Random Drawing Generator
155 drawing prompts, and every one says what it will teach you. Filter by the kind of subject and by difficulty, then press the button. The skill column is the point: a prompt that exercises ellipses or foreshortening is worth more than one that just names an object.
Choose your options and press the button.
155 prompts in this list.
All 155 prompts
| Prompt | Kind | Difficulty | What it teaches |
|---|---|---|---|
| A pair of worn boots by the door | Still life | Easy | Soft folds and creases in leather |
| A half-eaten apple | Still life | Easy | Curved surfaces and a bitten edge |
| A crumpled paper bag | Still life | Medium | Hard folds and the light caught in them |
| A glass of water on a windowsill | Still life | Hard | Transparency, refraction and reflected light |
| A bunch of keys on a ring | Still life | Medium | Small metal shapes overlapping |
| Your own hand, palm up | Hands and faces | Hard | Foreshortening and the creases of the palm |
| A hand holding a mug | Hands and faces | Hard | How fingers wrap a cylinder |
| A face in three-quarter view | Hands and faces | Hard | The hardest angle to keep in proportion |
| An eye, close up | Hands and faces | Medium | Wet highlights and the curve of the lid |
| An ear | Hands and faces | Medium | The shape everybody skips and then cannot draw |
| A face lit from below | Hands and faces | Hard | How light direction changes a face entirely |
| Someone asleep in a chair | People | Medium | Weight and slack in a resting body |
| A person running, mid-stride | People | Hard | Balance and the line of action |
| A child reaching upward | People | Medium | Proportions that are not adult proportions |
| Two people talking, seen from behind | People | Medium | Posture carrying the conversation |
| A cyclist leaning into a corner | People | Hard | Tilt, and why it does not fall over |
| An old person's hands | People | Hard | Texture, tendons and knuckles |
| A dancer holding a pose | People | Hard | Line of action through the whole figure |
| A cat asleep in a curl | Animals | Easy | One continuous contour |
| A dog shaking off water | Animals | Hard | Motion blur and flying droplets |
| A bird on a wire | Animals | Easy | Silhouette against empty space |
| A horse standing still | Animals | Hard | Leg joints that bend the wrong way to our eyes |
| A fish seen through water | Animals | Medium | Distortion above and below the surface |
| An elephant's eye and the skin around it | Animals | Medium | Deep wrinkles and soft folds |
| A spider on its web | Animals | Medium | Fine radiating lines with tension |
| A snail on a leaf | Animals | Easy | A spiral shell in perspective |
| An owl facing you | Animals | Medium | Symmetry, and feather patterns that break it |
| A tree with no leaves | Nature | Medium | Branching structure all the way to the twigs |
| A single leaf, veins and all | Nature | Easy | Fine internal structure |
| Waves breaking on rocks | Nature | Hard | Water that has shape for only a second |
| A mountain range at distance | Nature | Medium | Atmospheric perspective, the far ranges paler |
| Clouds before rain | Nature | Medium | Soft edges and internal shadow |
| A rock pool | Nature | Hard | Reflection, transparency and texture at once |
| Long grass bent by wind | Nature | Medium | Direction repeated with variation |
| A pine cone | Nature | Medium | A spiral of overlapping scales |
| Frost on a window | Nature | Medium | Branching crystal patterns |
| A single flower from directly above | Nature | Easy | Radial symmetry |
| A staircase seen from the bottom | Perspective | Hard | Repeated forms receding |
| A long corridor | Perspective | Medium | One-point perspective, plainly |
| A street corner | Perspective | Hard | Two vanishing points at once |
| A room from the ceiling corner | Perspective | Hard | Three-point perspective looking down |
| A bridge crossing a river | Perspective | Medium | Structure and its reflection |
| A row of parked cars | Perspective | Hard | Ellipses for wheels at different angles |
| A bookshelf packed unevenly | Perspective | Medium | Rectangles at slightly different angles |
| A cup and saucer from eye level | Perspective | Medium | Ellipses, the thing most beginners get wrong |
| Railway tracks going away | Perspective | Easy | Convergence made obvious |
