30 Day Drawing Challenge Generator

Pick a theme, deal all thirty days in one press, type over any day and print the list.

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All 300 prompts

Everyday objects 50

A backpack slumped against a wall It sags, so avoid straight lines. The straps and zips follow the bulges.
A banana, three days too old A curved wedge with flat planes. The brown spots cluster along the ridges.
A bar of soap, worn down A soft-cornered block. The wear shows as a shallow dip in the top face.
A bicycle from memory, then from life Draw it from memory, then find a real one. The frame is close to two triangles.
A button with four holes and a loose thread Circle, inner rim, four dots. Let the thread wander off toward the edge of the page.
A chair seen from the corner of the room A box for the seat and four legs down to the floor. The far legs look shorter.
A clear glass bottle on a windowsill Glass is drawn by its edges and highlights. Leave most of it the colour of the paper.
A clothes peg, drawn open and closed Two small drawings. The spring is a coil sitting between two wedges.
A coat hanging on a door hook All the folds start at the hook and fall straight down. Draw those lines first.

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Everyday objects, continued

A comb with one tooth missing A long bar and even spacing. Rule nothing and judge the gaps by eye.
A crumpled sheet of paper No outlines inside, only planes of light and dark that meet at sharp creases.
A desk lamp, switched on Cone, arm, base. Keep the paper white where the light lands and shade the rest.
A flight of stairs seen from the top Each tread looks narrower than the one before it. The handrail follows the same slope.
A full laundry basket Put the weave pattern on the front of the basket only. The pile is one lumpy shape.
A glass of water with a straw in it The straw seems to break at the waterline. Draw what you see, not what you know.
A half-peeled orange A sphere with a strip of peel curling away from it. Show the pale inside of the peel.
A houseplant and the shape of its pot Pot first as a tapered cylinder, then the largest leaves, then the ones behind.
A jar lid, from the top and from the side A circle, then a thin ellipse with ridges that bunch up toward the edges.
A kettle with the room reflected in its side Reflections wrap around the form. Squint and copy the shapes, not the objects.
A lemon cut in half A circle, a thin ring of rind, and wedge segments that meet a little off-centre.
A loaf of bread with two slices cut A rounded box. The cut face is flat and paler than the crust.
A mug seen from directly above Two circles and a handle seen edge-on. The thickness of the rim is what makes it read.
A pair of glasses folded on a book Draw the book as a box first so the glasses have a surface to sit on.
A pair of gloves dropped on a table Treat each glove as a mitten shape first, then split the fingers.
A pair of headphones with the cable tangled The band is a ribbon twisting in space. Trace the cable as loops that overlap.
A paperclip drawn as one unbroken line Start at one cut end and do not lift the pencil until you reach the other.
A pear with its cast shadow Shape first, then the shadow as one flat shape touching the base.
A pepper grinder and a salt shaker Two cylinders of different heights. Compare their widths before adding any detail.
A roll of tape standing on edge Two ellipses joined by straight sides, with a smaller ellipse for the core.
A shelf of objects drawn as one silhouette Fill the whole row in as a single dark shape. The outline has to carry everything.
A soup ladle with the window reflected in it Copy the bright window shape exactly as it appears, bent and small.
A stack of three books, spines out of line Three boxes, each turned a little. Check that every corner angle is different.
A tap with one drop about to fall A bent tube ending in an ellipse. The drop is a small teardrop with a highlight.
A tea bag with its string and tag A pillow shape, a line and a small square. Let the string curl once.
A tea towel hanging from an oven door Folds fan out from where the cloth is pinched. Shade the inside of each fold.
A wall clock showing the time right now Divide the circle into quarters first, then place twelve, three, six and nine.
A wooden spoon and a whisk, side by side One solid shape and one made of wire loops. Draw the outer loop of the whisk first.
An egg on a plain saucer Almost no outline is needed. Find where the shadow side meets the saucer.
An open umbrella drying on the floor A shallow dome made of triangles. The ribs all meet at one point on top.
The contents of your pencil case, tipped out Overlaps do the work. Draw the item on top first and tuck the others behind it.
The inside of a kitchen drawer A box seen from above, full of overlapping shapes. Pick five items and ignore the rest.
The light switch nearest to you A rectangle inside a rectangle. The small shadow under the rocker gives it depth.
One sock, flat on the floor Follow the outline slowly, then add the ribbing at the cuff and the worn patch at the heel.
Scissors, open, seen from above Two long shapes crossing at a pivot. The handles are loops of different sizes.
The spoon you ate breakfast with An oval, a neck and a handle. Add the one bright highlight in the bowl.
Your bed, unmade, seen from the doorway A box in perspective under a landscape of folds. Get the box right first.
Your keys at twice their real size Drawing big makes you look at the teeth and the ring instead of guessing them.
Your phone charger with the cable coiled Draw the plug as a box, then the cable as loops that pass over and under each other.
Your shoes, exactly where you kicked them off Two wedges at different angles. The opening of each shoe is an ellipse.
Your toothbrush in its glass A cylinder with a stick leaning in it. Note where the handle crosses the rim.

