second-guessing allowed.

Every line you draw, every composition you attempt, is a deposit into your creative bank. The answer to "what should I draw?" is ultimately a personal one, but it is always found through doing, not waiting. Your sketchbook is your private laboratory for experimentation, a training ground for your eyes and hands, and a visual diary of your progress. Embrace the process, celebrate the small wins, and trust that each drawing, regardless of its outcome, is a valuable step forward on your artistic journey. Your next drawing is not a distant idea; it's a decision waiting to be made.

Ready for an endless supply of creative sparks? If you ever need an instant, specific prompt to get you started, the Drawing List idea generator is the perfect tool. Visit Drawing List to access thousands of unique ideas across dozens of categories, ensuring you always have an answer to "what should I draw".