| A kitchen table after a meal | Places | Medium | Many objects, one light source |
| A launderette at night | Places | Hard | Interior light spilling into darkness |
| A market stall | Places | Hard | Repetition with variation, and clutter |
| An empty swimming pool | Places | Medium | A large simple form with hard shadows |
| A petrol station at dusk | Places | Hard | Artificial light against a fading sky |
| The inside of a bus | Places | Hard | Perspective plus figures plus reflections |
| A rooftop view over a city | Places | Hard | Depth by overlapping and by paleness |
| A garden shed interior | Places | Medium | Tools, shelves and dim light |
| A doorway with light behind it | Places | Medium | Silhouette and edge glow |
| A lighthouse in fog | Places | Medium | Losing detail with distance |
| A bicycle leaning on a wall | Objects | Hard | Ellipses, spokes and a cast shadow |
| An open umbrella | Objects | Medium | Radiating panels under tension |
| A pair of scissors, open | Objects | Easy | Two shapes crossing |
| A wristwatch | Objects | Medium | A small ellipse with fine detail inside |
| An acoustic guitar | Objects | Hard | A curved body and evenly spaced strings |
| A teapot pouring | Objects | Hard | A stream of liquid that has to look like it is moving |
| A pile of laundry | Objects | Medium | Folds without an underlying structure to lean on |
| A camera | Objects | Medium | Cylinders on a box |
| An old telephone with a cord | Objects | Medium | A curved cord that should feel heavy |
| A chess piece, lit from one side | Objects | Medium | Turned form and a clear shadow |
| A candle burning | Objects | Medium | A light source inside the drawing |
| A bunch of bananas | Objects | Easy | Simple forms overlapping |
| A skull | Objects | Hard | The structure under every face you will ever draw |
| A paper crane | Objects | Medium | Flat planes meeting at hard angles |
| A pair of glasses on a book | Objects | Medium | Transparency and a cast shadow with a lens in it |
| A window with rain on it | Light and shadow | Hard | Droplets that each hold a tiny image |
| A shadow across a staircase | Light and shadow | Medium | Shadow shape following the surface it falls on |
| A single lit bulb in a dark room | Light and shadow | Medium | How fast light falls off |
| Sunlight through leaves onto a path | Light and shadow | Hard | Dappled light with soft edges |
| A torch beam in fog | Light and shadow | Medium | Light you can see the shape of |
| Someone reading by lamplight | Light and shadow | Hard | One warm source on a face |
| A mirror reflecting a room | Light and shadow | Hard | A second perspective inside the first |
| Shadows of a fence at low sun | Light and shadow | Easy | Long simple shapes, strong contrast |
| A house that has grown legs | Imagination | Medium | Making an impossible thing sit convincingly |
| A city built inside a bottle | Imagination | Hard | Scale, and a curved glass boundary |
| A library where the books are flying | Imagination | Medium | Repetition in motion |
| An astronaut planting a garden | Imagination | Medium | Two worlds in one picture |
| A whale swimming above a town | Imagination | Hard | Scale contrast carried by detail |
| A door standing alone in a field | Imagination | Easy | One object and a lot of empty space |
| A machine whose purpose is unclear | Imagination | Medium | Invented mechanics that look like they work |
| A clock with no hands | Imagination | Easy | A familiar object made wrong |
| A tree growing through a car | Imagination | Medium | Two textures interrupting each other |
| Someone carrying their own shadow | Imagination | Hard | Breaking one rule and keeping the rest |
| A lighthouse on the back of a turtle | Imagination | Hard | Weight, and how a heavy thing sits on a living one |
| A staircase that loops back on itself | Imagination | Hard | Deliberate impossible geometry |
| Your breakfast, exactly as it was | Observation | Easy | Drawing what is there rather than what you expect |
| The view from the nearest window | Observation | Medium | Composition inside a fixed frame |
| Whatever is in your left pocket | Observation | Easy | Small objects, close attention |
| The corner of the room you are in | Observation | Medium | Perspective without choosing a nice angle |
