Drawing With Only Straight Lines

Every challenge is a subject plus a rule and a line limit, with a timer and 80 to print.

NameDate

Straight lines only. One line is one stroke in one direction, pen down to pen up. A line that bends counts as two.
Where a challenge gives a number, count as you draw and stop when you reach it.
Ruler means every line is ruled. Freehand means no straight edge at all.
Dots and faint spacing ticks do not count as lines.
Tick the box when the drawing is finished, not when it is perfect.

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Drawn: Breaking wave from short straight lines, 100 or fewerBreaking wave from short straight lines, 100 or fewerDraw the curl as a fan of short lines that turn a little each time. Foam is a scatter of tiny dashes along the crest.

Next step More nature subjects

All 80 challenges

Animals 13

Bird in flight in 5 lines A shallow V for the wings first. That leaves three lines for body, beak and tail, so choose the pose before you draw.
Deer head in flat facets, 60 lines or fewer Block the head as one long wedge, then break each plane into triangles. Antlers last, as forked single lines.
Dog's face from the front in 10 lines Two lines per ear is four already. The other six go to the wedge of the muzzle, the eyes and the top of the head.
Fish in 10 lines or fewer Two long lines that cross at the tail give body and tail fin at once. Spend the rest on eye, gill and one fin.
Folded paper crane, one line for every fold and edge Start with the diamond of the body, then the two wing triangles. Neck and tail are thin triangles off each end.
Fox face built from triangles only One big downward triangle for the head, then split it. Ears, cheeks and nose are smaller triangles.

Show all 80 challenges (74 more)

Animals, continued

Giraffe neck and head with no outline, only patches Draw the patches as uneven four and five-sided shapes with even gaps. The gaps become the pale net of the coat.
Horse head in profile in 10 lines Forehead to nose is the longest line. Jaw, throat, crest and ear take four more. Five remain for eye, nostril and mane.
Owl, mirrored left and right, in 30 lines Fold the paper for a centre crease. Every line on the left gets a twin on the right: 15 decisions, 30 lines.
Sitting cat in 30 lines or fewer Start with the long line of the back, ear tip to tail root. Save four lines for the face.
Snake where every line is exactly one thumb long Mark your thumb length on a paper scrap and measure every line against it. Turn sharply or gently, never change length.
Spider web in 56 lines: 8 spokes and 6 rings Rule the eight spokes from one point first. Each ring is eight short lines, spoke to spoke. Work from the centre out.
Tortoise whose shell is all straight-sided plates Start with one six-sided plate on top of the shell and fit neighbours round it. Let the plates shrink toward the rim.

Faces and figures 13

Crowd of 20 people at 5 lines each Settle one person first: a body line, two arms, two legs, no head. Then vary the lean and the spacing, not the recipe.
Face from the front in triangles only, 80 lines or fewer Split the face down the nose first. Big triangles for forehead and cheeks, small ones round the eyes and mouth.
Face in 10 lines that still shows a mood Brows and mouth carry the mood, so give them five lines between them. Tilt the brows before anything else.
Figure leaning on a wall in three line directions Pick vertical, horizontal and one slant. The wall takes the vertical, the floor the horizontal, the lean is the slant.
One eye drawn as facets Draw the opening between the lids as a flat six-sided shape. The iris is an octagon, the highlight a small empty square.
Portrait shaded with ruled lines at one angle, no outlines Rule every line at the same slant. Pack them close for shadow, space them out for light, and let the edges appear.
Running figure in 10 lines One leaning line for the spine, two per arm, two per leg: nine. The tenth is the head, so make it a tilted dash.
Seated figure on a chair in 30 lines Draw the chair first, in about ten lines. It hands you the angles of the thighs, the shins and the back.
Self-portrait from a mirror in 30 lines Budget before you draw: jaw, hairline, brows, nose, mouth. Give the most lines to the feature people know you by.
Side profile in 10 lines, forehead to jaw Forehead, nose bridge, nose underside, two lips, chin and jaw make seven. Three are left for eye, ear and hair.
Skull in flat planes Start with the box of the cranium and the wedge of the jaw. Eye sockets are five-sided holes, the nose an upturned V.
Two hands shaking where no line may cross another Where a finger passes behind another, stop the line short and restart it on the far side. The gaps read as overlap.
Your own hand as flat planes, 100 lines or fewer Box the palm as one slab first. Each finger is three short boxes. Turn the hand until the sides of the boxes show.