Animals 50

A bat hanging asleep An upside-down teardrop wrapped in its wings. The feet are the only thing holding on.
A bee on a flat flower Three body sections, with stripes that curve around the last one. Draw the wings lightly.
A bird landing with wings and tail spread Wings up and back, tail fanned as a brake, feet forward. Feathers overlap like roof tiles.
A butterfly with its wings closed From the side it is one upright triangle on a thin body. The pattern follows the veins.
A cat asleep in a perfect circle Draw the circle first, then find the ear, the tip of the tail and one paw.
A cat mid-jump between two surfaces Spine stretched to full length, front paws reaching. One line of action from paw to tail.
A cat stretching after a nap Front legs long, rear end high, spine in one curve. Find that curve before anything else.
A caterpillar on a stem A row of overlapping circles following the curve of the stem. Bunch them where it bends.
A chameleon on a twig Body flattened side to side, feet that grip like tongs, and a tail that curls around the twig.
A cow lying down, chewing A big box with the legs folded under it. The hip bones make corners under the hide.
A crab raising one claw A wide shield with the legs folded at sharp joints. One claw comes toward the viewer.
A crow picking something up Heavy bill, flat crown, strong legs. Keep it as a dark shape and cut the highlights out.
A dog shaking off water Blur is the subject. Draw the head clearly and let the ears and body smear sideways.
A dragonfly with all four wings and their veins Wings held flat out. Draw the main veins, then suggest the fine mesh in one corner only.
A duck floating above its reflection An oval body and a round head, then the same shapes broken up and upside down below.
A flock of starlings drawn as one shape Do not draw birds. Draw the cloud, denser in the middle, with a few dots leaving the edge.
A fox curled up with one eye open A circle with the tail over the nose. The ear and the eye are the only sharp shapes.
A frog sitting, seen from the front A wide triangle with the eyes on top. The back feet poke out on either side of the body.
A galloping horse with all four feet off the ground In a gallop this happens when the legs are gathered under the body, not stretched out.
A garden bird on a fence post An egg for the body, a smaller circle for the head, and a tail that balances the two.
A goldfish seen from above A teardrop body and a fan tail. From above you lose the face, so the curve of the spine matters.
A hedgehog curled into a ball A circle of short strokes, all pointing away from the centre. Leave a gap for the nose.
A heron mid-step A long S neck, a dagger bill and one leg lifted. The joint that bends backward is the ankle.
A horse's head in profile A long wedge. The eye sits high and far back, and the jaw is a big round plate.
A lizard basking on a wall One long S from the nose to the tip of the tail. The toes splay out flat like small stars.
A monkey hanging by one arm The weight pulls a straight line from the hand to the hips. Everything else swings off it.
A moon jellyfish drifting A shallow dome, four horseshoe shapes showing through the top, and short fine tentacles.
A mouse holding a seed A pear shape with round ears. The front paws come together under the chin.
A mute swan with its wings half raised Orange bill with a knob on top. Neck curved back with wings half raised is its threat display.
A pelican at rest on a post The bill rests down on the chest. Heavy body, short legs, very large feet.
A penguin chick on its parent's feet Emperor penguin chicks wear silver-grey down with a black head and a white mask.
A pigeon walking, head pushed forward The head leads and the body catches up. Overlap the neck ring with the chest.
A rooster in full stride Chest out, tail high, one foot lifted. The tail feathers arc out from a single point.
A sardine, scales and all A long leaf shape. Hint at the scales in one patch and let the eye fill in the rest.
A seahorse gripping sea grass It swims upright. A horse-like head on a bent neck, and a tail wound around a stem.
A seven-spot ladybird on a leaf Three spots on each red wing cover, and one shared spot where the two covers meet.
A sheep before and after shearing Two drawings. The shorn one shows how little of the woolly one was actually sheep.
A shoal of fish turning together The same fish at many angles. The ones turning toward you shorten into ovals.
A sitting rabbit, seen from behind Two ovals and two ears. No face is needed, because the silhouette does it.
A sleeping dog, flat on its side One long bean shape. The legs stick out straight and the ear falls with gravity.
A snail crossing a wet path A spiral on a soft wedge. The eyes are carried on the upper pair of tentacles, not the lower.
A squirrel coming down a trunk head first The body points down, the head lifts away from the bark, and the tail follows the trunk.
A starfish with uneven arms Five arms from a centre, none the same length or angle. Dot the texture along the ridges.
A tiger's face, front on, stripes included The stripes wrap the skull, so they curve over the brow and cheeks. Map the skull first.
A tortoise with its head pulled halfway in A dome over a flat base. The shell plates are rough polygons that shrink at the edges.
A whale's tail above the water A wide, notched V on a thick stem. Water pours off the trailing edge.
An elephant from directly in front Ears wide, trunk down the centre line. The legs are four columns, the rear pair narrower.
An octopus with every arm doing something different Eight arms that taper and overlap. Draw the ones in front first and tuck the rest behind.
An owl looking back over its shoulder The body faces away and the face looks at you. The face is a flattened disc or heart.
Two dogs playing Tangled bodies read best as one silhouette first. Then work out whose leg is whose.

