Do you need help knowing what things to sketch when bored? Here is a list of 39 ideas to sketch organized from easy, medium, and hard-difficulty sketches.
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Have you ever wondered about things to sketch when bored, but came up with nothing enticing? When you are in this mood it can feel impossible to decide what to sketch. If you are anything like me, often I don’t sketch anything because I don’t want to make a decision. However, this is a lame excuse to not practice your drawing skills. To combat this bad habit I have composed a list of things to draw. I hope this list will help you as much, or more than it has helped me!
You will learn about things to sketch when bored, sketch ideas, en plein air, easy sketches, medium-difficulty sketches, and hard-difficulty sketches.
After reading this post you will know what you want to sketch when you are bored. You can keep coming back to this list for inspiration on what to sketch!
Things to Sketch When Bored
Supplies needed:
Depending on what you want to do, you can make any of these ideas easier or harder in difficulty level. If you want to do one of the medium-difficulty sketches but don’t want it to be time-consuming, make it easier. You can do this by not drawing as many details, not adding shading, and focusing on basic shapes without refining them as much. Art is beautiful because it can be adjusted to fit anyone’s skill level, style, emotion, and personality.
These sketching ideas are meant to be used to practice your skills. If you pick an idea and end up hating the actual sketch, that’s great! You can learn so much from it if you take the time to think about it.
I hope that you have fun and get lots of practice 😊
Easy Sketches
1. Clock
Clocks are a great low-stress sketch to start with if you are new to sketching. It is composed of one or two simple shapes and that’s it. If you need a confidence booster this is the sketch for you!
If you like sketching with pens but hate how you can’t erase lines try erasable pens. I used one to sketch the clock above. They are a good option, especially if it is using a pencil that is keeping you away from drawing.
2. Kitchen Knife
3. Stethoscope
4. Front Door
5. Computer
A computer is good practice for lines. If you want an easy sketch find a computer monitor. If you want a harder one sketch a laptop.
If you change the angle of the screen you can do thing sketch multiple times to create a different outcome.
6. Basketball Hoop
7. Pizza
8. Refrigerator
9. Candle
10. Perspective Drawing
These easy sketches are a great exercise for understanding perspective. Using a ruler draw a straight line and two dots, one on the left of the line and the other on the right. Use the ruler to draw straight lines from the dot to the top and bottom of the line.
If the dots are below the middle of the line it is from the “worm’s eye view”. If they’re above the middle of the line it is from the “bird’s eye view”.
Another thing you can do is write your name in block letters within the lines you have drawn. This will help solidify your understanding of perspective even more.
11. Indoor Plants
12. Soda Bottle or Can
13. Insects
Insects are great sketch ideas. You could draw the commonly drawn insects such as butterflies, dragonflies, and ladybugs. Or you could look up some new ones like a Hercules beetle, a hummingbird moth, a Picasso bug, or an orchid mantis.
14. Flowers
15. Your Favorite Animal
16. Stuffed Animals
Not only are stuffed animals easy sketches, but they’re also very enjoyable. You can draw them realistically, cartoonishly, or loosely. Either way, they will turn out cute!
If you really like the practice and want to paint your sketch check out this article on watercolor art for beginners.
17. Your Pet
18. Window View
19. Balloon Animals
Medium-Difficulty Sketches
20. Fruit
Sketch whatever fruit you have lying around. Depending on the fruit would determine how difficult the sketch would be, but go for it! You won’t get any better if you don’t practice drawing. So get out a bunch of grapes, a pumpkin, a pear, an apple, a mango, etc.
21. Bookshelf
22. Water Bottle
23. Couch
24. Flag
25. Hallway
Sketching a hallway will practice your lines, perspective, and proportions. You can do this with a picture or in the actual hallway.
When you do this pay close attention to proportions. I found that it was helpful to break the paper into thirds and then break the hallway into thirds. Doing this will help you figure out where objects need to go and how big/small you should draw them.
Do the sketch in pencil, then if you like it go over it with ink.
26. A Pair of Shoes
27. Vase
28. A Book
29. A Car
30. A Guitar
31. Create a Still-Life Set
Still-life drawing is when you draw inanimate objects from the real world – not from a photograph. To do this professionally you need a neutral background and good lighting. But you don’t need the correct setup for this exercise.
In the picture below I positioned my Roku remote next to a bowl and a glass on a small table. I did all of this while the TV was on one night.
Just grab 3 items that are lying around and start drawing them. The more you do this, the better you will get.
32. Trees
33. Wedding Ring
34. Fireplace
Learn how to do still life in 17 Great Still Life Drawing Ideas.
Hard-Difficulty Sketches
If you want a challenge consider one of these hard difficulty sketches.
35. Doorknob
Doorknobs are difficult for a variety of reasons. If you are drawing a round doorknob it will have multiple ellipses. Which will be great practice if you need to work on ellipses.
The lighting (reflections and shadows) can be tricky to capture just right. If not done correctly it will make the doorknob look off. You can decide not to shade, but this will also make it look strange and may make it difficult to recognize.
36. Portrait of a Family Member
37. En Plein Air
En plein air is a French term that translates to outside. This means that if you were to sketch or paint outside using nature or buildings as your reference you would be sketching en plein air. This type of art can be so relaxing when the weather is nice outside.
One thing that I want to do this spring is sketch the same tree once a week for an entire month. You could pick any plant for your reference, but wouldn’t it be cool to see not only your progress but the growth of the plant?
38. Your Home
39. A Chandelier
Chandeliers can be simple or as complicated as the one below. Sketching a chandelier will be fun and challenge you if you give it a chance.
Reflection
I have found that if I take the time to reflect on each piece of art I create I actively get better. So ask yourself the following questions about your sketch:
i. What do you like most about your sketch?
ii. What don’t you like least about it?
iii. What would you do differently next time? What are other sketch ideas that came to you during this project?
iv. How have you improved since your last piece?
When you take the time to learn from each sketch you are actively trying to get better. You may notice mistakes that you make often or something that you really like and want to do again. Whatever it is, good or bad, take the time to learn from it.
This post is all about things to sketch when bored.
I would love to see what you create. Let me know what you learn or what you would like to learn about!
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