Carved red horse with a painted harnessThe Dala horse of Sweden: a stout wooden horse in orange-red, its harness in white, green, yellow and blue.
Cupboard door with a painted flower panelRosemaling flowers are stylized, so no real species is needed. Build each bloom from teardrop strokes.
Kurbits blooms arching over a small cottageThe style belongs to Dalarna in Sweden. Let the plant fill the top half of the page above your own house.
Lovespoon with a wheel, a horseshoe and bellsThe Welsh lovespoon is carved to show skill, not to stir. Stack the symbols up the handle, one above another.
Mitten with an eight-pointed roseThe selburose is a Norwegian knitting pattern, an eight-pointed star. Draw it square by square on a grid.
Row of Dala horses with five different harnessesKeep the same stout carved shape each time and change only the harness pattern. Flat color, no shading.
Scrolling flowers around a painted wooden bowlNorwegian rosemaling: made-up flowers and long scrolls with fine line work on top. Follow the rim.
Straw mobile of hanging diamond shapesA Northern European straw mobile: straws tied into octahedrons. Keep it symmetrical from its hanging point.
Sweater yoke ringed with eight-pointed starsThe same selburose repeated in a band. Work on graph paper so every star comes out identical.
Tall gourd plant with oversized leavesSwedish kurbits is named for a long-bodied gourd: gourds, leaves and flowers in light brush strokes.
Trunk lid covered in scrolls and fantasy flowersRosemaling decorated wooden boxes and trunks. Start with one big scroll and hang the flowers off it.
Wall hanging with a zigzag band along the bottomPainted wall hangings from Dalarna often end in a zigzag band. Rule it first, then draw your scene above.
Central and Eastern Europe 12
Blue-on-white teapot with one big flowerRussian Gzhel ceramics carry blue designs on white. Use one blue pencil, pressed hard and soft.
Bowl rim of berries and curling leavesKhokhloma is known for its curved lines. Run one vine around the rim and hang berry clusters off it.
Cut-paper rooster with a layered tailPolish wycinanki in the Łowicz manner use many colors. Stack each smaller shape on top of the last.
Egg banded with wax-resist patternsOn a Ukrainian pysanka the design is written in beeswax before dyeing. Divide the egg into bands first.
Flower spray on a white wall panelUkrainian Petrykivka painting is flower patterns on a white ground, once painted on house walls.
Nesting doll taken apart, every half on the tableRussian matryoshka: each wooden doll splits at the middle to show a smaller one. The smallest is a baby.
One egg shown after each dye bathPysanka dyes go light to dark. Whatever is waxed keeps its color, so draw the egg white, yellow, red, black.
One-color papercut tree with birdsWycinanki from Poland's Kurpie region are a single color. Draw half the tree, then mirror it.
Outer nesting doll in a sarafan dressTraditionally the outer matryoshka is a woman in a sarafan. Flat color, a dark outline, flowers on the apron.
Painted clay figure in circles, checks and dotsRussian Dymkovo toys are whitewashed clay figures painted with bright circles, checks and dots.
Star-shaped paper medallionRound and star-shaped medallions are a wycinanki subject. Design one wedge and repeat it around the center.
Wooden spoon painted red, black and goldRussian Khokhloma: small flowers, berries and curling grasses in red, black and gold on wooden ware.
Pennsylvania German 12
Alphabet sheet with decorated capitalsOne fraktur form was the writing sample. Rule your lines, draw each capital large and add a bird to the first.
Barn star with a scalloped ring around itThe barn paintings were usually stars in circles. Add a ring of half-circles at the rim; keep colors flat.
Bookplate with your name and a tulip borderFraktur was drawn in ink and watercolor, and bookplates were one form. Letter the name, then fit the flowers.
Goldfinch in side view with a tulipThe distelfink is a stylized goldfinch of Pennsylvania Dutch art. Simple outline, bold stripes on the wing.
Painted hope chest with two flower panelsPennsylvania Dutch furniture is plain in shape with painted decoration. Match the two panels left and right.
Papercut that matches after a quarter turnScherenschnitte designs often have rotational symmetry. Draw one corner and turn it three more times.
Round sign of a compass rose, hearts and tulipsLater signs made for visitors added compass roses, hearts and tulips. Split the circle into equal wedges.
Scissor-cut paper valentineScherenschnitte means scissor cuts. Swiss and German settlers brought it to Pennsylvania in the 1700s.
Six-pointed star in a circle, sized for a barnPennsylvania Dutch barn stars were traditionally six-pointed, in a round border. Compass first, color second.