Characters 50

A baker covered in flour Start with the apron shape. Flour goes where hands wipe: hips, forehead, one cheek.
A cat in a detective's coat Collar up, hat low. Keep the cat's proportions so it stays a cat in a coat.
A character designed from three circles Draw three circles of any size, then find a head, a body and one more thing in them.
A character in heavy armour sitting down to rest Plates overlap and do not bend, so the gaps at hip, knee and elbow do the folding.
A character lit only by the candle they hold The light comes from below and in front. Shadows climb the face and fall behind the hand.
A character running toward the viewer Foreshortening: the front hand and knee are large, the back foot small and high.
A character sheet: front, side and back Rule light lines across for the top of the head, the shoulders, the waist and the knees.
A child in a raincoat jumping in a puddle A triangle coat, two boots, and a splash shaped like a crown.
A climber at the summit, worn out Bent at the waist, hands on knees. The rope and the pack hang with their own weight.
A cook tasting the soup One hand holds the spoon and the other cups under it. The eyebrows give the verdict.
A crowd of ten, each a different silhouette Fill each figure in solid. If two look alike, change the hat, the build or the stance.
A dancer at rest, stretching One leg up on a chair. The spine stays long even when the pose is lazy.
A dog walker with six leads One upright figure and six lines pulling in six directions.
A family portrait of five invented people Decide who stands by whom. A shared nose or hairline ties them together.
A gardener with a wheelbarrow of pumpkins The wheelbarrow is a wedge on one wheel. Pile circles into it.
A ghost who is afraid of the dark A sheet shape with big eyes. Give it a small torch and a worried tilt.
A giant trying not to step on anything A tiptoe pose with arms out for balance. Small houses at the feet set the scale.
A grandmother who was once a sea captain An ordinary cardigan and one or two clues: a weathered squint, an old coat on the hook.
A hero seen from far below Three-point perspective on a person. Big feet, small head, everything tapering upward.
A hero whose only power is tidying A cape, a duster and a very neat room. The pose is heroic and the task is not.
A knight polishing one boot Armour is boxes and tubes. A seated pose with one leg up is easier than it sounds.
A librarian carrying too many books The stack hides the face, so the legs and the lean carry the expression.
A market trader calling out prices Open mouth, one arm up, weight on the back foot. The stall is a box with a cloth on it.
A messenger on a bicycle in the rain Lean the rider forward over the bars. The rain falls at the same angle as the lean.
A monster who only eats socks Any shape you like. One sock hanging from the mouth explains everything.
A pair dancing, drawn as one shape first Find the outer outline of both bodies together, then divide it.
A person asleep on a train, full figure Nothing in a slump is straight. Find where the weight rests: hip, shoulder, head.
A pirate with a houseplant instead of a parrot Keep the usual hat and coat, so the plant is the only surprise.
A postal worker on a windy day Letters escaping, hat going, coat flapping, all in the same direction.
A puppeteer and puppet with the same expression Two faces at two scales. The strings give you straight lines to set against the figures.
A queen who would rather be gardening A crown and muddy boots. Let the robe be hitched up and tied out of the way.
A robot built from kitchen tins Cylinders and boxes. Let one dent and one label show where the parts came from.
A scarecrow that the birds like A cross of sticks under a coat. Put birds on both arms and on the hat.
A shopkeeper from a town under the sea Decide how things stay put underwater. Weights, nets and bubbles are your props.
A sleepy bus driver at the first stop of the day Hands on a big wheel, shoulders up, eyes half shut. The wheel is an ellipse.
A snowman on a warm day Lean it, sag it, shrink the head. The puddle tells the story.
A street musician and the instrument case The instrument sets the pose. Draw it first, then fit the player around it.
A tailor with pins held between the lips Hands busy at a hem, a measuring tape around the neck, mouth pressed flat.
A time traveller who packed badly Mix two eras in one outfit. Make one item plainly wrong for where they have landed.
A very tall person with a very short friend Contrast is the whole design. Push both further than feels sensible.
A villain in sharp shapes, then in round ones The same costume twice. See how triangles read as threat and circles as harmless.
A waiter slipping with the tray still level The body goes every way and the tray stays flat. That contrast is the joke.
A witch's companion that is not a cat Pick an unlikely animal and give it one item that belongs to its owner.
A wizard whose hat is too big The hat covers the eyes, so the mouth and the hands do the acting.
An astronaut holding a cup of tea A round helmet, a boxy pack and thick gloves around a small, ordinary cup.
An old fisherman mending a net Seated, net over the knees. Draw the net as a draped cloth first, then add the mesh.
One character showing six emotions Draw six heads in a grid. Change the brows and the mouth first, and the eyes will follow.
The same face at age 8, 38 and 80 Keep the skull shape and where the ears sit. Change the proportions, the weight and the lines.
Twins with opposite personalities Same face and build. Change the posture, the hair and the way the clothes are worn.
Two characters arguing with their faces hidden Backs, shoulders and hands only. One leans in and the other leans away.

