Do you find yourself constantly asking, “What should I draw?”
If you sometimes skip drawing because you dread having to choose a worthy subject, themes might be the solution for you. Even if your main sketchbook doesn’t follow a theme, keeping one or two on the side that sticks to a theme could give you a break from thinking about drawing, and more mental (and physical!) space to actually draw.
Fakulty member Liz Steel paraphrases Buddha when she says, “The creative journey is more important than the traveling.” So worry less about producing a flawless book of perfect drawings, and focus more on drawing as much as you can! See below for some themes that might spruce up your sketchbook or take you in a new direction.
50 Drawing Theme Suggestions for sketchbook:
- Illustrated poetry (your own or your favorites written by other people)
- Handlettered quotes
- Illustrated recipes
- Painting the sky (this is fun to see progression through the seasons)
- Self-portraits
- Continuous line drawings
- Sketches On-the-go (tiny sketchbook that will fit in your bag)
- Traveling
- Experiment with materials (only new things you have never tried before)
- Cars/vehicles/ things that go
- Sketches in public
- Exploring your neighborhood
- Watercolour-only
- Black ink only
- Reduced palette or pick one color to stick to.
- Meals (drawing the actual finished plate, not the recipes)
- Animals
- People
- Trees
- Flowers
- Your pet(s)
- Portraits
- Gesture drawings / Body language (strangers or
- Buildings and Architecture
- Objects you use every single day
- Copy exercises of favorite artists
- Dip pens-only (or other objects like sticks or reeds that aren’t pens)
- Record the things you choose to eat to track your diet
- One Sketch A Day
- Shadows
- Chairs
- Feet or hands or one specific body part as your focus (imagine a sketchbook filled with noses!)
- Urban Sketches
- Shoes or an accessory you collect like bags or jewelry
- Things around the house (Draw your messes instead of cleaning them up!)
- What you wore today
- (Grand)kids
- Grocery lists
- A shared family sketchbook
- Blind contour drawings
- Toys
- Kitchen items (or items limited to your favorite place in the home- like hardware items from the garage or toiletries from the bathroom)
- Drawing from the TV
- Maps (of your home, the places you go, of your mind…)
- Drawing from imagination
- Drawing memories
- Ballpoints-only
- Drawings from (old) family photos
- Musicians
- Drink and draw – combine meeting friends and sketching
What are some themes you have used in your sketchbooks?
