72 ideas

Dream Drawing Ideas

One dream to draw per press: a dream people have, a dreamscape, a night sky or your own dream house.

Dream Drawing Ideas

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Drawn: Flying over your own street, arms outFlying over your own street, arms outDraw the roofs from above, small and tilted. Your shadow on the road shows how high you are.

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Dreams people have 15

A bus you just missed, driving up into the sky The road lifts off the ground like a ribbon. Wheels still turn, and the bus stop stays behind.
A fall that never lands A small figure with arms wide and nothing below but bands of cloud. Leave the ground out altogether.
A hallway that grows longer as you walk Run every floor and ceiling line to one point and keep the far door no bigger than a stamp.
A house you know with one room too many A plain hallway of matching doors, then one extra door in a color none of the others has.
A test page with the words sliding off Let the letters pile up along the bottom edge of the desk like fallen leaves.
A wobbly tooth, drawn far too big One tooth as tall as the face, leaning. A few small lines beside it show the wobble.
Arriving at school in pajamas Everyone else wears day clothes and faces the front. Only you face the viewer.
Breathing underwater on the sea floor, fish going by Bubbles and hair both rise. Sit the figure cross-legged on the sand, quite at ease.
Coins scattered along a path, more with every step Start with one coin near you and crowd them toward the far end, so the path seems to pay better.
Every clock in the room showing a different time Give each clock its own shape as well as its own hands. Put yourself in the doorway with one shoe on.
Flying over your own street, arms out Draw the roofs from above, small and tilted. Your shadow on the road shows how high you are.
On stage with the words gone One circle of spotlight, one small figure, and the audience as rows of dark rounded heads.
Running in slow motion while a snail passes Draw the runner three times, overlapping and pale, then the snail once in a firm line.
Tiny on the kitchen table, beside a giant spoon Draw the spoon, a cup and a crumb first, at full size. You come last and stand no taller than the crumb.
Your old classroom, with the desks far too small Your knees come up above the desk. Keep the room in its true size so only you look wrong.

Dreamscapes 15

A bathtub sailing down a quiet river The taps face backward like a stern and a towel on a broom is the sail. Draw the banks as two soft lines.
A bed adrift on a calm sea The bed stays level and dry. One flat line for the horizon and a few ripples at the legs are enough.
A door standing alone in a meadow, a little open No wall on either side. A strip of light on the grass tells you something is behind it.
A lake holding a different sky from the one above Day above the shoreline and stars in the water. Trees on the bank are mirrored exactly, the sky is not.
A library with shelves that rise out of sight Ladders lean at different heights. Let the shelves narrow upward and stop drawing books where they blur.
A paper boat as big as a ship Keep the folds of a paper boat, then add a harbor wall and tiny figures to give the size away.
A playground slide that ends in a cloud Draw the ladder and the top of the slide sharply and let the bottom fade into soft outlines.
A street that rolls up at the far end like a rug Houses and lamp posts tip with the roll. Keep the near end flat and normal.
A town built from stacked books Spines are walls and open books are roofs. Cut windows into the covers and light a few.
A train whose track loops over the moon The ties of the track get closer together as it climbs. Put steam where the engine has just been.
A whale drifting past a bedroom window Show only part of the whale: an eye and a fin fill the window frame. The room inside stays ordinary.
Fish swimming between the street lamps Light each fish from the lamp nearest to it. The sidewalk below stays dry.
Stairs climbing to a door in the clouds Each step is narrower than the one below. The door needs a handle, or it is only a rectangle.
Stepping stones floating across a canyon Each stone casts a shadow far below it. The gap between stone and shadow is what makes it float.
Umbrellas growing in a field like flowers Handles are the stems. Open some fully and leave a few as closed buds.

Dreamy skies 14

A cloud tied to a fence post like a balloon One thin string, pulled tight. The cloud leans the way the wind is blowing.
A crescent moon with a cloud asleep on it Hang the cloud over the lower point like a blanket. Two closed curves make its eyes.
A dandelion puff whose seeds become stars Seeds near the head keep their stalks. Farther away each stalk shortens until only the point of light is left.
A hammock strung between two stars The hammock sags in a deep curve. Whoever is in it shows only as a bump and one foot.
A hot-air balloon drifting among stars Shade the balloon from below, where its burner lights it. Stars near it are fewer.
A kite caught on a star The string hangs slack in a long curve, and the tail of bows droops straight down.
A shooting star over rooftops One bright point and a tail that thins to nothing. Keep the roofs as a dark flat band.
A soft ring of light around a full moon Shade the whole sky first, then lift the ring out with an eraser. Its inner edge is the sharper one.
An open window with stars drifting into the room Curtains blow inward. A few stars sit on the floor and one on the windowsill.
Clouds in three soft bands at sunset Use the side of the pencil. Make the lowest band the darkest and leave paper white between them.
Fireflies rising to join the stars Lowest dots are the largest and have a soft ring. Higher up they shrink until you cannot tell which is which.
The moon in a pond, between lily pads The reflection is broken into flat ovals by ripples. A lily pad may cover part of it.
The night sky poured from a jar The jar lies on its side on a hill. Dark spreads from its mouth and the stars get bigger as they leave.
Star trails turning around one still star Draw arcs that all share one center, like part of a record. Vary how long each arc is.

