20+ Drawing Ideas to Help Beginners Improve

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Art educator Eric Gibbons shares advice on how to choose what to sketch

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IN THIS ARTICLE

1 Basic Shapes

2 Landscapes

3 Fruit

4 Trees

5 Flowers

6 Coffee Mugs

7 Chairs

8 Birds

9 Butterflies

10 Eyes

11 Feathers

12 Pumpkin

13 Cupcakes

14 Bookshelf

15 Glasses

16 Lamps

17 Waves

18 Hands

19 Sneakers

20 Soda Cans

21 Buildings

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Co-authored by Eric Gibbons and Marcus Pruitt, BS

Last Updated: June 1, 2026 Fact Checked

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Drawing is a great way to express yourself and your thoughts, but you may feel as though you need to improve your skills to properly do so. Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. There are tons of sketching ideas for beginners to improve, and with the help of professional artists, we’ve compiled a list of the best ones to help you learn the essentials of drawing.

Drawing Ideas for Beginners

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Art educator Eric Gibbons suggests choosing something to sketch that’s personal to you, like your favorite cartoon character. Some other great sketch ideas for beginning drawers include basic shapes, trees, butterflies, coffee mugs, flowers, chairs, eyes, fruit, and birds.

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1

Basic Shapes

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1. 
   Start with simple shapes to learn the building blocks of drawing. Draw simple shapes like boxes, spheres, and cylinders to get an idea of the different shapes that are common in drawing. Start by drawing them in 2 dimensions (2D), and once you feel comfortable, move on to 3 dimensions (3D). Not only does getting good at drawing shapes improve your overall skills, but it also allows you to practice shading on still objects, so start here to build the foundation of your skills.

   • Here are some tutorials from wikiHow to help you get started!
     • How to Draw 3D Shapes
     • How to Draw a Perfect Circle
     • How to Draw a Square

   Meet the wikiHow Experts

   Claire Wentzel is an award-winning Artist and Strategic Creative Consultant with over 20 years of experience. She specializes in mixed-media participatory art, brand messaging, and building organizational culture.

   Kieren Dutcher is a Professional Artist with over 30 years of experience. She specializes in colorful, folk art, and nature-inspired illustrations.

   David Reeves is a Bespoke Tailor with over 25 years of experience. He specializes in designing and creating custom, high-end suits and has worked with brands like Prada and Comme des Garcons.
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2

Landscapes

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1. Draw landscapes to get comfortable with drawing backgrounds. Landscape drawings are drawings that focus on scenery, so they can be anything from mountains and forests to beaches, deserts, and cities. They are an opportunity to get comfortable with drawing backgrounds for panels and portraits, as well as practice shading, texture, detail, and perspective from a distance.

   • Drawing landscapes doesn’t have to be complex! Draw a field with a blue sky and a few clouds for a simple landscape if you’re uncomfortable with complex backgrounds.
   • Here are some wikiHow tutorials to get you started:
     • How to Draw a Beach
     • How to Draw a Waterfall

3

Fruit

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1. 
   Drawing fruit is useful for practicing versatile shapes, colors, and textures. Fruit is one of the most common still-life subjects to draw due to its unique construction and the variety of fruits to choose from. It allows you to practice drawing different shapes and textures, practice line work, shade those shapes and textures, and bring them to life with color. Plus, it’s a simple object that’s easy to draw at home.

   • To draw fruit at home, grab a bowl, place a piece of fruit or pieces of fruit into it, then draw the still subject in front of you.
   • To improve your drawing skills, professional artist Kieren Dutcher suggests drawing from life and drawing every day.
   • Here are some tutorials to get you started:
     • How to Draw a Basket of Fruit
     • How to Draw a Banana
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4

Trees

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1. Draw trees to improve your skills in form and structure. Not only are trees a great subject to draw for landscapes, but they are also intricate objects with unique form and structure. Learning how to draw trees can teach you about drawing all different types of structures and compositions due to the intricate branches and leaves, putting you on a fast track to capture more detail and realism in your drawings.

   • Drawing bare trees lets you focus on the angles and curves of the branches, which bring the primary tree structure to life.
   • Drawing trees with leaves lets you focus on drawing detail and realism.

5

Flowers

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1. 
   Draw flowers to practice drawing diverse subjects and shapes. Due to the diversity of flowers, drawing them offers a vast opportunity for improvement. Like fruits, they come in many different shapes and sizes, allowing you to experiment with drawing all types of shapes and sizes and see how they come together to create a subject. You can also practice drawing single blooms, bouquets, or flowers in vases, depending on what skill you’re trying to improve.