Places 50

A bakery at closing time Empty shelves, one light on, chairs up on the tables. Warm inside and dark outside.
A bridge with the far bank in mist Near end dark and detailed. Far end pale and plain, and a little bluer if you use colour.
A bus stop with nobody at it A post, a sign and a shelter. Emptiness is the mood, so leave space around it.
A cafe table by the window with two cups The table top is an ellipse. The window behind can stay pale and unfinished.
A city street, looking straight up Three-point perspective: the verticals lean in toward a point high above the page.
A cluttered workshop Find the five biggest shapes and place those. Clutter is texture, not an inventory.
A corner shop front A big window, a door and a sign board. The lettering can be a squiggle.
A doorway with light coming through it Dark wall, bright opening, and a slanted patch of light on the floor.
A fairground at night Make the lights by leaving them blank and darkening everything around them.
A footbridge over a stream An arch and its reflection make an eye shape. The railings follow the arch.
A forest path with light ahead Dark trunks near, pale ones far. The path narrows, and the brightest spot is where it ends.
A garden shed with the door open A box with a triangle on top. Lean one tool against the outside wall.
A greenhouse full of plants Draw the glazing bars as a grid, then let the leaves press against it and break it.
A harbour at low tide Boats lean over on the mud. Ropes sag, and the tide marks show on the wall.
A hillside town with the houses stacked Every roof sits partly behind the one below it. Work from the bottom of the hill upward.
A kitchen seen through a doorway A frame within the frame. Show only a slice of the room.
A library aisle Two walls of shelves running to one point. Spines are vertical strokes of varying height.
A lighthouse on a calm day A tapered cylinder with bands. Set the horizon low so the tower stands tall.
A market stall under an awning The awning is a sloped plane with a scalloped edge. Stock is rows of circles and boxes.
A mountain with a cloud caught on the peak A jagged triangle, lit on one side. The cloud hides the summit.
A park bench under a street lamp The bench is a low box and the lamp a tall line. The pool of light is an ellipse.
A playground after rain Puddles reflect the frames above them. Reflections fall straight down from each post.
A pond with one lily pad An ellipse inside an ellipse. A notch in the pad and one ripple ring finish it.
A railway platform in one-point perspective Rails, platform edge and roof all run to one vanishing point at eye level.
A river valley in three depths Foreground dark, middle ground mid-grey, far hills pale. Three values only.
A road that runs to the horizon Two lines meeting at one point. Fence posts shrink and crowd together as they go.
A rooftop view of chimneys and aerials A jumble of boxes. Pick a light direction and shade every left-hand face the same.
A room reflected in a window at night Two scenes on one surface: the lit room, and the dark street showing through it.
A row of boats pulled up on a beach The same shape repeated and turned. Each hull is a leaf shape with one flat end.
A row of three rooftops Zigzag the roofline, then drop the walls. Chimneys break the pattern.
A single tree on a hill One curved line for the hill, one shape for the crown. The trunk is shorter than you think.
A snowy field with one set of footprints Mostly blank paper. The prints get smaller and closer together with distance.
A spiral staircase from above Wedges turning around a centre. Each step is a little lower and a little more hidden.
A staircase going up and out of sight Each step is a small box. The turn at the top is what makes it interesting.
A street corner in two-point perspective The corner of the building is a vertical line. Each wall runs to its own vanishing point.
A street in the rain, reflections included Wet ground repeats the lights and figures as broken vertical streaks.
A street market crowd seen from a balcony From above, people are heads and shoulders. Awnings become flat shapes.
A striped beach hut A box with a pitched roof on short legs. The stripes run with the boards.
A swimming pool with nobody in it A rectangle in perspective. The ladder and the lane lines bend where they enter the water.
A tent in a field at night A triangle lit from inside. Keep the tent the lightest thing on the page.
A treehouse with a rope ladder Build the platform on the branches first. The ladder hangs straight down, not along the trunk.
A windmill on flat land A tapered tower and an X of sails. A low horizon makes it tall.
An imaginary map of a place you know A bird's-eye view with small drawings for landmarks. The scale can lie; the route should not.
An island just big enough for one palm tree An ellipse of sand, a curved trunk, and a horizon line behind.
The inside of a large railway station Repeating arches shrink toward the vanishing point. Get three right and the rest follow.
The same view at noon and at dusk Two thumbnails. Only the values change. Which is lighter each time, the sky or the ground?
The view from your nearest window Draw the frame first. It crops the scene so you do not have to.
Your desk from where you sit Draw only what falls inside an imaginary rectangle. The edges may cut objects off.
Your front door A tall rectangle with everything else hung on it: number, handle, letterbox, step.
Your street, drawn from memory Draw it without looking, then go outside and see what you left out.

