Charcoal Drawing Ideas and Pencil Subjects, Sorted by Technique

Three tonal subjects per press, with the stick or pencil grade to pick up, the technique each practises and how to handle it.

Charcoal Drawing Ideas and Pencil Subjects, Sorted by Technique

Show all 100
  1. Round teapot and its cast shadowWillow stick, blending. A cast shadow starts sharp and softens as it travels. Blend only its far end.
  2. Pile of books with the spines toward youCompressed stick, hard edge. Boxes with names on. Give each spine one flat tone and keep the borders between them crisp.
  3. Bird's nest of twigs2B and 6B pencils, cross-hatching. Curved hatching at every angle, layer on layer. The cup in the middle takes the 6B.

Next step Faces and figures to shade nextStill life set-ups for one lamp

All 100 drawing ideas

Charcoal 51

  • Back of a friend's head and shoulders Willow stick, blending. No face to get wrong. Hair is one dark mass, blended into the neck on the shadow side.
  • Ball of wool shaded as a plain sphere Compressed stick, blending. Blend the ball as a plain sphere first. A dozen strands drawn over it are enough.
  • Bare winter tree against a white sky Charcoal pencil, hard edge. Work from trunk to twig, pressing less at every fork. The sky stays clean paper.
  • Bicycle wheel and its shadow on a wall Charcoal pencil, hatching. Hatch the shadow in one direction, straight through the spokes. It reads as a stretched oval.
  • Birch trunks in a dark wood Willow stick, lifting out. Lift each trunk with one eraser stroke, then add the black scars with the stick's corner.
  • City skyline at dusk as one black shape Compressed stick, hard edge. Fill every building solid with the side of the stick. Only the top edge does any drawing.
  • Cloud bank at dusk Willow stick, blending. Lay tone with the side of the stick and push it about with a chamois. Clouds have no lines.
  • Cobweb in the dark corner of a shed Willow stick, lifting out. Tone the corner dark, then pull each thread with the sharp edge of a cut eraser.
  • Crow on a fence post Compressed stick, hard edge. Fill the bird solid black and leave one sliver of bare paper along the back for the sheen.
  • Crumpled paper bag under one lamp Willow stick, blending. Block the planes in three tones, blend with a stump, then sharpen only the nearest creases.
  • Dandelion seed head against deep shadow Willow stick, lifting out. Lift a soft ball of light first, then flick single seeds out of it with an eraser edge.
  • Dark wine bottle with one highlight Compressed stick, hard edge. Near-black all over except a hard vertical stripe of paper. Soften the stripe and it dies.
  • Face in profile against a lit doorway Compressed stick, hard edge. A silhouette. The whole likeness is in the edge from forehead to chin, so draw it slowly.
  • Face lit from below by a torch Compressed stick, hard edge. Chiaroscuro pushed to the limit: most of the head goes black and the shadows climb upward.
  • Glass of water on a dark table Compressed stick, lifting out. Glass is mostly the dark behind it. Lift the rim and two thin highlights, then stop.
  • Headlights on a wet road Compressed stick, lifting out. Lift the two lamps, then pull their reflections down the road in broken eraser strokes.
  • Heavy curtain with light leaking down one edge Willow stick, blending. Tall soft cylinders side by side. Blend up and down, never across, and leave the edge as paper.
  • Horse's head in side light Compressed stick, hatching. Hatch across the jaw and down the neck so the lines wrap the form. The eye goes darkest.
  • Keys on a ring with small hard shadows Charcoal pencil, hard edge. Small hard shapes and their small hard shadows. Overlaps matter more than the teeth.
  • Kitchen chair and its cast shadow Charcoal pencil, hard edge. Draw the gaps between the legs and rungs as shapes. The shadow is one flat, hard-edged dark.
  • Light rays through a dusty window Willow stick, lifting out. Lay a ruler down and drag the eraser along it for each ray. Rays widen as they fall.
  • Long-haired cat, stroked the way the fur grows Compressed stick, blending. Lay tone, smudge it the way the fur lies, then flick a few dark hairs over the top.
  • Metal spoon with the room bent in its bowl Charcoal pencil, hard edge. Metal is sharp jumps from black to white with nothing between. Copy the shapes, unblended.