   • Here are some wikiHow tutorials for you to get familiar with drawing flowers:
     • How to Draw a Rose
     • How to Draw a Lily
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6

Coffee Mugs

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1. Coffee mugs help you improve at drawing simple, realistic objects. Coffee mugs are simple objects that bring basic shapes together to create something realistic. Draw them to practice drawing circles, curved lines, and more detailed components, like the handle or the liquid inside of the cup. You’ll also be able to practice drawing 3D works depending on the angle you choose, making coffee mugs a great beginner choice!

   • Experiment with the coffee inside the cup to really get some practice! Try drawing an overflowing, bubbling, or spilling cup to get comfortable drawing different forms of liquid.
   • Need practice? Check out this tutorial from Carol’s Drawing Blog.

7

Chairs

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1. 
   Draw chairs to see how lines and shapes form larger objects. Drawing chairs is another way to learn how to use simple shapes to form a more complex object, and there are plenty of different types of chairs to practice with. Draw a wooden chair by connecting various rectangles where the legs, seat, and back support are. Draw a recliner by starting with a basic outline, then adding cushions and armrests.

   • Whatever you decide, it’ll give you the chance to experiment with using shapes to make seats.
   • Use this wikiHow tutorial to get you started.
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8

Birds

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1. Drawing birds helps learn how to draw anatomical animal features. There are plenty of different bird species for you to draw, from crows to blue jays to owls. Whatever bird you decide to draw, it’ll be an effective way to learn animal anatomy, as you’ll have to determine where their legs, head, and tail sit. Drawing birds can also give you pointers on human anatomy, making them a great tool for improving your drawing skills.

   • Use these wikiHow tutorials to get started:
     • How to Draw a Bird
     • How to Draw Wings
     • How to Draw an Angry Bird

9

Butterflies

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1. 
   Practice drawing butterflies to experiment with detail. Butterflies are intricate creatures with vibrant, patterned wings. Drawing butterflies allows you to practice drawing detail and experiment with real or imaginary patterns to fuel your creativity. Butterflies are also colorful creatures, allowing you to practice coloring and shading your drawings.

   • Whether you use colored pencils or paints is up to you.
   • Use these wikiHow tutorials to get started:
     • How to Draw a Butterfly
     • How to Draw the Parts of a Butterfly Life Cycle
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10

Eyes

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1. Improve your attention to detail by drawing eyes. Drawing realistic eyes forces you to focus on all of the different aspects of the eye, from the iris and pupils to the eyelids and eyelashes. As a result, you will improve your attention to detail the more you practice eyes, as you’ll be more mindful of what goes where when it comes to a pencil stroke. Shading also helps improve your realism, so incorporate it into your eye drawings, as well.

   • Get started with these wikiHow tutorials:
     • How to Draw Eyes
     • How to Draw a Realistic Eye
   • Gibbons recommends sketching something that’s personal to you, like your favorite cartoon character.

11

Feathers

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1. 
   Draw feathers to find a balance between simplicity and detail. Feathers are a simple object that still has a lot of detail, so if you’re looking to improve at drawing finer details (whether that be through line art, crosshatching, or whatever technique you prefer), draw a feather from your favorite animal. Start with simple silhouettes, then once you’re comfortable, incorporate more detail.

   • Get creative by adding your own patterns and/or colors to the feather.
   • Get started with these wikiHow tutorials:
     • How to Draw a Feather
     • How to Draw Wings
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12

Pumpkin

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1. Try pumpkins to get a grasp on how shapes work together. Pumpkins are made from simple shapes that come together to form something complex. It can take some time to get right, but once you get comfortable drawing pumpkins, you’ll likely find that you have a better understanding of how shapes work together to form a realistic subject, which is a useful skill for all sorts of illustrations!

   • Practice using this tutorial from YouTube.

13

Cupcakes

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1. 
   Draw cupcakes to practice detail, shading, coloring, and texture. Just like a baker decorates and takes extra care of their cupcakes, you should with your cupcake drawings. Use cupcakes as an opportunity to practice your detail and coloring. If you really want to improve, use them to practice shading, composition, and texture, too. Draw a cupcake on a tray with lots of frosting, or a tray of cupcakes freshly coming out of the oven, to hone in on multiple skills at once.