Skill builders 50

A bicycle drawn by its negative spaces, in pen No erasing. Every gap between tubes and spokes is a shape with its own corners.
A blind contour of your shoe Eyes on the shoe and never on the paper. Move the pencil at the speed of your eye.
A bottle measured with your pencil at arm's length Thumb marks the width on the pencil. Count how many widths make the height.
A box drawn from three different angles From above, level and below. Note which faces you can see each time.
A box in two-point perspective Two points far apart on the eye-level line. The verticals stay vertical.
A cast shadow with no object Draw only the shadow a thing throws across a table or wall. Its edge is part of the drawing.
A cloth draped over a chair back Find the points it hangs from. The folds run from those like spokes.
A contour drawing with varied line weight Thicker on the shadow side and where forms touch the ground. Thinner where light hits.
A corridor in one-point perspective Set an eye-level line, mark one point on it, and run every receding edge to that point.
A cross-hatched gradient from dark to light Layer sets of lines at an angle to each other. More layers give a darker tone.
A cylinder, a cone and a cube together The three forms inside most objects. Light them all from the same side.
A full figure in two minutes Head, ribcage and hips as three masses, then a line for each limb. Stop when the timer does.
A glass, an egg and a cloth: three surfaces Shiny, matt and soft. The edges of the highlights are what tell them apart.
A knotted cloth The knot is the hub. Folds pull tight near it and relax into soft loops further away.
A leaf, then the same leaf in negative The second time, shade everything around it and leave the leaf as blank paper.
A mug drawn with your other hand It will wobble. Wobbly lines that were looked at beat neat lines that were guessed.
A one-minute drawing, repeated five times The same subject each time. The fifth will have kept only what matters.
A page of ellipses, from flat to round Go around each one twice with a loose arm. They are the tops of every cup and wheel.
A page of heads from simple shapes A ball for the skull and a wedge for the jaw. Turn it left, right, up and down.
A pencil pointing straight toward you Foreshortening in miniature: the length shrinks and the end becomes a circle.
A photo copied upside down Turn the reference over. You stop naming things and start copying shapes.
A piece of fruit in three values White, one grey and black. Decide for each area which of the three it is.
A plant drawn by its negative spaces Draw the gaps between the leaves instead of the leaves.
A portrait in hatching only, no outlines Let the ends of the lines make the edges. Change direction with each plane of the face.
A pose from memory, five minutes after looking Study a pose for one minute, turn away and draw it. Then check what you forgot.
A redraw of your oldest drawing this month Same subject, same size. Put the two side by side and name one thing that changed.
A self-portrait in five minutes Timer on. Big shapes only: head tilt, hair mass, shadow side. No eyelashes.
A self-portrait lit from below Hold a torch under your chin. The shadows land where you do not expect them.
A shiny ball and the room it reflects A bauble will do. The room wraps around it and the window becomes a curved patch.
A sphere lit from one side Light side, shadow side, a darker band between them, and a cast shadow on the table.
A still life in only three values Squint until the detail goes. Group everything into light, middle and dark.
A subject drawn in two minutes, then in twenty Do the fast one first. Keep its energy when you slow down.
A tall box seen from above, in three points Two points on the eye-level line and a third far below. The verticals converge downward.
A ten-step value scale, then a drawing using it Most drawings use four or five tones. Finding ten separate ones in a subject is the task.
A tree built from light and shadow masses No leaves. Three or four clumps, each with a light top and a dark underside.
A value scale in five steps Five boxes from paper white to your darkest dark, with even jumps between them.
An egg shaded with hatching only Parallel lines, closer together where it is darker. No smudging.
Cubes stacked like a staircase, in perspective One vanishing point. Each cube shares an edge with the next, so errors show at once.
Distance shown with tone alone Draw three hills. Make each one paler and plainer than the one in front of it.
Five objects in a row, every one overlapping Each sits partly behind the last. Overlap is the cheapest depth there is.
Five textures in five boxes Fur, bark, glass, knitted wool, water. Marks only, no outlines.
Freehand straight lines, edge to edge Fill a page. Look at where the line is going, not at the tip of the pencil.
The gaps between the legs of a chair Draw the empty shapes only. The chair turns up by itself.
One object in a single continuous line Do not lift the pencil. Cross the form to get from one side to the other.
Ten gesture drawings, thirty seconds each A gesture catches the action, not the outline. One line for the spine comes first.
Ten thumbnails of one object Small boxes, a minute each. Change the crop and the viewpoint every time.
Your hand reaching toward a mirror Fingertips large, wrist small. Draw the overlaps: nail over finger, finger over palm.
Your non-drawing hand in three poses Fist, open, pointing. Block the palm as a box and the fingers as cylinders.
Your own feet, looking down Wedges that widen toward the toes, with sharply foreshortened legs above them.
Your own hand, dated, to redraw on the last day Draw the hand you do not write with. Whatever day this lands on, repeat it on day 30.

