Estimated reading time: 8 minutes
If you want to improve your artistic skills tenfold, do regular sketching. But too often, a boring, gnawing question stands in the way: What to draw today? Where can I find beginner sketching ideas? In this article, I am going to help you out.
Let me clarify one thing first. Don’t count on drawing simple shapes like bananas, leaves, or mugs every day. If you do, your efforts will quickly come to a halt. There simply aren’t enough shapes to go around. Instead, draw any single item. It can be an animal, a plant, a car, anything. This way, you avoid environments with the complexities of light, shadow, and composition. Drawing one single thing at a time is the easiest way to do sketching.
Another way to quickly give up on daily sketching is to search for outstanding photos to draw. Draw what you find first, not a perfect image. Sketching is a snapshot. It is about speed, practice, and NOT caring for the result.
Sketching is your number one tool for becoming a good artist. There are no shortcuts. You will reap the rewards of your sketching habit when you create finished artwork.
Beginner sketching ideas- why from nature?
Nature offers an unrivaled catalog of things to draw. You are never going to run out of ideas.
Here are a few examples of sketching ideas from nature. When you subscribe to my newsletter, I will keep you posted on new ideas.
Get more insight into the sketching process from this article: 5 Quick Tips For Keeping a Daily Sketchbook
Idea #1: Hummingbird
Join our Sketching Challenge!
I invite you to take up the challenge of daily sketching and posting your drawings in our private One Tree Art Club Facebook group. To join, subscribe to my newsletter. As a subscriber, you get access to the free One Tree Art Club library. It has a big collection of outlines you can download and trace for my watercolor tutorials.
How the drawing ideas are selected
The sketching ideas are guided by what I enjoy drawing. I hope you will take the same approach with your sketching habit.
On this website, we have a tool where you can search for more ideas. It includes an art palette generator as well.
Allow some of your sketches to inspire a watercolor. Or perhaps the reference photo will inspire a painting. Either way, expanding from a pencil sketch to a beautiful painting is rewarding. Again, don’t get caught up in judging your work. Move on to the next painting.
If you want to learn how to draw flowers, I think you will find my book “How to Draw Flowers Stp by Step. 46 Easy Designs” helpful. Sketching tips are included in the book, as well as in the companion sketchbooks.
Happy sketching!
Some Sketching Ideas
You can download a PDF with the reference photo for the first five sketches in the free One Tree Art Club library.
Idea # 2: Seahorse
Idea # 3: Turtle
Idea # 4: Aquarium Fish
Idea # 5: Puffin
Idea # 6: Oystercatcher Bird
Idea #7: Hippo
Idea # 8: Tree frog
Idea # 9: Flamingo
Idea # 10: Bullfrog
Idea # 11: Pelican
Idea # 12: Gecko
Idea # 13: Robin
Idea # 14: Gazelle
Do some super quick sketching
Sketching fast without attention to detail is a good warm-up exercise for making accurate drawings. Birds are rewarding subjects for their simple shape. I have a Pinterest board packed with beautiful birds. The board is a treasure trove of reference photos. Here are some super quick bird sketches.
Idea # 15 – 21 All kinds of birds and a dinosaur
The dinosaur is also a rapid sketch. Google Images is full of dinosaurs you can draw.
