15 Drawing Prompts
1. Challenge: limit your space. Open your sketchbook; use painters’ tape to give yourself a “frame” of whatever size or shape you prefer, then fill that space with your drawing.
2. Challenge: limit your materials. Choose 3 markers or pencils, one sheet of paper (perhaps uncommon, such as a brown paper bag, for example), and make yourself use only those materials for a drawing.
3. Challenge: limit your time. Set a timer for 3 to 30 minutes and challenge yourself to draw for that time and stop when the timer says STOP.
4. Challenge: use unusual materials. Try handmade paper, or draw in the margins of junk mail or bills (I really like that one). What about newspaper? Or take your common paper and crush it into a ball, then flatten it out before drawing.
5. Draw on OLD paper. This one needs explanation: some people recycle old books by pulling out the pages and drawing/painting on those pages. I can’t bring myself to do that, since I collect old documents and books (they are my babies!). So what I do is to scan an old document or book page, then print it onto regular copy paper or art paper. Draw with your markers on top of that.
6. Use celebrating for inspiration: make a card for a birthday or anniversary or other celebration, then share it.
7. What is your favorite story/book? Perhaps it is a children’s story. You, too, can illustrate a story!
8. LISTS. You see how much I like them! Make an illustrated list. You might consider designing a border with titles for your (blank) list, then print out a bunch for yourself and actually use them to create specific lists as you need them (to-do’s, shopping, trip planning, etc.)
9. 100-word challenge: Write 100 words, just go stream of consciousness and it could even be in list form. Then create art around a word or phrase you’ve written.
10. Describe your truth in 6 words then draw whatever it inspires.
11. Design a cover for your future book: journal, novel, coloring book.
12. Invent a character and draw them in as much detail as possible. BONUS: Write a short story to accompany your drawing. Or write about the character first to get ideas, then draw.
13. Pick a piece of written work— novel, non-fic, poem — and draw something related to that piece.
14 . Choose a previous drawing and see how you could improve upon it, or what changes you would make now that you’re viewing it with fresh eyes. Many times we are able to see a new perspective once we’ve been removed from our creation for a time!
15. Find a piece of art that inspires you (any medium), draw it in your own style.
~iCreateDaily.com contributing artists,Lynda Suzanne Wright