November 50

A bare tree against a pale sky Trunk to branch to twig, each split thinner than the last. No leaves to hide mistakes.
A basket of apples and pears Draw the rim of the basket as an ellipse and heap the fruit above it. Overlap everything.
A bonfire crowd lit from one side Faces toward the fire are bright and backs are black. The fire itself can be blank paper.
A bonfire on the fifth of November In Britain the fifth is Guy Fawkes Night, marked with bonfires. Flames are tall S-curves.
A bowl of soup and a torn piece of bread An ellipse of liquid with a highlight. The torn edge is rough and the crust is smooth.
A branch in blossom, for southern Novembers South of the equator November is late spring. Cluster the flowers and leave gaps between.
A coat, hat and gloves laid out for tomorrow A flat lay seen from above. Arrange them like a person with nobody inside.
A flooded field reflecting a bare hedge The reflection is softer than the hedge. One horizontal ripple breaks it.
A home altar with candles and photographs A Day of the Dead ofrenda: marigolds, lit candles, photos of the dead and favourite foods.
A home-made paper lantern, lit Children carry paper lanterns in St Martin's Day processions on 11 November. A glowing box or star.
A kitchen in the middle of a big cooking day Steam, pans, a crowded counter. Choose one corner and let the rest fade to outline.
A lantern procession at dusk St Martin's Day, 11 November. A line of small lights at child height, shrinking into the distance.
A lit candle in a dark room A teardrop flame, brightest at the centre. Everything else fades out from it.
A lit window seen from the street A warm rectangle in a cold wall. Put one silhouette or a plant on the sill.
A marigold with its petals packed tight Orange marigolds decorate Day of the Dead altars on 1 and 2 November. Ruffled rings of petals.
A meteor shower over a field The Leonids come in mid-November. Short streaks that all point back to one patch of sky.
A mug of something hot, with steam Steam is drawn by not drawing. A few broken, rising curves are plenty.
A pair of wellington boots by the door Two tubes with feet. One always falls over, so draw that one on its side.
A pie with one slice gone The missing wedge shows the filling and the thickness of the crust.
A pile of raked leaves and the rake One mound of small marks, denser in shadow. The straight line of the rake sets it off.
A pumpkin left over from October A little sunken by now. The ribs run from the stem to the base like lines on a globe.
A rainy bus window with the street behind Two layers: sharp drops on the glass, and soft blurred lights beyond.
A red poppy pinned to a lapel Worn in Commonwealth countries in the weeks before 11 November. Keep it simple and quiet.
A scarf on a coat hook A long loop with two tails. The fringe and the stripes follow the folds.