Buildings and streets 13

A room where every line touches the edge of the page Start with the far corner of the room as one vertical, top edge to bottom edge. Furniture edges must reach an edge too.
A-frame cabin in three line directions The two roof slopes and the horizontal are your three. Planks, steps, window bars and the deck all have to borrow them.
Big wheel with a 12-sided rim, 100 lines or fewer Six lines through one centre give twelve spokes. Join the tips for the rim, then hang a small box from each corner.
City map from above, right angles only Rule two main roads as a cross. Every other street runs parallel to one of them. Leave one block empty as a park.
City skyline where no two lines cross Work left to right along the rooftops as one stepped path. Windows are short dashes that stop before any wall.
Flight of stairs from lines of only two lengths One length for treads, one for risers. Mark both on a paper scrap and measure every line against it.
House in 10 lines Four for the walls, two for the roof, three for the door: nine. Spend the last on a chimney or a path, not both.
Lighthouse on rocks in 30 lines Two leaning lines for the tower, closer together at the top. Keep ten lines back for the rocks, which need the most.
Pointed arch doorway in 30 lines Rule the two door posts, then climb each side of the arch in five short lines that lean inward a little more each time.
Spiral staircase from above: 16 steps, 100 lines or fewer Rule 16 spokes from one centre and close the rim with 16 short lines. Hatch every other wedge to show the climb.
Street in one-point perspective, 100 lines or fewer Put a dot on the horizon first. Every kerb, roofline and window row that runs away from you aims at that dot.
Suspension bridge with cables made of straight links Rule the deck and both towers first. Build each main cable from short straight links, then drop evenly spaced hangers.
Tower crane in 10 lines Mast, jib, counter-jib and two tie lines to the peak make five. Cab, hook line, hook, load and ground finish it.

Letters and numbers 13

A word of up to 10 letters, 3 lines per letter A, F, H, K, N, Y and Z take three lines each, and so does I with bars top and bottom. KAYAK works. Find a longer one.
Clock showing a time that matters to you, in 14 lines Twelve ticks and two hands make 14. Rule the ticks for 12, 3, 6 and 9 first and the others space themselves.
Digits 0 to 9 in 50 lines: 5 or fewer each 1, 4 and 7 are easy. 8 is the test: try an X with a lid and a base, which is four lines.
Five road sign shapes from memory in 24 lines Triangle, diamond, rectangle, pentagon and octagon have 24 sides between them. The octagon is a square with cut corners.
Invented alphabet: 26 signs of 3 lines each Imagine nine dots in a square. Each sign is three lines between those dots. Write your name in it when all 26 exist.
One big letter shown only by hatching, no outline Pick a straight letter such as K or Z. Hatch the background with ruled lines that stop where the letter would begin.
One word in block capitals with a ruled shadow Rule the letters. From every corner rule a short line down and right, same angle, same length, then join the ends.
Page of 14 block arrows, 7 lines each A block arrow has seven sides: count them on the first one. Fourteen arrows is 98 lines. No two may point the same way.
Roman numerals I to XII in 35 lines I, V and X are straight already, and one to twelve takes 35 strokes. Fix the height first and keep every numeral to it.
Tally marks to 100 arranged as a picture Twenty bundles of five is exactly 100 lines. Arrange the bundles as a border, a ring of spokes or one big numeral.
Two-letter monogram that shares a stroke, 10 lines or fewer Write both letters in straight capitals and look for a matching upright or slant. Overlap them there and redraw.
The whole alphabet in capitals with no curves A, E, F, H, I, K, L, M, N, T, V, W, X, Y and Z are straight already. Your job is the other eleven. Start with O and S.
Your initials as cut gems, 100 lines or fewer Draw each letter as a fat block. Cut its corners off, then rule from each corner to a ridge down the middle.