  • Misty hills in five layers Willow stick, blending. Five overlapping ridges, palest at the back. Rub each with a chamois before drawing the next.
  • Moon disc lifted out behind bare branches Willow stick, lifting out. Lift the disc through a hole cut in scrap paper. Branches go over it with the stick's corner.
  • Old leather boot Compressed stick, blending. Blend the big soft creases at the ankle first. Stitching and eyelets go on last and sharp.
  • Old tree trunk with deep bark Compressed stick, hatching. Break a stick and drag its side down the trunk. Cut the furrows in with the broken corner.
  • Open scissors on white paper Charcoal pencil, hard edge. Two hard highlights run the length of the blades. Draw the darks beside them instead.
  • Pear on a windowsill with the light behind it Willow stick, blending. A dark pear with a thin bright rim. Blend the body smooth and keep the rim as clean paper.
  • Pile of books with the spines toward you Compressed stick, hard edge. Boxes with names on. Give each spine one flat tone and keep the borders between them crisp.
  • Plaster cast or white mug on grey paper Charcoal pencil, lifting out. On toned paper the grey is your halftone. Add darks in charcoal, lights in white pastel.
  • Portrait lit from one side window Willow stick, lifting out. Mass the shadow side as one shape on a toned page, then lift the lit cheek, nose and brow.
  • Pumpkin with deep ribs Willow stick, blending. Every rib is a small cylinder: dark in the groove, light on the crown. Blend along the rib.
  • Rope tied in a knot Charcoal pencil, hatching. Hatch along each strand's twist so lines wrap the rope. Darken where a strand tucks under.
  • Round teapot and its cast shadow Willow stick, blending. A cast shadow starts sharp and softens as it travels. Blend only its far end.
  • Row of eggs in an open carton Willow stick, blending. Each egg is a sphere lesson: light, halftone, core shadow, reflected light, cast shadow.
  • Sand dunes at low sun Willow stick, blending. Lit slopes stay paper. Blend each shadow slope soft at the bottom and crisp along the crest.
  • Single eye under a heavy brow Charcoal pencil, blending. The socket is a dark bowl and the eye sits inside it. Blend the bowl before drawing a lash.
  • Sleeping dog curled into one shape Willow stick, blending. Mass the dog as one soft dark with a finger. Find only the ear and the nose afterwards.
  • Snow on a dark fir branch Compressed stick, lifting out. Snow is lifted tone. Draw only the dark needles under each pad and the pads appear.
  • Snuffed candle with smoke drawn in eraser Willow stick, lifting out. Dark ground first. Draw the smoke with a kneaded eraser pinched to an edge, not the stick.
  • Stack of three cardboard boxes Willow stick, hard edge. Three planes, three tones: top light, one side grey, one side dark. Keep every border crisp.
  • Steam curling off a mug Willow stick, lifting out. Tone the background only. The steam is one slow S lifted out, softened with a fingertip.
  • Storm sky with one break of light Willow stick, lifting out. Rub the sky dark with the side of the stick. Lift the break in one sweep of the eraser.
  • Street lamp glowing through fog, no hard edges Willow stick, lifting out. Grey the whole sheet, lift a soft glow with a ball of eraser, and keep every edge lost.
  • Tall grass in the wind Willow stick, hatching. Fast slanted strokes with the tip, all leaning one way, packed closer toward the ground.
  • Towel hanging from a hook Willow stick, blending. Folds fan out from the hook. Blend the soft rolls and keep one hard edge where cloth overlaps.
  • Waves breaking on rocks at night Compressed stick, lifting out. Rocks go in solid black. Dab the spray out with a kneaded eraser, pressed and lifted.
  • White cat asleep on a dark sofa Willow stick, lifting out. Draw the sofa, not the cat. Lift the cat's top edge and leave its underside lost in tone.
  • White sheet draped over a chair back Willow stick, lifting out. Tone the whole page mid grey, then pull the crest of each fold out with a kneaded eraser.
  • Your own fist lit from above Willow stick, blending. Squint until the fist is two tones. Blend the turn between them across the knuckles only.

