An idea can brings more ideas. I see it as a game. You can start moving some pieces around until little by little you get some ideas you like. Here you have some tips that can help you get to those ideas and a list of drawing prompts that can inspire you.
First things first
If you feel stuck and feel pressure because you don’t know what to draw, I would say the first thing to do is to get rid of as much pressure as possible. In order to do that, you can use materials you feel are cheap and you can “misspend” drawing something “ugly” without feeling bad. I like to use old planner or cheap sketchbooks. Not every page is going to look pretty, but I like how many of them look and I even ended up making zines with some of them.
The next thing I would do to scape from the pressure is think that I don’t have to create the greatest piece of my life. I’m just trying to start drawing and warming up so that my brain and my hand start flowing.
What can you do if you don’t have ideas of what to draw
1. Make some studies
Often times I like to start a drawing session making some studies and sometimes that’s the only thing I actually what to do, and that’s ok. But one thing I enjoy about making studies is that, besides the fat that I learn from them, it also leads me to having ideas.
For example, I can be making an study of the ruins of a castle and then I think “I could turn them into a dragon’s lair” and I add the some dragons or I make a second drawing with a variation of that first castle thanks to what I learnt doing the study and I add the dragon.
You can create a list of things you want to get better at and you can check it when you don’t know what to draw, for example you can learn anatomy, perspective, landscapes, expressions…
2. Search for inspiration
Sketch things you like, but don’t be afraid to get out of your confort zone. Many times we get stuck drawing the same things over and over again because we are scared to draw other things and failing. If this happens to you, you can have a secret sketchbook for this sole purpose. You don’t have to show it to anybody if you don’t want to.
✸ Look around
You can sketch what you have around you, whether they are objets, plants, animals, landscapes, people… You can draw the same thing in different ways, make variations.
✸ In your phone gallery
In order to get inspiration, I tend to
To get inspiration I usually look at things that I am experiencing and that I like. For years I have gotten into the habit of taking many reference photos. For example, I used the photos I took going with my friends on a hike to see the Perseids to make this zine. Even if you don’t do this consciously, you can go through your gallery and look for something that inspires you.
✸ On Pinterest
Years ago I also got into the habit of saving photos in folders to draw later and I often use them to make studies or to get inspiration. You can take a look at my Pinterest in case you are curious.
✸ On social media
It can be a great source of inspiration, but you can also end up doomscrolling, comparing yourself to others, and getting even more stuck. To avoid this, you can go into your liked post folder and look at what’s drawn in the illustrations you liked.
✸ In the library
You can look for inspiration in a book or magazine you have at home or at the library. You can also draw inspiration directly from the text of a book you like or redesign its cover.
✸ In your old sketchbooks
When I feel like I don’t know what to draw and I’m out of ideas, it’s easy to believe it’s always been this way, but looking through my sketchbooks reminds me that this isn’t true and can remind me that I used to enjoy drawing something I’d forgotten. Look through the pages of your sketchbooks and find a drawing to redraw. Doing this can also help you realize how your style has evolved over time and how much you’ve improved.
3. Brainstorm
When I brainstorm, I think about things I like or feel like drawing, and it helps me to focus on a concept, mull it over, and make variations. For example, you might want to draw a princess, but she could be a warrior princess, a bored princess, an evil princess, an old princess, a gothic princess, a princess with powers, an alien princess… You can also think about what she’s doing. Maybe she’s reading or fighting, sleeping, playing, listening to a secret…
List of things to draw
It’s easier to draw or come up with an idea when you start from something rather than a blank page, so here’s a list of things you can draw. I encourage you to make your own list of things you know you like and that you can refer to when you get stuck.
Plants
- Flowers
- Fruits
- Trees
- Weeping willows
Characters
- Humans
- Animals
- Insects
- Mammals
- Birds
- Fish
- Robots
- Monsters
- Fantastic beings
- Mythology beings
- Greek
- Nordic
- Celtic
Objects
- Household items
- Furniture
- Artilugios mágicos
- Espadas
- Baritas
Vehicles
- Cars
- Spaceships
Landscapes
- With snow
- Beach
- Mountains
- Desert
- Meadow
Food
- Recipes
- Your favourite dishes
Buildings
- Interiors
- Exteriors
- Cities
- Villages
- Ruins
I hope all of this helps you have more resources to know what to draw when you don’t know what to draw 🙂