Nature 13

Breaking wave from short straight lines, 100 or fewer Draw the curl as a fan of short lines that turn a little each time. Foam is a scatter of tiny dashes along the crest.
Cluster of crystals, ruler only Each crystal is a long six-sided column with a pointed cap. Draw the biggest first, leaning, and tuck the others behind.
Field of grass in exactly 100 strokes Count in tens. Make the near strokes long and dark, the far ones short and close together, and lean them all one way.
Honeycomb of 19 cells in 72 lines One cell, a ring of six round it, a ring of twelve round that. Shared walls count once, which is how 19 cells fit in 72.
Invented constellation: 12 stars, 11 lines, none crossing Scatter the twelve dots first, eyes half shut. Look for the animal or object in them before you rule a single line.
Leaf in 10 lines, outline and veins together Four lines make a pointed outline and one makes the midrib. Five side veins are left, so choose which side gets three.
Lightning storm where no line is longer than your thumb Start the main bolt at the cloud and change direction at every joint. Forks leave at sharp angles and end sooner.
Mountain range in 10 lines A zigzag ridge uses six or seven. Spend the last few on one shadow edge per peak, all falling on the same side.
Pine tree in 30 lines One trunk line, then pairs of drooping branch lines that widen toward the ground. Fourteen pairs and a trunk make 29.
Rock face shaded with straight hatching only Change the hatch direction every time the rock changes plane. Leave the sunlit planes as bare paper.
Snowflake whose six arms match exactly Rule three lines through one point, 60 degrees apart. Whatever you add to one arm, add to the other five at once.
Sunrise drawn only as rays, with no outline of the sun Mark the sun's centre on the horizon. Rule every ray as if from that mark, but start each a coin's width out.
Tree where every branch splits in two, 63 lines Trunk, then 2 branches, then 4, 8, 16 and 32: 63 lines in all. Make each level about three quarters as long as the last.

Abstract and curves from lines 15

The 12-line corner curve twice: one narrow corner, one wide Rule a narrow V and a wide one. Tick both arms of each 12 times from the point. Join 1 to 12, 2 to 11 and so on.
All four corners of a square stitched, 44 lines Tick each side of a square 10 times. Treat each corner as its own L and join 10 lines across it. The middle stays empty.
Circle made from 24 straight lines Lay a jar lid down and rule 24 lines that each just touch its rim, turning the page a little each time. Lift the lid.
Cube inside a cube in 32 lines Twelve edges for the outer cube, twelve for the inner, eight to join matching corners. Draw the outer cube see-through.
Curve in a square corner from 12 straight lines Rule an L. Tick each arm 12 times, evenly, numbered from the corner. Join 1 to 12, 2 to 11, 3 to 10, down to 12 to 1.
Eight-point star stitched on four crossing lines, 68 lines Rule four lines through one centre, 45 degrees apart. Tick every arm 8 times. Stitch each of the eight gaps as a corner.
Five-point star in 5 lines, pen never lifted Five dots in a ring. Join each dot to the next but one and you are home after five lines. Then try seven dots.
Four-point star from lines that are all one length Rule a cross. Cut a paper strip as your measure. Rule lines of that length with an end on each arm, in all four corners.
Heart-shaped curve in under 40 lines: join dot n to dot 2n Dot every 10 degrees round a circle, numbered from 0. Join 1 to 2, 2 to 4, 3 to 6, wrapping past 36, so 19 goes to 2.
Impossible triangle in three line directions Use three directions 60 degrees apart. The figure is three identical L-shaped bars, each tucked under the next.
Kidney-shaped curve in under 40 lines: join dot n to dot 3n Dot every 10 degrees round a circle, numbered from 0. Join 1 to 3, 2 to 6, 3 to 9, wrapping past 36, so 13 goes to 3.
Square spiral with equal gaps in 30 lines Start at an outside corner. Each line stops one gap short of the line it is heading for. Keep the gap a finger wide.
Triangle with all three corners stitched, 33 lines Tick each side of a triangle 10 times. Stitch each corner between its two sides, 10 lines each. The middle stays empty.
Two overlapping fans of 20 lines each Rule 20 lines out of one dot, a few degrees apart. Put a second dot a finger-width away and rule 20 more across them.
Whirl of 10 nested squares in 40 lines Rule a square. Mark a finger-width along each side, join the four marks into a tilted square, and repeat up to ten.