Graphite pencil 49

  • An ear, life size HB pencil, hatching. Three curved ridges and two hollows. Hatch inside the hollows only and the ridges stand up.
  • An older relative's hands folded in a lap HB and 2B pencils, cross-hatching. Cross-hatch the hollows between tendons and knuckles. Leave knuckle tops nearly bare.
  • Apple with one bite out of it 2B pencil, cross-hatching. Follow the curve with the first layer, cross it at a shallow angle, and leave the bite pale.
  • Balloon with a window reflected in it 2B pencil, blending. Blend a smooth sphere, then add one small bent window shape in bare paper near the top.
  • Banana going brown 2B and 6B pencils, blending. Blend the long planes in 2B. Bruises and the stalk end take the 6B, dabbed and softened.
  • Bell pepper cut in half HB and 4B pencils, blending. Glossy outside, matt inside. Blend the outer wall smooth; leave ribs and seeds as lines.
  • Bicycle chain and sprocket HB pencil, hard edge. A repeating unit: draw one link well and count the rest. Keep a sharp point and flat tones.
  • Bird's nest of twigs 2B and 6B pencils, cross-hatching. Curved hatching at every angle, layer on layer. The cup in the middle takes the 6B.
  • Cat's eye with a slit pupil HB and 4B pencils, lifting out. Shade the iris from the rim inward, then lift one curved highlight over pupil and iris.
  • Chain-link fence in front of dark trees 4B pencil, lifting out. Shade the trees first. Lift the wire diamonds out with an eraser cut to a chisel edge.
  • Chrome tap with the room bent in it HB and 6B pencils, hard edge. Hard stripes of near black beside bare paper. Blended chrome looks like grey plastic.
  • Clouds over a flat horizon 2H and 2B pencils, blending. 2H for the pale undersides, blended with tissue. The sky behind is darker than you expect.
  • Comet dragged out of a 6B night sky 6B pencil, lifting out. Shade as dark as the grade goes, dot stars out with an eraser point, and drag one into a tail.
  • Daisy against a shaded hedge HB and 4B pencils, lifting out. Shade round the petals and leave them as paper. Lift back any petal that went grey.
  • Dog's wet nose, close up 2B and 6B pencils, blending. Pebbled skin is tiny circles, darkest inside the nostril, with one wet highlight on top.
  • Egg on a white saucer HB and 2B pencils, blending. White on white: the darkest mark is a mid grey. Blend with a tortillon, light side bare.
  • Fish with a wet shine along its side 2B pencil, lifting out. Hatch the scales in rows, blend them down, then lift one long streak from gill to tail.
  • Folded paper aeroplane 2H and HB pencils, hard edge. Flat planes, sharp borders. Give each plane one even tone, none matching its neighbour.
  • Full moon with highlands lifted out 2B pencil, lifting out. Tone a disc evenly, dab the bright highlands out with a kneaded eraser, and leave the seas grey.
  • Garlic bulb kept pale with a hard pencil 2H pencil, hatching. A hard grade keeps the skin pale. Long curved hatching from root to tip follows each clove.
  • Glass marble with a swirl inside HB and 4B pencils, blending. The light passes through and lands in the shadow, so the cast shadow has a bright spot.
  • Houseplant leaves overlapping HB and 4B pencils, hard edge. Draw the dark gaps between leaves in 4B first. The leaves turn up as the shapes left over.
  • Lit candle in a dark room HB and 6B pencils, blending. The flame is bare paper. Darken and blend the background round it until the paper glows.
  • Mushroom gills seen from below HB pencil, hatching. Every gill is one stroke from rim to stem, pressed hardest at the stem end.
  • Old wooden door with iron hinges HB and 4B pencils, hatching. Hatch along the grain in HB and let lines wander. The hinges and the keyhole take the 4B.
  • Open book with curling pages HB pencil, hatching. Hatch the gutter and under each curl. The page edges are fine lines that fan, never touching.
  • Pale grass blades against a dark hedge 4B pencil, lifting out. Shade the hedge solid. Flick blades upward out of it with an eraser edge, thin at the tip.
  • Pile of smooth river stones 2B and 4B pencils, blending. Each stone one blended tone, all different. 4B goes only in the cracks where stones touch.
  • Pillow with a dent where a head was HB pencil, blending. One soft hollow and four soft corners. Blend everything and let no edge inside the outline go hard.
  • Pine cone hatched in a spiral of scales 2B pencil, cross-hatching. Each scale is a wedge with a dark pocket under it. Work in a spiral up from the base.
  • Ponytail with a band of shine 2B and 6B pencils, lifting out. Shade the hair as one mass, then lift the band of shine across it with a kneaded eraser.
  • Raindrop tracks lifted down a toned pane 4B pencil, lifting out. Tone the pane, lift each drop's track downward, and dot a highlight at its head.
  • Ripples round a dropped stone 2B and 4B pencils, lifting out. Shade the pond evenly. Lift broken rings, close together far away and wider near you.
  • Satin ribbon in loops 2B pencil, blending. Satin is a soft gradient that ends in a hard bright stripe. Leave the stripe as paper.
  • Single feather, every barb one stroke 2H and 2B pencils, hatching. Every barb is one stroke out from the shaft. 2B under the splits lifts it off the page.
  • Sleeping face with closed eyes HB and 2B pencils, blending. No eyes to match. Blend the soft turns of cheek and brow; the lashes are one dark curve.
  • Sphere, cube and cylinder under one lamp HB pencil, hatching. A ball, a box and a tin will do. Hatch straight on the cube and curved on the other two.
  • Spiral seashell 2H and 2B pencils, hatching. Hatch across the spiral, not along it, so the lines wrap the form. 2B inside the opening.
  • Striped tea towel over a table edge HB and 2B pencils, hatching. The stripes bend at every fold and explain the cloth for you. Hatch only under the edge.
  • Sunlit edge of a net curtain HB and 2B pencils, lifting out. Tone the whole curtain pale grey. Lift the lit folds in long strokes top to bottom.
  • Tabby cat's striped flank 2B pencil, hatching. Short strokes the way the fur grows. Stripes are the same strokes packed closer, never outlines.
  • Teddy bear with worn fur 2B pencil, blending. Blend the body as simple rounded forms. Add short fur strokes along the shadow edges only.
  • Value scale: nine boxes from white to black 2B pencil, hatching. Each box one step darker, by adding lines and closing the gaps, not by pressing harder.
  • Vinyl record with two wedges of shine 6B pencil, lifting out. Fill the disc near black, then lift two opposite wedges of shine from the label to the rim.
  • Water drops on a leaf HB and 4B pencils, blending. Each drop is dark toward the light and bright on the far side, with a dot highlight.
  • White whiskers on a dark muzzle 4B pencil, lifting out. Shade the muzzle dark, then pull each whisker out with the edge of a cut eraser.
  • Wicker basket weave HB and 2B pencils, hatching. Each strand dives under the next. Hatch the last few millimetres before every dive in 2B.
  • Worn trainer with the laces undone HB and 4B pencils, cross-hatching. HB for the canvas, 4B inside the shoe and under the sole. Laces are left as paper.
  • Your own hand, palm up HB and 2B pencils, hatching. Curve the hatching round each finger so lines wrap the form. 2B goes between the fingers.

