If you’re an artist or an aspiring artist looking for easy sketch ideas, look no further. I’ve rounded up over twenty easy drawing ideas beginners can sketch.
You may be wondering why you should even sketch in the first place. Have you ever heard someone say that you shouldn’t worry about spelling and grammar errors when writing a first draft?
That the first draft is just for getting your thoughts out? The same concept applies to sketching. Sketching your ideas is the first step in the design process and is something every artist should do.
When you sketch, it doesn’t have to be perfect. The purpose of your sketches is to get your ideas out quickly. Don’t worry about erasing or trying to ensure everything is just right. Your primary focus should be getting your ideas out uninterrupted.
Recommended Reading: How to Draw People Step-by-Step Tutorials
Easy Sketch Ideas Beginners Can Draw
Check out this collection of ideas that are beginner-friendly. There are even some step-by-step tutorials.
There are also sketches perfect for the adventurous beginner. Check out this post with simple drawing ideas.
1. Baby Turtle
If you’re looking for a cute drawing of an animal, check out this adorable baby turtle drawing. This drawing has a bit more detail but is still beginner-friendly.
2. Female with Cute Hair
Here’s a classic sketch idea of a young lady with her hair in pigtails that will make an adorable drawing. I love the addition of the star earrings.
3. Whale in a Lightbulb Drawing
Draw a whale swimming in an old-fashioned light bulb to add a creative flair to your art. The addition of the heart makes the super cute.
4. Yellow Flowers in a Vase
Brighten up any sketching session with some cheery yellow flowers, and add a vase with blue water for extra detail.
5. Little Shark
If you’re looking for a beginner-friendly drawing, it can’t get any easier than this drawing of a shark. If you have kids, this is a very kid-friendly drawing too. I love drawing simple images like this. I find it to be so relaxing and fun.
6. Cat and Dog Doodles
Doodling has never been this cute. Draw a page filled with cats and dogs together for an adorable sketch.
7. How to Draw a Sunflower
Learn how to draw a sunflower in just three steps with this helpful tutorial.
8. Baby Alligator
How adorable is this drawing of a baby alligator? I love how you see the drawing from two different angles. I find that to be so helpful for beginners.
Choosing Your Pencils
Before you begin your drawing, it’s important that you choose the right pencil. If you’re new to sketching and aren’t sure what pencil grade to start with, I recommend starting your sketch with a pencil on the H scale. You can finish your drawing with a darker pencil grade, such as a pencil on the B scale.
9. How to Draw a Pumpkin
You’ll probably want to draw a pumpkin when fall rolls around, especially if you have a bullet journal. This tutorial shows you how to draw a pumpkin step-by-step.
10. Heart-Shaped Flowers
Add a touch of love and whimsy to your sketchbook with heart-shaped flowers blooming in a charming polka dot pot. This delightful drawing idea is perfect for beginners looking to express their creativity and practice their skills while spreading a little cheer.
11. Female Dresses
If you need dress ideas for your characters, here’s a variety of cute and beginner-friendly dresses. This is also an excellent reference for drawing clothes if you need practice.
12. How to Draw Mickey Mouse
I enjoy drawing Disney characters. If you want to draw a Disney character, Mickey Mouse is a great character. This step-by-step tutorial makes it easy to draw Mickey Mouse.
13. Women with Rosy Cheeks
This is a simple yet striking illustration of a woman sporting short hair and rosy pink cheeks.
Drawing Tip #1: Try Not to Smudge
If you can, avoid smudging your drawing. You can place a piece of paper underneath your hand to minimize how much your hand smears your drawing. This will help ensure you have a clean-looking drawing once it’s complete. Remember, you can use smudging to smooth out your shading.
14. How to Draw Realistic Eyes
If you’re new to drawing eyes or have trouble drawing eyes, you should find this eye study helpful. It shows you the basic eye shape, how the light hits the eye, and more.
15. Strawberry Drink Illustration
Draw a refreshing strawberry drink for a fun and easy art project. This illustration captures the essence of a delicious summertime beverage.
16. How to Draw Tulips
Practice your drawing techniques by sketching some colorful tulips. This drawing idea is great for anyone to create eye-catching floral artwork.
17. Red Mushroom Drawing
For a whimsical sketch, draw a red mushroom in the middle of a grassy field. You can create different colored mushrooms for your drawing.
18. Camping Area
This is a really simple drawing that’s perfect for beginners. This drawing features a camping area, mountains, and trees. Once complete, this would look cool pinned to your wall.
19. Roses in a Bucket
Sketch a bouquet of roses in a classic tin bucket for some added texture to your drawing.