| A stranger's posture, from memory | Observation | Hard | What you actually retained |
| Your shoes from where you are sitting | Observation | Medium | Foreshortening you cannot avoid |
| The same object three times, different angles | Observation | Hard | Understanding form rather than copying outline |
| Something you find ugly | Observation | Medium | Attention without flattery |
| A self-portrait without a mirror | Observation | Hard | Everything you assume about your own face |
| A crowd where only one face is clear | Composition | Hard | Directing the eye |
| Three objects in a triangle | Composition | Easy | The simplest arrangement that works |
| A figure very small in a large space | Composition | Medium | Scale doing the emotional work |
| Something cropped by the edge of the page | Composition | Medium | Using the frame deliberately |
| A scene divided by a strong diagonal | Composition | Medium | Line leading the eye across |
| The same subject in portrait and landscape | Composition | Medium | How the frame changes the picture |
| A picture with no horizon line | Composition | Hard | Depth without the usual clue |
| A drawing using only five lines | Technique | Hard | Deciding what is essential |
| The negative space around a chair | Technique | Medium | Seeing gaps instead of objects |
| A subject drawn without lifting the pen | Technique | Medium | Continuous line, and accepting mistakes |
| Something drawn with your other hand | Technique | Easy | Loosening up |
| A ten-second gesture of a person | Technique | Medium | Movement before detail |
| A drawing in only three tones | Technique | Medium | Simplifying value |
| The same object in line, then in tone only | Technique | Hard | Two ways of describing one form |
| A portrait made of straight lines only | Technique | Hard | Planes instead of curves |
| A texture study: brick, fur, glass, water | Technique | Hard | Four surfaces, one page |
| An orange, whole and peeled | Food | Easy | Two textures on one subject |
| A slice of watermelon | Food | Easy | Colour and seed pattern |
| A fried egg in a pan | Food | Medium | Gloss, and a soft shape inside a hard one |
| A stack of pancakes | Food | Medium | Repeated forms with syrup running |
| A bowl of noodles | Food | Hard | Tangled overlapping strands |
| Bread torn in half | Food | Medium | Crumb texture against crust |
| A melting ice cream | Food | Medium | A shape in the middle of changing |
| A cup of tea with steam | Food | Medium | Drawing something almost invisible |
| A vintage car | Vehicles | Hard | Curved metal and reflections |
| A bicycle wheel, close | Vehicles | Hard | Evenly spaced spokes in perspective |
| A rowing boat pulled up on shingle | Vehicles | Medium | A hull shape and the stones under it |
| A plane seen from below | Vehicles | Medium | Foreshortening across the wings |
| A tractor in a field | Vehicles | Medium | Heavy machinery and big wheels |
| A train carriage interior | Vehicles | Hard | Perspective, seats and window light |
| A skateboard mid-trick | Vehicles | Hard | An object in the air at an angle |
| A dragon that could actually fly | Creatures | Hard | Wing size that would carry the body |
| An animal made of two other animals | Creatures | Medium | Making a join look anatomical |
| A creature that lives in the deep sea | Creatures | Medium | Designing for pressure and darkness |
| An insect enlarged to human size | Creatures | Hard | Detail that only works when scaled up |
| A friendly monster | Creatures | Easy | Expression carried by shape, not by face |
| A creature built for a cold planet | Creatures | Medium | Form following environment |
| A skeleton of an animal that does not exist | Creatures | Hard | Structure invented but consistent |
| A castle on a cliff | Places | Hard | Architecture meeting landscape |
| A row of terraced houses | Places | Medium | Repetition with small differences |
| A wooden pier over water | Places | Medium | Verticals, reflections and perspective |
| A greenhouse full of plants | Places | Hard | Glass, structure and chaos inside |
| An abandoned building | Places | Hard | Decay, and light where there should be none |
| A tent at night with a light inside | Places | Medium | A glowing shape in the dark |