   • Use this tutorial to practice!
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14

Bookshelf

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1. Make realistic drawings with varying proportions by drawing bookshelves. Drawing full bookshelves allows you to work on details, improve at drawing realistic compositions of various sizes, and pack striking visuals into a tight space. To draw realistic bookshelves, you’ll need to draw the bookshelf and the books that sit on it. The arrangement of the books on the bookshelf depends on your imagination and what skills you want to practice, so the possibilities are limitless!

   • For example, if you want to improve at drawing stacked items, draw 3 books on top of each other.
   • You can draw whatever you want on your bookshelf. If you want to practice drawing trinkets, put one on the bottom shelf. If you want to practice drawing clocks, put an alarm on the top shelf.
   • Practice with this tutorial from HowToDrawFroKids.com!

15

Glasses

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1. 
   Draw a pair of glasses to work on still-life shading. Drawing a pair of glasses is a great way to improve at drawing still-life objects from different perspectives. Draw a pair of glasses sitting on a nightstand, fallen on the floor, or hanging on your shirt collar to practice drawing still-life objects in various positions. Depending on the position, you’ll be able to practice shading, too, allowing you to build those skills through simple methods.

   • Learn how to draw glasses with this tutorial from ClipStudio.net.
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16

Lamps

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1. Lamps let you experiment with shapes, sizes, and lighting. While lamps may not be the most exciting thing to draw, they come in a range of shapes and sizes and have a host of different positions, allowing you to experiment with different lines, details, and patterns, like tassels and lampshades. They also allow you to experiment with light sources and shading areas that are partially lit.

   • Use this tutorial from YouTube to learn how to draw a lamp!

17

Waves

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1. 
   Practice with waves to learn how to make complex images from linework. Waves can be formed from simple linework or complex, intricate linework. How deep you go is up to you. Either way, you’ll learn how to draw unique, complex waves from simple linework by using lines and white space to give the illusion of a rising, crashing, or moving wave. So if you’re looking to learn how to manipulate the page with linework, practice drawing waves.

   • Use this wikiHow tutorial to get started:
     • How to Draw Waves
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18

Hands

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1. Draw hands to learn about bone structure and human anatomy. Whether you’re an aspiring mangaka or someone who likes to draw for fun, drawing hands will teach you all about bone structure and how hands are supposed to move. Award-winning artist and strategic creative consultant Claire Wentzel suggests getting an anatomy book and learning the structure of the hands underneath, from the bones to the tendons, to improve your skills.

   • Wentzel says to draw the hands a lot, as the more you do something, the better you’ll get at it.
   • Use these wikiHow tutorials to get started:
     • How to Draw a Hand
     • How to Draw Anime Hands
     • How to Draw a Pointing Hand

19

Sneakers

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1. 
   Practice drawing sneakers for an easy still-life subject with lots of detail. Shoes may seem like a behemoth, but they’re actually an easy object to draw since they’re readily available. All you have to do is head to your closet, grab your favorite pair of kicks, a sheet of paper, and a sharpened pencil, set the sneaker on a flat surface, and start drawing. You’ll be able to practice drawing details like laces, soles, logos, and air holes.

   • Sneakers are a great object to get familiar with if you enjoy drawing characters, as you’ll be able to add an extra layer of detail to their outfits.
   • Bespoke tailor David Reeves says that outfits and fashion sketches involve drawing lots of layers that communicate to the audience.
   • Use this tutorial to from HowToDrawForKids.com get started!
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20

Soda Cans

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1. Sketch soda cans to improve at perspective and detail. Soda cans come in various shapes and sizes, and you can even crush them, allowing you to practice shapes and silhouettes that you don’t often get the chance to draw. Drawing soda cans helps with perspective, too, as their location on the page will force you to alter how much space they take up, how they’re shaped and shaded, and how much detail they provide.

   • Drawing soda cans from a real-life reference allows you to practice logo-drawing, as well!
   • Use this tutorial from DrawAwesome.com to get started!

21

Buildings

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1. 
   Buildings improve your perspective skills, straight lines, and basic shapes. Drawing buildings is a great way to practice drawing shapes and lines from specific perspectives. For example, you can draw a cityscape from above to learn how to draw from a bird’s-eye perspective, or you can draw from the ground up for a worm’s-eye view. Buildings are made from simple geometric shapes, too, so the basic shapes sketches will come in handy here.

   • Use these wikiHow tutorials to get you started:
     • How to Draw Buildings
     • How to Draw a House
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Tips

• Take your time with your sketches! You won’t be a pro overnight, but stay consistent and you’ll see major improvement down the line.
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