• 60 ideas
  • Checked October 2026

Blackout Poetry Drawing Ideas

Three ways to draw over the page, each starting with what to box in pencil.

Blackout Poetry Drawing Ideas

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  1. White paint over the page with the words left as patches of printBox first: the words. Paint up to the pencil with white acrylic or gouache; two thin coats.
  2. Every kept word boxed in its own color, the rest in blackBox first: the words. Go over each box in a different pen, then black out with a broad marker.
  3. A web in one corner with the words caught on the threadsBox first: the words, then spokes from the corner through each one. Rings between; black beyond the web.

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Shapes that carry the words 15

  • A bunch of balloons with a word in each Box first: an oval round each word. Rule every string down to one small hand at the bottom edge.
  • A clothesline with the words pinned up as clothes Box first: each word as a shirt, a sock or a sheet. Two or three lines cross the page, each a little slack.
  • A dot-to-dot that joins the words in reading order Box first: the words, each with a small number beside it. Rule straight lines from one to the next.
  • A kite string looping down the page with a word at every loop Box first: the words, then one pencil line through them all. The kite sits above the first word.
  • A river that runs from word to word Box first: each kept word, then two banks that pass every box in reading order. Ink the land, not the water.
  • A snake whose body passes through every word Box first: the words, then a winding body as wide as a line of print. Its head rests on the last word.
  • A string of lights where every kept word is a bulb Box first: the words as bulbs, then a sagging wire between them. Color each bulb lightly over the print.
  • A vine with a word inside every leaf Box first: a leaf round each word, tips pointing to the next. One stem joins them from top to bottom.
  • The dotted flight of a paper plane, passing through each word Box first: the words, then a path with one loop in it. Dots between the words, the plane after the last.
  • Fish swimming downstream, one word inside each Box first: a fish round each word, all nosing toward the next. Ink the water in long wavy bands.
  • Footprints walking from one word to the next Box first: the words, then a pencil trail. Ink small prints along it, left and right by turns.
  • Raindrops with a word in every drop Box first: a drop round each word, point upward. A cloud over the first word holds your title.
  • Smoke from a chimney with the words drifting in it Box first: words that read from the top down. Put the chimney at the foot of the page, under the last one.
  • Stepping stones across a pond with a kept word on each Box first: the words, each rounded into a stone. Black out the water and sit a frog on the last stone.
  • Thought bubbles rising from a sleeper in the corner Box first: a cloud round each word, biggest at the top. Draw the sleeper last, under the lowest bubble.

Pictures over the page 15

  • A boat on a dark sea, each word a patch of moonlight Box first: the words as short flat ovals. Ink the sea in rough strokes and set the boat on the top line.
  • A city skyline with the words left as lit windows Box first: the words as window panes. Draw the towers round them and black out towers and sky alike.
  • A forest of dark trunks with the words in the gaps Box first: the words. Draw each trunk as a tall bar of ink that swerves round every box.
  • A head in profile with the words inside it Box first: words in the upper middle of the page. Draw the profile round them and ink outside the head.
  • A keyhole with the words seen through it Box first: words that sit close together. Draw one large keyhole round them and ink the whole door.
  • A lighthouse beam with the words caught in the light Box first: words that fall inside one wedge. Rule the wedge from the lamp and black out all but the beam.
  • A misted window with the words wiped clear Box first: the words as finger smears. Shade the rest of the glass gray and draw the frame over the margins.
  • A mountain range with the words as birds above the peaks Box first: the words, small. Ink the mountains solid below them and add a pair of wings to each box.
  • A night sky with the kept words as stars Box first: the words, tightly. Ink everything else black, then dot the dark with a white pen.
  • A stage with the words under a spotlight Box first: words inside one circle. Ink a curtain down each side and the floor round the pool of light.
  • A tree whose leaves are the words Box first: words in the upper half of the page. Draw a trunk and branches up to them, then ink the sky.
  • A web in one corner with the words caught on the threads Box first: the words, then spokes from the corner through each one. Rings between; black beyond the web.
  • A whale underwater breathing out the words as bubbles Box first: a circle round each word, rising in a column. The whale fills the bottom of the page.
  • An hourglass with one word falling through the neck Box first: a few words high, one in the middle, the rest low. Draw the glass round them and ink outside.
  • An open door with light spilling across the words Box first: words inside a slanted patch on the floor. Ink the room and leave the door and the patch bare.