| A phone box on an empty street | Places | Medium | One object carrying the whole picture |
| A ladder against a wall | Objects | Easy | Angles and a simple cast shadow |
| A tangle of headphones | Objects | Medium | A line that crosses itself many times |
| A pile of books, some open | Objects | Medium | Rectangles at angles, pages fanning |
| A watering can | Objects | Easy | Cylinders and a spout |
| A sewing machine | Objects | Hard | Complex machinery in a small space |
| An open toolbox | Objects | Hard | Many small objects, one container |
| A birdcage with the door open | Objects | Medium | Repeating bars around a curved form |
| A stack of plates | Objects | Medium | Ellipses stacked, each slightly different |
| A pair of headphones on a desk | Objects | Medium | Curves and a soft cast shadow |
| A jar of pickles | Objects | Hard | Glass, liquid and objects inside both |
Difficulty is about the drawing problem, not the subject. A glass of water is 'hard' because transparency and refraction are hard; a mountain range is 'medium' because atmospheric perspective is one idea you can learn in an afternoon. Nothing here needs a model, a studio or anything beyond a pencil.
How this list was built
Every prompt says what it exercises, and that is the whole reason this page exists. A generator that says 'draw a bicycle' has told you nothing. Knowing that a bicycle is about ellipses, spokes in perspective and a cast shadow tells you what you are practising and what to look at when it goes wrong. That column took longer to write than the prompts did.
Difficulty describes the problem, not the object. A crumpled paper bag is medium because hard folds are genuinely awkward. A skull is hard, and it is on the list anyway, because it is the structure under every face anyone will ever draw. Filter to easy if you want to finish something today; filter to hard if you want to be worse at drawing for an hour and better afterwards.
Nothing here is a scene you cannot see. Most of these are in the room with you or out of the window — your own hand, your shoes from where you are sitting, whatever is in your left pocket, the corner of the room. Observation prompts beat invented ones for practice, because reality keeps supplying detail you would not have thought of.
No character, franchise or copyrighted subject appears on this list. Not one prompt asks you to draw someone else's character. Everything here is either an ordinary object, an observed scene, or an invented thing that is yours the moment you draw it.
Sources. The prompts and the skills they exercise are editorial — written for this page, grouped so the categories stay balanced and rated consistently. Nothing is scraped from another prompt list, and nothing names a copyrighted character or property.
Common questions
How many drawing prompts are there?
155, across still life, people, hands and faces, animals, nature, perspective, places, light and shadow, imagination, observation, composition, technique, food, vehicles and creatures. The whole list is on this page.
Can I get only easy ones?
Yes — set the difficulty dropdown to Easy and the count under the button tells you how many match before you press. The same works for the kind of subject, and you can use both at once.
What is the difference between a kind and a difficulty here?
Kind is what you are drawing — a still life, a place, an animal. Difficulty is how hard the drawing problem is. A simple object can be a hard drawing: a glass of water is one object and one of the hardest things on this list.
Are these good for daily practice?
That is what they are shaped for. Leave no-repeats ticked and the generator works through the whole list without repeating, so a daily prompt lasts you several months without coming round again.
Do I need any particular materials?
No. Every prompt here works with a pencil and paper. The ones about light and tone are easier with something that makes a solid dark, but none of them require paint, ink or a tablet.
Other generators
- Random name generator — A real first name, filtered by gender and where it comes from
- Random group generator — Paste your names, get fair groups or teams
- Random letter generator — A letter of the alphabet, with its radio word and how common it is
- Random animal generator — A real species, with where it lives and what it eats