20. Character Eyes
This step-by-step tutorial shows you how to quickly and easily draw anime-style character eyes. Once you break things down into steps, it makes it a lot easier to do. To go the extra step, consider coloring in your drawn eyes.
Drawing Tip #2: Use a Blending Stump
It can be difficult to get a good blend with pencils. However, using a blending stump can create a smooth bleeding effect. Blending stumps are great for smudging graphite and charcoal.
21. Five Smiling Cat Doodles
Make five cute kitties your own by sketching them, each with different facial expressions.
22. Small Camping Area
Here’s another drawing of a camping area. This one has slightly fewer details and is perfect for drawing newbies. I think simple drawings like this make great gifts to friends or family. For example, you could draw something like this on a handmade greeting card.
23. How to Sketch a Woman
Learn how to sketch a woman with these eight steps. Consider making changes like drawing a different hairstyle, or even adding color.
24. How to Draw a Nose
Drawing a nose can be challenging for some; however, this tutorial shows you how to draw the easiest nose ever. This is a great tutorial for new artists looking to draw a simple nose on a character.
25. Cute Dinosaur Drawing
Dinosaurs don’t have to be scary. Make a drawing of a friendly dino with pink cheeks and a cute facial expression.
26. Nose Studies
This isn’t a tutorial exactly, but it shows you how differently shaped noses look from the front view, side view, and at an angle. This is great for learning how to draw different types of noses. Of course, many more nose shapes exist, but this is a good start.
Drawing Tip #3: Don’t Blend with Your Fingers
Once it’s time to blend, try not to blend with your fingers. When you blend with your fingers, the oils from your skin will transfer to the paper and may affect the look of your drawing.
27. How to Draw a Diamond
I love how simple this picture breaks down the steps to draw a diamond. It’s a lot easier than the final step looks. Simply draw one line at a time, and you’ll have a stunning diamond.
28. How to Draw a Bunny
I love drawing animals, so this bunny tutorial is very helpful. Following this tutorial, you’ll have your own bunny drawing in no time. I love how simple this step-by-step tutorial is.
29. Strawberry Cat Illustration
Draw an adorable strawberry cat illustration, featuring a cute cat wearing a strawberry hat on its head. This easy and fun drawing idea is a charming and playful piece of art.
40. Line Drawings
If you’re a fan of line art, try drawing some of the animals pictured below. Using the line art style, you can also draw faces, shapes, and more. You can create a beautiful piece of art when using this drawing method.
Drawing Tip #4: Practice Sketching Daily
If you want to get better at sketching, the best thing you can do is practice daily. I recommend setting aside an hour every day to sketch. Don’t worry about your work being perfect. It will get better naturally the more you practice.
41. Fingers Touching
If you’d like to practice drawing hands, you can reference this picture of two hands touching. For more, check out my post for hand-drawing references and ideas.
42. Manga Female Hair Styles
Explore various manga female hairstyles with this reference sheet. The artist behind this sketch teaches others how to draw amazing manga art. Be sure to check out more of their work.
43. Manga Female Head
These step-by-step instructions will teach you how to draw a female manga character’s head.
44. Manga Pleated Skirts
Pleated skirts are super popular in the world of manga and anime. If you’ve ever wanted to learn how to draw manga-style pleated skirts, this tutorial will help.
45. How to Draw a Cat
If you want to know how to draw a cat, this simple tutorial makes it easy. Once you get down to the basics, you can draw a cat with more detail.
46. Winnie the Pooh
While this isn’t a step-by-step tutorial, these sketches of Winnie the Pooh are still very beginner-friendly. I love the sketches of Winnie the Pooh with his honey jar. You can color in your Winnie the Pooh to add more detail to your drawing.
47. How to Draw a Rose
If you’re interested in drawing flowers, this simple tutorial will show you how to draw a rose in three steps. This step-by-step tutorial makes drawing a flower easy. Make sure you color your rose to make it even more beautiful.
48. Mermaid Cat Illustration
Combine the charm of a cat with the enchanting allure of a mermaid. Adding vibrant colors really makes this stand out.
Drawing Tip #5: Practice Blind Contour Drawing
Blind contour drawing is the practice of drawing the contour of a subject without looking down at the paper.
Blind contour drawing is helpful because it trains the eyes and hands to work as a team. It always helps the artist see all the details of the subject.
49. How to Draw a Braid
Here’s a simple step-by-step tutorial showing you how to draw a braid. It even gives tips for coloring the hair. When drawing your braid, I recommend using precision micro-line pens.
50. Eiffel Tower with Hearts
If you love the Eiffel Tower, try drawing this simple sketch of the Eiffel Tower surrounded by hearts. I love how perfect this drawing is for beginners. This drawing would look great on a handmade greeting card for someone you love.
