How it works
This art prompt generator builds one sentence from four fixed lists: a subject, an action, a setting and a limit on how you draw it. Press New prompt, or lock the part you like and reroll the rest. It works as a drawing prompt generator for a sketchbook warm-up, a class starter or a stubborn case of art block, and all four lists are printed in full below.
Read the full guide
Reroll, and keep the parts you like
Each art prompt reads as a small scene: A tired lighthouse keeper feeding gulls on a harbour wall at dawn, using only three colours. Lock a part and New prompt changes only the others. Words are dealt like cards from a shuffled deck, so a list runs right through before a word comes round again. Unlike a plain drawing ideas generator or a page of random drawing ideas, you steer it.
Draw against the clock
The timer runs for 30 seconds, one, two, five or ten minutes. It can deal a fresh random drawing prompt when time runs out and restart the clock, so a run of two-minute rounds becomes a hands-free warm-up. At 30 seconds the page behaves like a doodle prompt generator: big shapes, no detail. Ten minutes is enough for a thumbnail with a clear light and dark.
Print and save
Print 30 prompts makes a numbered list, a month of daily drawing prompts, and locked parts stay locked on it. Every press prints a different 30. A prompt you save waits on the Saved page in this browser.
- For things to draw when you have art block, press New prompt five times and draw the one you liked least. It usually holds the problem worth solving.
- Lock one limit, such as using only three colours, and reroll the rest. Art block ideas come easier with one decision already made.
- For simple drawing prompts, leave out the setting. A subject, an action and a limit are plenty for a first sketch.
- In October it doubles as a Halloween prompt generator: lock the limit in a spooky style and press until a vampire or a polite ghost turns up.
- Treat the sentence as inspiration, not an order. If it says harbour wall and you see a bus stop, draw the bus stop.
Questions and answers
How many prompts can it make, and where do the words come from?
There are 355 subjects, 177 actions, 173 settings and 134 limits, which multiply to 1,456,640,970 possible sentences. Every word comes from a fixed list, and the page only shuffles and joins them. No real person, brand or existing character appears in any list.
Why does every prompt end with a limit?
A limit is what gets a drawing started. Seen from above, in black ink only, in under two minutes: each removes a decision you would otherwise stall on, and turns creative drawing prompts into exercises in composition, value or speed.
Are these good drawing prompts for beginners?
Yes, with one adjustment. Press until the limit is a gentle one, such as using basic shapes only, then lock it. For single subjects with shape hints, begin with the simple drawing ideas list.
Can I get one word or one thing instead of a sentence?
This page always deals a full sentence, because a bare noun rarely settles what to draw. For a single word, use the one-word drawing prompts. For one thing at a time, use the random things to draw generator.
Can I use it with a class or a drawing group?
Yes. The lists are clean and nothing needs an account. Put one prompt on the board so everyone draws the same scene, or print 30 prompts and cut the list into strips. With the subject locked, the whole room draws one character in different situations, which makes for fun drawing prompts.
What should I draw for a drawing contest?
Press until the subject or the setting fits the contest theme, lock it and reroll the rest. The obvious answer turns up in many entries, and an odd action or limit gives yours an angle. Running the contest? The art theme generator deals themes on their own.