How it works

Draped cloth, storm skies, smoke, glass, fur: 100 subjects chosen for tone, not detail. Fifty-one are things to draw with charcoal and 49 are drawing ideas with pencil grades attached. Each names its tool, the one technique it practises and how to handle it. New to both? Pick Beginner.

Read the full guide

Charcoal wants big shapes

Willow and vine sticks erase easily, which suits broad first sketches and lifting out. Compressed sticks come in grades, and the soft ones are intensely black. A charcoal pencil holds a point for crisp detail. For beginner charcoal drawing ideas, start with the storm sky: one stick, one eraser, no outlines.

Pencil grades from 9H to 9B

H is commonly read as hardness and B as blackness. More clay makes a pencil harder and its mark lighter, so a 2H keeps garlic skin pale and a 6B fills a night sky. Makers share no common standard, so test yours on scrap. For pencil drawing ideas for beginners, an HB, a 2B and a 4B cover 36 of the 49. The cool pencil drawing ideas, the chrome tap and the glass marble, need the widest jump between grades.

  • For any Lifting out subject, grey the whole sheet first with the side of the stick, then draw the lights with a kneaded eraser.
  • Squint at the subject until the detail goes. The three or four shapes of tone that are left are the drawing.
  • Fixative stops charcoal dust rubbing off. Until then, rest your hand on a clean scrap sheet.

Questions and answers

Can I paint these instead of drawing them?

Black and white drawing ideas are about tone: where the light falls, where it stops and how hard the border is. That carries over to a brush, so the list doubles as black and white painting ideas for ink wash or one tube each of black and white. Chiaroscuro, the Italian word for it, literally means light-dark.

Which subjects suit pencil better than charcoal?

Small, sharp ones: the feather, the pine cone, the bicycle chain and the basket weave. A pencil holds a point that a stick cannot, so fine repeated detail suits graphite and broad tone suits charcoal. Those four take patience: pick Graphite pencil and Beginner together for the 20 easiest.

What do lifting out, blending and hard edge mean?

Lifting out draws the light with an eraser through tone already laid. Blending smooths the step between two tones with a finger, a paper stump or a chamois. A hard edge is the opposite: two tones meet with nothing between, which is how metal and glass read. Hatching builds tone from parallel lines, darker as they close up. For subjects to set under a lamp, see still life ideas.

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