51. Cute Tiny House Drawing
Draw a cozy tiny house and make it your own with decorative details like windows, plants, and more.
52. Simple House Doodle
Get a little bit of practice drawing houses by sketching one in an interesting shape. Add floral elements for a special touch.
53. House with Floral Elements
Add a unique touch to your sketching session by adding some flowers, and other design elements into your house doodle.
54. Tall House Doodle
Make your house sketch stand out by making it nice and tall and adding a cute attic window.
55. Tiny Penguin Drawing
Here’s a simple drawing of a little penguin. This is an easy drawing that’s perfect for beginners. You could even add a pop of color to your penguin, coloring the beak yellow or orange.
56. Palm Tree Inside Planet
I love drawings of planets, which is why I’ve included a few in this collection. This drawing is of a planet and stars, with a palm tree and sand located within the planet. This would look even better if you colored everything in.
57. The Little Mermaid
Even if you’re new to drawing, you can reference this sketch of Ariel from The Little Mermaid. I think this character sketch is so beautifully drawn.
Drawing Tip #6: Add Color
Adding color to your drawing can be a great way to make your drawing stand out. You can use colored pencils, pastels, or even watercolor paint to add color to your drawing.
58. Camping Site
Minimalist camping sites are always fun to draw because even though they’re minimalist, the finished results look wonderful. This drawing is beyond simple and can quickly be drawn using pencil and paper or digitally with your computer or tablet.
59. Sloth Drawing
Draw a cute and relaxed sloth for a fun and easy drawing project. This simple idea is perfect for those looking to practice their skills while capturing the laid-back essence of one of nature’s most adorable creatures.
60. Crocodile Drawing
Create a cute and friendly crocodile with this easy reference. Crocodiles have the strongest bite force of any living animal, with some species capable of exerting over 3,700 pounds per square inch of pressure.
61. Cute Fox Drawing
Capture the endearing charm of a fox with an easy drawing reference that highlights its cute face and perky ears.
62. Cute Bear Drawing
Create an adorable bear drawing, showcasing its round ears and cuddly appearance. Improve your drawing skills while bringing to life one of nature’s most lovable creatures.
63. How to Draw Hands
While this may not be beginner-friendly, I thought it would be helpful for anyone learning to draw hands.
Hands are one of the most challenging body parts for artists to draw. This tutorial breaks down how to draw different hand shapes and movements.
64. Flower in Heart
Here’s a simple drawing that anyone can do. This drawing is of a heart holding water and a simple flower. You can add your personal touch by changing the flower or adding color.
65. Step-by-Step Eyes
Here’s another helpful tutorial for drawing eyes. This tutorial breaks down each step, which helps make drawing eyes easy. This may seem complicated at first glance, but if you look at each step, you’ll see how easy it can be to draw eyes.
Drawing Tip #7: Use the Grid Method
The grid method involves drawing a grid over your reference photo and then lightly drawing the grid on your drawing paper to scale. The grid method will help you with the placement of your drawing. It will give you a reference point between the photo and your canvas.
66. Flowers in Light Bulb
I love this drawing of flowers in a light bulb. After finishing this sketch, it would look great hanging up on your wall. You could even add some color to make it stand out more.
67. Mouth Expressions
If you want to draw different mouth expressions for your character, this sketch shows you how to draw a smile, smirk, grin, and more.
68. Female Making a Shocked Expression
With practice you can learn to draw a female making a shocked expression, capturing the wide eyes and open mouth that convey her surprise.
69. Face in Flower Pot
This line drawing is so simple yet creative. I love how the face is growing from the flower pot, and the top of the head is a simplistic flower. To change this drawing, ask yourself what other shape you could draw from this pot.
70. Camping Ground and Mountains
This resembles the previous camping drawings but includes more detail for the mountain, trees, and tent. If you want to practice stippling, this is an excellent beginner drawing.
71. Planets in Head
At first glance, this drawing may seem complicated. However, if you look closely at it, you’ll notice that it’s pretty simple to draw. I recreated this drawing and can tell you that it was so fun to draw.
72. Girl Characters
Here’s a sketch breakdown of four different girls. Each girl has her own look and style. You should find this reference very helpful if this is your drawing style. It would be fun to color in these characters once they’re complete.
73. Head in The Clouds
I love how simple and creative this head in the clouds drawing is. If you’re looking for something you can sketch quickly, try this reference.
74. Cute Avocado Doodles
Have fun drawing cute avocado characters. There are avocado slice characters, a guacamole bowl character, an avocado toast character, and more.
Creating art can be intimidating and challenging. We may sometimes feel overwhelmed with where and how to begin. Hopefully, this list of sketch ideas has inspired you to enjoy the process of creating art.
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