Stuck Looking for Drawing Ideas? Here is Some Great Advice to Fuel that Artistic Fire!

Once in a while you stare down at an empty canvas hoping drawing ideas will pop up in your mind. You are tapping your pencil and you feel like a beginner drawing up blanks every time! Don't worry, here are some suggestions as you are not alone!

To start off, all artists will encounter humps along the way where inspiration becomes scarce! Even when you see amazing work from artists, the inspirations that allow them to create these pieces are not always there. However, they are still able to create wonderful pieces of artworks from their inner confidence!

Where does this confidence come from? Not surprisingly, confidence comes from knowledge and the experience of doing something a lot.

Rather than suggest a million different topics for you to get inspiration on, I will suggest something different and look at four distinct categories of art that will help you be creative!

This advice is important: think of these categories as either potential road maps that you can progress into or areas that you want to master (on top of getting drawing ideas and inspirations from)!

1. Abstract art

There are a lot of drawing ideas that can be derived from abstract drawings. The advantage of these types of drawings is that it relays your mood rather than showing a clear subject.

For beginners looking for a place to start, this is essential to getting that first step of confidence as you are not pressured into creating a recognizable form!

That means you will not be concerned with proper shading, perspectives, composition, etc. This style of art benefits you because it teases your emotions: you do what feels right for you!

Some examples of abstracts are:

• Creating patterns
• Juxtaposing shapes
• Optical illusions
• Simple cartoons

All these should serve as a warm-up to get you to look at shapes and shading. You can also choose to master this category and create stunning pieces of abstract art.

However, just remember that these only deals with your feelings. You will still need to learn about basic drawing techniques to build a proper artistic foundation for yourself.

That's why there is realism! Use it to increase your skill set and become a versatile artist that people would want to commission!

Excellent resource:

2. Realism art: inorganic subjects

Taking a lesson from real life, the drawing ideas that come from it allows you to start building the necessary skills for looking at how the world works!

Why is this important? It's because, as an artist, your ultimate goal is to be able to create your own world!

How does a shadow get created? How does this object look from a distance? How do I create the textures on this object? These are just some of the questions that you will encounter.

That's why you should study from inorganic subjects! The advantage is that it allows you to study it for as long as you can sine it does not move much (if at all). Basically, you have all the time in the world to learn at your own pace!

Some examples of inorganic objects are:

• Still-life
• Architecture
• Machinery
• Nature and flora
• Landscapes

Of course, there are very general suggestions. You can expand on each of these examples to find specific objects that you are interested in drawing.

Start with indoor stuff. Even just stuff on your desk can serve as a great start to building a good artistic foundation. Then, move to outdoor environments when you feel confident enough.

You should feel drawing ideas flooding in as there are so many inorganic subject that you can draw and learn from!

3. Realism art: organic subjects

Once you are familiar with the basic art techniques studied from inorganic forms, you can move onto organic forms to learn all about dynamic movements.

Ironically, this a subject a lot of beginners like to start first as they like to draw people and animals, since anything that moves is more interesting than something that does not move!

Imagine it: you are looking for drawing ideas and the first thing that pops into your mind are subjects that are alive! But where to start?

Some examples of organic subjects are:

• People
• Mammals
• Birds
• Insects
• Marine life

To help you out, start with static motion instead of dynamic motion. For example, a portrait drawing is a great way to start as you subject is not moving much.

Even photos can be excellent references to understand organic form without the subject moving around. And then, once you understand the shape of your organic subject, begin to disseminate how motion is created.

There will a lot of time spent on this particular category. As it's interesting than looking at pottery and it captures your interest, I don’t think you will mind at all!

Be interested in what you are drawing and you are sure to drum up some awesome drawing ideas to further improve yourself as an artist!

Excellent resource:

4. The surreal

Having looked at abstract, inorganic, and organic forms, you can start to piece together your own world. There are an unlimited number of drawing ideas once you have these bases covered.

Everything that you have learned in the other categories will help you prepare to take your skills to the next level!

For example, the knowledge you have obtained from perspective, lighting, and composition from real life studies should have prepared you well for looking at the surreal.

Why is surreal and fictional art important? For one thing, there's a high demand for it! Gaming and movie companies love to have artists that are skillful enough to create unique environments.

Art courtesy of Anastasiya Markovich.

I don't see why you can't be one of these artists! To help you get started, Here are some cool surreal drawing ideas that will create your own world:

• Fantasy
• Science fiction
• Fashion and culture
• Mythical creatures and beasts
• Mechanical creations

One world of caution though: while these seem like enticing ideas to try immediately, try to hold off on these subjects until you have enough confidence from building a proper artistic foundation.

After all, even though it’s something you are interested in, it’s not fun if you’re struggling to even get the basic shapes and shading done correctly!

It’s like learning calculus without simple arithmetic skills!

Hence, this site will put a lot of emphasis on creating a good artistic foundation so you can start putting and developing your drawing ideas on (digital) paper.

There are just too many benefits to learning things correctly. After all, you don't want to be stuck tapping your pencil on an empty piece of paper, do you?

Be patient and persistence and you will go very far in becoming a desirable artist! There are a lot of lessons on this site to help you refine your skills. Don't overlook a single one!

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