A seed head left standing into winter A teasel, a poppy pod or a dandelion clock. Only structure is left, so draw it precisely.
A small bird fluffed up against the cold Nearly a ball. The head sinks into the body and the feet almost vanish.
A spider's web with dew on it Spokes first, then the spiral sagging between them. Dew is a row of tiny circles.
A squirrel burying something Head down, tail up as a counterweight. The front paws work close together.
A steamed-up window with a finger drawing in it The finger lines show the dark outside. Drips run down from the bottom of each stroke.
A street lamp coming on early Dusk comes sooner each day in the northern half of the world. Halo first, lamp second.
A sugar skull with a name on the forehead A Day of the Dead tradition. Symmetry first, then flowers and scrolls around the eyes.
A table set for a harvest meal US Thanksgiving is the fourth Thursday of November. Ellipses everywhere: plates, bowls, glasses.
A teapot under a knitted cosy A soft dome with a spout and a handle poking out. The knit follows the curve of the dome.
A walker leaning into the wind with an umbrella The body leans forward, the umbrella leads, and the coat and scarf stream behind.
A whole tree's worth of bare branches Work outward from the trunk and keep every fork narrower than its parent. No shortcuts.
A woolly hat with a bobble The rib lines curve around the head. The bobble is a ball of short strokes.
Acorns in a heap Each is an egg shape in a cap. Cross-hatch the caps and leave a highlight on the nuts.
Autumn vegetables, cut open Squash, red cabbage, onion. Each cut face has a pattern worth a drawing of its own.
Fireworks over rooftops Guy Fawkes Night, 5 November, brings firework displays in Britain. Lines burst from a centre and fade.
Fog in a park, three trees deep Nearest tree dark, the next grey, the last barely there. Fog is distance made visible.
Frost on a leaf Tiny crystals along every edge and vein. Draw the leaf dark so the frost can stay white.
Geese flying in a V Each bird is a shallow M. Size them down along both arms of the V.
Hands around a hot mug Fingers wrap and overlap. Draw the mug first, then lay the fingers over it as cylinders.
The moon behind moving cloud The cloud edge nearest the moon glows. Everything else is dark on darker.
Mushrooms at the foot of a tree Caps are ellipses on stalks. Tilt each one differently and tuck some behind others.
One fallen leaf, curled at the edges Draw the centre vein as a curve in space, then hang the edges from it.
Pan de muerto on a plate A sweet roll made for Day of the Dead, topped with bone-shaped pieces of dough.
Rain on a window Drops are small domes with a bright spot. Their trails run crookedly down.
Thick socks drying on a radiator Soft tubes draped over hard ridges. The knit pattern bends over each ridge.
Your own long shadow on a low-sun afternoon Low sun stretches it. It joins you at the feet and bends over anything it crosses.

