Drawing is a wonderfully enjoyable and relaxing hobby. It boosts creativity, eases stress, improves mood, and is an excellent way to be more present and mindful. But if you’re new to drawing, you might feel frustrated or demotivated that you’re not progressing as fast as you’d like.
But it’s important to persevere. Mastering any new skill requires patience, as well as effort, so try not to be discouraged, and instead, look at improving certain skills. The more you practise, the more skilled you’ll become, and the more drawing techniques will open up to you.
Whether you’ve just started drawing or are a seasoned sketcher, there are some subjects that are easier to draw than others – and choosing these can be a great way to boost your confidence, as well as your skills. So, to get you inspired, here are 10 easy things to draw for beginners.
1. Fruit
In art, fruit is one of the most common still life subjects, and for good reason. The different colours, shapes, and textures of fruit make them ideal for sketching practice, helping you to advance on your artistic journey.
Plus, most of us have fruit at home, so it’s a super accessible subject too. Simply position some fruit in a bowl – or on a table – grab your drawing pencils, and get to work. Try to pay special attention to capturing the textures and shadows of the fruit.
Have a watch of the video below to find out more.
2. Flowers
Due to their diversity, flowers are a great subject to draw. Just like fruit, they come in many different shapes, sizes, and colours, and you can also experiment with drawing single blooms, bouquets, and flowers in vases…it all depends on your confidence level and the type of challenge you want!
Flower drawings can also be very simplistic and, like this dandelion drawing from Artful Haven, consist of only lines and circles. Or, you can draw something more intricate, and focus on the small details of each petal and leaf.
A good thing about drawing flowers is that if you make a mistake (like a smudge or an erroneous line), you can easily incorporate it into the drawing, which helps take the pressure off.
For inspiration, and to see how to draw 12 different types of flowers, check out the video below.
3. Trees
If you’re hoping to eventually be able to draw impressive landscapes, one of the best ways you can practise and prepare is to master the drawing of trees. Sketching trees can help improve your grasp of form and structure, which can boost the quality of your future sketches.
You can choose to draw trees with or without foliage. Drawing bare trees allows you to focus on the angles and curves of the branches, and bring the main form of the tree to life, while drawing trees with leaves helps improve your ability to capture detail, and create more realistic drawings.
To learn the fundamentals of drawing trees, check out the video below.
4. Birds
If you’re interested in birds, there’s a good chance you’d like to be able to draw them. And because each species of bird looks so different, they can be a lot of fun to draw. Plus, it can also be an effective way to learn how to capture anatomical features, which is useful for drawing other animals – and even humans – too.
Birds are beautifully complex creatures, and it can be intimidating to know where to start. For this reason, it’s worth breaking down their form into simpler shapes. Study the basic shape of the bird before dividing it into shapes like circles, triangles, and rectangles. Try not to get bogged down in the details, as capturing the bird’s shape and form is more important at this stage. This tutorial from Adobe will hopefully be a helpful place to start.
Have a watch of the video below to see a step by step guide to drawing birds.
5. Butterflies
Butterflies are incredibly intricate, and if you’re looking for a chance to experiment with detail, they’re a wonderful drawing topic. You can make your sketches uncomplicated and cartoonish, or more realistic, both in detail and outline.
You can let your imagination run wild and create your own patterns on the butterfly’s wings, or carefully study a photo and copy out the pattern. Because butterfly wings are often so colourful, you may want to experiment with different art mediums, like paints or coloured pencils, to properly capture the beauty of these delicate insects.
Have a watch of the video below to see how to draw a butterfly.
6. Eyes
They say eyes are the windows to the soul, and if you’re hoping to eventually draw convincing portraits, you first need to be able to draw realistic eyes. While learning how to draw noses is also important (you can get some good tips in this guide from Adobe), eyes are often more fun to practise with!
Sketching eyes forces you to pay attention to all the tiny details – the pupil, iris, eyelid, and lashes. To really bring these elements to life, you also need to work on your shading skills, which is another reason why eyes make such an interesting focus.
To see how to draw a hyperrealistic eye in a step-by-step process, check out the video below.
7. Faces
Drawing human faces is the next step up, and this can be intimidating for many beginners. But remember that everyone has their own style of drawing, and your faces can be as fanciful or as realistic as you like. You can keep things simple and cartoonish, or add lots of details.
Many artists like to break the human face into different portions, beginning with a circle for the top half of the head, and then a horizontal line for the jaw and chin. Splitting the face into sections can make it look more realistic, and all the individual features are in the right place.
Check out this guide by Adobe if you want to draw realistic faces, and if you want to draw more whimsical ones, have a read of this guide by Artful Haven.
Have a watch of the video below for more on drawing realistic and emotive human faces.
8. Mandalas
Mandalas are circular designs that contain pretty patterns and repetitive geometric shapes, and they’re spiritually significant in many Asian cultures. A lot of people find drawing mandalas to be a mindful activity, and focusing on the details of a mandala is said to be both a spiritual guidance tool and helpful for meditation.
Plus, mandalas tend to be very colourful, so if you want to play around with different colours and mediums, they’re a great place to start. Drawing the shapes and patterns contained within mandalas is also a good way of focusing on intricate details.
For more on drawing mandalas, you might like to check out this guide from Art is fun. Alternatively, to see a mandala come to life, have a watch of the video below.
9. Cupcakes
Cupcakes are arguably one of the most fun sweet treats around. They’re enjoyable to make, look at, and eat…and luckily, they’re also fun to draw. When both baking and drawing you can decorate cupcakes however you like and experiment with colours and textures.
Drawing cupcakes also gives you a chance to work on detail, composition, and shading – or you can choose to draw more cartoony cupcakes too. Decorative aspects like swirled frosting, cherries, and colourful sprinkles are especially fun to draw, and you can play around with using different mediums when adding colour.
Check out the cupcake illustrations in the video below for more inspiration.
10. Lamps
Drawing a lamp might not sound especially exciting at first, but it’s more interesting than you may think! First, lamps come in a range of shapes, sizes, and designs, and are positioned in various ways. Standing floor lamps give you a chance to experiment with lines, while intricate table lamps allow you to play around with details like tassels and patterns.
Plus, when drawing lamps, you can experiment with how to depict the light that they create. This is an excellent way to work with light and shadow, and once you find a lamp you like drawing, you can change its position to alter the way the light falls – and continue practising until you perfect it.
Have a watch of the video below to see more on sketching different types of lamp.
Final thoughts…
Whether you used to enjoy drawing but haven’t practised in years, or you’re completely new to art and are learning from scratch, you’ll probably see your skills improve a lot quicker than first expected.
Drawing is one of the most flexible art forms around, and part of the fun of learning to draw is discovering how freeing it can feel. You don’t need any expensive materials to get going – a simple pencil is the best way to start.
As you improve your skills, you’ll find a whole new world of creative expression awaits, and you may want to move on to using coloured pencils, chalk, or paints.
Ultimately, drawing is a great way to relax and unwind, have fun, and feel more creative. Don’t worry if you make mistakes. Art isn’t about trying to achieve perfection, it’s about personal expression – and if you’re keen to improve your drawing skills, these 10 sketches are a great place to start!
For more ideas on how to get in touch with your artistic side, why not browse the art and culture and hobbies and activities sections of our website? Or, you may like to sign up to an art course over on Rest Less Events.
Do you enjoy drawing – or would you like to get better? Do you have your own suggestions for things that are easy for beginners to draw? We’d love to hear about your artistic experiences in the comments below!