How this list was compiled: Original list of challenges written for Draw This Next, September 2026. Every line count in an item is our own count. The curve facts were checked on 2026-09-19: curve stitching and its inventor Mary Everest Boole at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_art, the parabola wrapped by lines between evenly spaced points on two axes and the four-point star (astroid) wrapped by lines of one length at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Envelope_(mathematics), the heart-shaped cardioid from chords n to 2n at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardioid and the two-cusped nephroid from chords n to 3n at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nephroid. Licence: own work

How it works

Drawing with only straight lines is already a rule, and each of these 80 challenges adds a second one: a sitting cat in 30 lines, a skyline where no two lines cross, a heart-shaped curve made from ruled chords. Choose a line limit, ruler or freehand, a subject and a length, then press Pick another challenge. The hint under each challenge says where to start.

Read the full guide

Pick the rule first, then the subject

Four filters combine: one under the button, three under More filters. Line limit sorts by how many lines you may draw: up to 10, up to 30, up to 100, or No limit, where the rule is something else, such as three line directions or no two lines crossing. Tool is Ruler or Freehand. Subject covers animals, faces and figures, buildings and streets, letters and numbers, nature, and abstract patterns. Minutes is 5, 15 or 30.

Time one, or print all 80

The timer over the challenge takes its length, 5, 15 or 30 minutes: press it and draw until the clock reads 0:00. Show all 80, then Print, puts every challenge on paper with a box to tick.

How straight lines make a curve

Several challenges under Abstract build a curve from ruled lines. Tick the two arms of a corner at even spaces, join the first tick on one arm to the last on the other, and keep stepping along. The lines wrap a parabola, though every one of them is straight. Mary Everest Boole invented this curve stitching in the late 19th century to make mathematical ideas easier for children. Two more challenges join dots round a circle: dot n to dot 2n gives a heart-shaped cardioid, and n to 3n a kidney-shaped nephroid. Each hint says how to tick and which ticks to join.

Count out loud. A limit of 30 lines only works if you know you are on line 22 while the ears are still missing.
Settle what one line is before you start: pen down, one direction, pen up. A line that bends is two.
On ruler challenges, turn the page and not the ruler. Your hand pulls a cleaner line in its favourite direction.
Spend lines where the subject is recognised. A cat is ears and a tail, a lighthouse is its lamp room.
For a freehand line, put two dots down, look at the far one and pull toward it in one go.

Questions and answers

What counts as one straight line in these challenges?

One stroke in one direction, from pen down to pen up, with a ruler or without. A line that changes direction counts as two. Dots do not count, and neither do the faint ticks you make to space things out. Length does not matter unless the rule sets it, as in the snake where every line is exactly one thumb long.

Can you really draw a curve with only straight lines?

You can draw something the eye reads as a curve. When many straight lines each touch the same smooth curve, that curve shows along their edge. Mathematicians call it the envelope of the lines. The 12-line corner challenge wraps a parabola this way, and 24 lines that each touch the rim of a jar lid leave a circle behind when you lift the lid.

Do I need a ruler?

Only for the challenges under Ruler, in More filters, and any straight edge will do: a book, a folded sheet, a bank card. The Freehand ones are meant to wobble a little, and the wobble is part of the look. With no straight edge to hand, choose the Freehand group and the ruler challenges drop out of the deal.

How is this different from line art or graph paper drawing?

Here every challenge carries a rule for the whole picture, and the groups filter by that rule. The line art ideas page lists subjects for clean outline drawing, curves welcome. The graph paper drawing ideas page is for squared paper, where the grid does the measuring.

Which challenges suit a first try?

Start under Up to 10 lines. The fish, the house and the mountain range take five minutes each and teach you to budget. Then try the sitting cat in 30 lines. Keep the bigger ones, such as the honeycomb of 19 cells or the street in one-point perspective, for a day with half an hour and a sharp pencil.