Pattern blackouts 15

  • A basket weave with the words in the gaps Box first: the words. Rule bands across and down, shade the unders, and leave the weave open at each box.
  • A brick wall with the words in the gaps where bricks are missing Box first: each word as one brick. Rule the courses across the page and ink all the other bricks solid.
  • A checkerboard with the kept words in open squares Box first: each word as a square. Rule a grid to that size and ink alternate squares, sparing the words.
  • A honeycomb with the words in empty cells Box first: a hexagon round each word. Fill the page with more of the same size and ink them all but those.
  • A maze whose only path runs through the words in order Box first: the words, then the path between them. Everything else becomes wall, inked solid.
  • Chevrons that point down the page toward the next word Box first: the words. Stack V shapes between one box and the next, so the pattern leads the eye.
  • Cross-hatching that darkens away from the words Box first: the words, with a clear margin. One layer of hatching near a box, three layers at the edges.
  • Fish scales that part round the words Box first: the words, with rounded ends. Overlap the scales row on row and let them bend round each box.
  • One endless looping scribble over everything but the words Box first: the words. Start the pen in a corner and do not lift it until the print is covered.
  • Overlapping leaves with the words in the clearings Box first: the words, loosely. Draw leaf after leaf from the edges in and ink the gaps between leaves.
  • Rings spreading from each word like drops in a pond Box first: the words. Draw rings round every box until they meet, then ink every second ring.
  • Scallop waves that break round each word Box first: the words. Fill the page with rows of scallops from the top, skipping every box.
  • Stippled dots, heavy at the edges and clear round the words Box first: the words. Dot from the margins inward and stop a finger's width short of every box.
  • Stripes that are thin near a word and fat far from it Box first: the words. Rule the stripes along the lines of print, thickening them as they leave a box.
  • Wood grain that flows round each word like a knot Box first: an oval round each word. Run long wavy lines down the page that part and close round the ovals.

Color and collage 15

  • A highlighter on the kept words and a ruled line through the rest Box first: the words, then highlight them. Rule one pencil line through each line of print you are not keeping.
  • A leaf rubbing in crayon with the words left clear Box first: the words. Slide a leaf under the page and rub with the side of a crayon, lifting off at each box.
  • A magazine picture cut to a silhouette, with the words round it Box first: words near the edges of the page. Glue the cut-out in the middle and ink what is left.
  • A mosaic of colored paper squares round the words Box first: the words. Cut small squares from scrap paper and glue them over the print, a gap between.
  • A rainbow arching over the page with a kept word in each band Box first: one word for each band, top to bottom. Draw the arcs through them and color lightly.
  • A warm color above, a cool color below, the words left white Box first: the words. Color the top half in orange or red and the bottom half in blue, round every box.
  • Every kept word boxed in its own color, the rest in black Box first: the words. Go over each box in a different pen, then black out with a broad marker.
  • Fingerprints from an ink pad covering the lines Box first: the words. Press prints in rows over the rest and turn a few into small bugs with a pen.
  • Gold frames round the words on a page inked navy Box first: the words. Ink the page in navy, let it dry, then frame each box with a gold pen.
  • One watercolor wash with the words kept dry Box first: the words. Paint up to each box with a small brush, then fill the rest with a wide one.
  • Strips of patterned tape laid over each unwanted line Box first: the words. Cut the tape at each box and start it again on the far side.
  • Sunset bands in colored pencil with the print showing through Box first: the words, in ink this time. Shade the page in bands from yellow down to violet.
  • Tissue paper with windows cut for the words Box first: the words. Lay the tissue over, mark the boxes, cut the windows, then glue the sheet down.
  • Torn paper glued over every unwanted line Box first: the words. Tear strips to the width of a line of print and glue them down, leaving the boxes.
  • White paint over the page with the words left as patches of print Box first: the words. Paint up to the pencil with white acrylic or gouache; two thin coats.

How it works

You have found your words. Now the rest of the page needs covering. These 60 blackout poetry drawing ideas go past the plain black bar: shapes that carry the words, pictures, patterns, color and collage.

Read the full guide

Box before you ink

Every idea starts in pencil. Box each word you are keeping, read the boxes from top to bottom to check that the poem still works, then sketch the drawing round them. Ink goes on last, because marker cannot be undone. Leave a little clear paper inside each box so that no letter is clipped.

Let the drawing show the order

A reader has to find the words in sequence. Shapes that carry the words does that work: a river, a kite string or a dotted flight path runs from the first word to the last. Under a picture or a pattern, keep the words reading left to right, top to bottom.

  • Work on a photocopy, an old newspaper or a page from a book that is already falling apart. Never a library book.
  • Slip a sheet of scrap paper under the page before the marker comes out.

Questions and answers

What is blackout poetry?

A form of found poetry. You take an existing text, erase most of its words and frame what is left on the page as a poem. The kept words can stay where they stand or be arranged into lines.

What do you draw on a blackout poem?

Something the poem is about. Words about night become stars in a black sky; words about a journey sit on stepping stones. If nothing suggests itself, a pattern suits any page: bricks, fish scales, a honeycomb with the words in empty cells.

Can you use color in blackout poetry?

Yes. Color and collage holds fifteen: one watercolor wash with the words kept dry, a warm color above and a cool one below, torn paper glued over the unwanted lines, gold frames round the words on a page inked navy.

Is blackout poetry the same as erasure poetry?

The two names are used for the same form. A dark marker is one way to do the erasing; paint, glued paper or a drawing covers the unwanted words just as well.

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