How this list was compiled: Original list written for Draw This Next, September 2026. Every prompt and hint is our own wording. Facts in the hints were checked on 2026-09-18 against: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/November (30 days; late autumn north, late spring south; Guy Fawkes Night 5 November; Day of the Dead 1 to 2 November; US Thanksgiving fourth Thursday); https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Fawkes_Night (bonfires and firework displays); https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Martin%27s_Day (11 November, children's lantern processions); https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day_of_the_Dead and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ofrenda (marigolds, pan de muerto, sugar skulls with a name on the forehead, candles, photos, favourite foods); https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remembrance_poppy (worn in the weeks before 11 November); https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonids (mid-November, radiant); https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_snail (eyes on the upper tentacles); https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coccinella_septempunctata (spot layout); https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurelia_aurita (four horseshoe shapes, short fine tentacles); https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mute_swan (orange bill, black knob, threat display); https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seahorse (swims upright, tail grips sea grass); https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird_feet_and_legs (the backward joint is the ankle); https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_penguin (chick colouring, carried on the feet); https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chameleon (flattened body, tongs-like feet, gripping tail); https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Horse_in_Motion (gallop: feet gathered under the body); https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blind_contour_drawing, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gesture_drawing, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hatching, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perspective_(graphical), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negative_space and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerial_perspective (drawing terms). Difficulty grades are our own estimates for pencil. Licence: own work

How it works

This 30 day drawing challenge deals one prompt for each day from a fixed list of 300. Every prompt is a subject with a twist, such as your keys at twice their real size or a heron mid-step, and each has a hint on where to start. Choose a theme or a level, deal all thirty at once, tick off each day, and type over any you dislike.

Read the full guide

Deal the month in one press

The tool opens on thirty numbered prompts, one for each day, with a tick box beside each. Press Pick 30 new prompts for a different month. Tick a day when you have drawn it. The sheet and its ticks are kept in this browser. Add another and the × on a row make it 31 or 28 for the other months. Print gives the numbered sheet with an empty box for each day.

Six themes and three levels

The groups narrow the list: Everyday objects, Animals, Characters, Places, Skill builders and November, then Easy, Medium and Hard. One group is chosen at a time, and All gives a mixed month. Each theme holds 50 prompts, so a themed month leaves 20 spares for swaps. A prompt is never a bare word. It is a mug seen from directly above, or a squirrel coming down a trunk head first, with a hint on the first lines. For drawing challenge ideas that teach something, Skill builders covers blind contour, gesture, hatching, negative space and perspective.

A November drawing challenge

November has exactly 30 days, so the November group works as a November drawing challenge with one prompt for each date. Its 50 November drawing prompts are mostly weather, bare trees and warm kitchens, plus a few dated customs: bonfires on the fifth in Britain, St Martin's lantern processions on the eleventh, Day of the Dead marigolds on the first and second. South of the equator November is late spring, so swap the frost for the blossom prompt.

Fix the time and the place before day one. Ten minutes after breakfast at the same table beats an hour whenever you can find one.
Number and date every page, and keep all thirty in one sketchbook. The point of a 30 day art challenge is the stack at the end, not any single drawing.
Read tomorrow's prompt tonight. Your head will have worked out half the drawing by the time you sit down.
Missed a day? Carry on with today's number and leave the gap. Doubling up turns a habit into a debt.
Spread the Hard prompts out, two easy days for every hard one, and draw small. A box the size of a playing card is enough.

Questions and answers

How does a 30 day drawing challenge work?

You draw one prompt a day for thirty days in a row and keep every page. The prompt removes the daily question of what to draw, and the run of days builds the habit. Nothing here needs an account, a hashtag or a deadline set by anyone else. Start on any date and cross the days off in your sketchbook.

How long should each drawing take?

Ten to twenty minutes suits most of the list. Easy prompts are a few simple shapes and can be done in five. Hard ones bring reflections, crowds, foreshortening or three-point perspective, and reward half an hour. Set a minimum you can meet on your worst day, because a small finished drawing keeps the run alive.

Can I use paint, pen or a tablet instead of pencil?

Yes. The prompts name subjects and viewpoints, not materials, so they work as art challenge ideas for watercolour, gouache, markers, collage or a tablet. The levels are our own estimates for pencil, so expect a Hard prompt to be harder still in a medium with no eraser.

Is there a list for October or for other months?

October has its own page, October drawing prompts, with a dated list for that month. For any other 31-day month, press Add another here for day 31. For autumn subjects without a daily structure, see fall drawing ideas and Thanksgiving drawing ideas.

How many prompts are there, and will I get repeats?

There are 300: 50 in each of six themes, and across them 120 easy, 108 medium and 72 hard. The page remembers what it has dealt in this browser and will not repeat a prompt until the list, or the group you chose, runs out. That is enough for a 100 day drawing challenge three times over. Every prompt comes from that fixed list, and nothing is made up when you press the button.