My dream 14

Me now and me grown up, facing each other Both in side view, like a mirror with a gap. Keep one feature the same in both: hair, glasses or a hat.
My dream bedroom, seen from the doorway Start with the bed and one thing no real bedroom has. Label three things with an arrow each.
My dream bike, with one thing no bike has Two circles and a diamond frame first. Then add the extra part and an arrow that says what it does.
My dream birthday cake, cut to show the layers Side view. Give every layer its own filling and write what each one is in the margin.
My dream day in four panels Morning, noon, afternoon and night. Keep yourself the same size in each so the day reads in order.
My dream for my town, as a before and after Two frames of the same corner from the same spot. Change only what your dream would change.
My dream house, cut open like a dollhouse Slice the front wall away. Each room is a box with one object that tells you what the room is for.
My dream invention and what it does Draw it twice: once whole, and once in use. Number the parts and list them underneath.
My dream job: me at work, with the tools of it Put what you would hold in your hands and what you would wear. The background can be three lines.
My dream pet beside me, for scale Real or made up. Standing next to you, it shows its size without a single number.
My dream playground, with one ride I invented Draw the ride in use. A stick figure halfway along explains it better than a label.
My dream school, drawn as a map from above Rooms are shapes with names. Add a key in the corner for what the colors or patterns mean.
My dream treehouse with a rope bridge Fix the floor to the trunk with two slanted beams. The bridge sags in the middle.
My dream vacation as a postcard A wide rectangle with one big view, your place name in block letters and a stamp in the corner.

Asleep 14

A bedside table at night, with a door in the lamp A glass of water, a clock and a lamp, all ordinary. The door is the size of a thumbnail and lit from inside.
A book face down on a sleeper, its characters climbing out Small figures slide down the pages onto the blanket. Give each one a single prop.
A bunk bed: space above, the sea below Two sleepers, two thought clouds. Let the clouds touch in the middle and swap one fish for one star.
A dog asleep, dreaming of a ball A thought cloud is a row of small circles leading to one big bumpy shape. The ball goes inside.
A goldfish asleep in its bowl, dreaming of the sea The thought cloud holds waves and one big fish. Keep the bowl small and the cloud large.
A night light throwing stars on the ceiling Stars near the lamp are small and sharp. Farther off they stretch and fade.
A pillow with a small door in it The door is ajar and a rope ladder hangs to the sheet. The pillow dents where the head has been.
A quilt whose patches are each a small scene Draw the grid of patches first, bent over the sleeper. Fill only six or seven and leave the rest plain.
A row of Zs turning into birds The first Z is plain. Each one after it bends a little more until the last has wings.
A sleeper under a blanket of hills, a tiny train crossing Knees and feet are the peaks. The train runs along the fold between them.
A sleeper's hair turning into waves, with a boat The hair spreads over the pillow in long curves. Put the boat where a wave crests, well away from the face.
A teddy bear on watch at the foot of the bed Sit it upright, facing away from the sleeper, with a paper hat or a flashlight.
Sheep jumping a fence, the last one yawning Each sheep is a cloud with four short legs. Number them, and let the numbers get sleepier.
Slippers by the bed, and a trail of stars leading away The slippers point toward the bed. The trail starts at their toes and leaves through the wall.

How it works

A dream is hard to draw: it made sense only while you were in it. These dream drawing ideas pin one down: a common dream, an impossible place, a soft night sky, or the school prompt My dream.

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Make it look like a dream

Draw everything ordinary in the scene with care and change one thing only: its size, its place or what it is made of. A whale is not strange. A whale passing a bedroom window is.

Dreamy drawing ideas

Dreamy skies holds the soft ones: a crescent moon with a cloud asleep on it, fireflies rising to join the stars. Use the side of the pencil, keep the darks gentle and let the shapes melt into the paper.

For My dream, draw the thing in use, with you in it. A dream house needs someone at the window.

Questions and answers

What are easy dream drawing ideas?

A bed adrift on a calm sea, a kite caught on a star or a dog asleep, dreaming of a ball. Each needs one clear shape and one surprise. The Easy level, under More filters, holds 25.

How do you draw a dream bubble?

Draw three or four small circles rising from the sleeper's head, each bigger than the last, then one large cloud with a bumpy edge. Put the dream inside the cloud and keep the sleeper small.

What should I draw for a My dream assignment?

Pick one: my dream house, cut open like a dollhouse; my dream job, with the tools of it; or me now and me grown up, facing each other. The My dream group holds 14.

What is a dreamscape drawing?

A place that could only exist in a dream: stairs climbing to a door in the clouds, a town built from stacked books, fish swimming between the street lamps. The Dreamscapes group holds 15.