Small house between two giant flowersFraktur also came as floral and figure scenes. Ignore scale and let the flowers stand taller than the roof.
Three tulips growing from one heartHearts and tulips again, fraktur style. One stem straight up and two curving out, all rooted in the heart.
Two distelfinks facing each other across a heartBirds, hearts and tulips are the common fraktur motifs. Draw one bird, then mirror it on the other side.
South Asia 12
Animal filled with rings of dashed linesKantha motifs include animals and birds. Echo the outline inward, dash by dash, until the shape is full.
Bird among flowers with every gap filledMadhubani painting from Bihar leaves no space empty. Fill the gaps with flowers, birds and geometric shapes.
Bird-filled tree painted with a matchstickMadhubani artists paint with fingers, twigs, matchsticks, brushes and nib pens. Dip a matchstick for the leaves.
Cloth printed with one stamp in a gridAjrak from Sindh is block-printed with stamps. Design one square stamp and repeat it edge to edge.
Farmer and two oxen from circles and trianglesWarli painting from Maharashtra shows daily life in simple shapes. A body is two triangles joined at the tips.
Quilt corner of flowers and birds in running stitchKantha embroidery from Bengal covers cloth in running stitch. Draw every line as a row of short dashes.
Scarf patterned with tiny tie-dye dotsBandhani cloth from Rajasthan and Gujarat is tied in tiny knots before dyeing. Each knot leaves a dot.
Shawl of geometric flowersPhulkari, the folk embroidery of Punjab, means flower work. Build each bloom from diamonds on a grid.
Sun and moon inside a patterned borderSun and moon are common Madhubani subjects. Draw in pen and pack the border with one small repeat.
Truck front hung with chains and mirrorsDecorated trucks carry mirror work and chains with pendants on the bumpers. Leave no panel plain.
Truck tailgate crowded with flowers and letteringTruck art in Pakistan and India covers vehicles in floral patterns and calligraphy. Fill a tailgate shape.
Village scene in white on brown paperWarli walls are red-brown earth painted in white rice paste. White pencil on brown paper, no other color.
Build your own 12
Border band of one repeated motifPick a leaf, a heart or a bird and repeat it along a strip, flipping every other one.
Eight-point quilt star in four flat colorsRule a square, find its center and build the star from diamonds. Flat color, with a border band around the block.
Fish with a different pattern in every row of scalesRows of half-circles for scales, a new flat color in each row. Add the dark outline last.
Heart packed with flowersOutline the heart, then fill it: one big bloom in the middle, smaller ones outward, leaves in the gaps.
Pair of deer under one treeThe tree stands on the center line with a deer on each side, nose to nose. Mirror the halves; add a border band.
Plate with a ring border and a center flowerDraw two circles. Fill the ring with a repeating border and the middle with one flower seen from above.
Rooster with five patterns in its tailEach tail feather gets its own fill: dots, stripes, checks, scallops, zigzags. Hold yourself to four colors.
Tree with paired branches and a bird on eachTrunk on the center line, branches in pairs. Flat colors, no shading, one dark outline around everything.
Two birds facing each other over a flowerDraw one bird, trace it and flip it. Mirror the two halves and put one flower on the fold between them.
Vase of flowers taller than its tableA mirrored bouquet: one center stem, then matched pairs out to each side. Give the vase its own pattern.
Your own house with a border band below itFront view, flat as a cutout. Oversized flowers at each side and one patterned strip along the bottom.
Your pet as a folk art animalSide view, simple shape. Cover the body in dots, stripes and flowers in flat color; skip the fur.
How it works
Sixty folk art motifs sorted by where they come from, from the scrolls on a Norwegian trunk lid to a truck tailgate in Pakistan crowded with flowers. A fifth group names no tradition and is for building your own.
Read the full guide
Four moves that carry the style
Mirror the two halves. Fill shapes with flat color and no shading. Close everything in one dark outline. Finish with a border band. Build your own holds 12 that need only these, such as Pair of deer under one tree.
Draw the motif, name the tradition
Each named style belongs to the people who made it. Polish wycinanki are cut paper, a Ukrainian pysanka is written in wax, Warli painting is white on earth walls. When you share a drawing, say which tradition you learned from.
Work in four or five flat colors and repeat them across the whole picture.
Fold tracing paper down the center line to carry one half of a design onto the other.
Questions and answers
What is folk art?
Visual art made within a folk tradition, by makers trained in that tradition and not in fine art. Most pieces are useful objects, decorated: painted furniture, embroidered cloth, cut paper, carved toys.
What are easy folk art drawings?
Carved red horse with a painted harness, Three tulips growing from one heart and Border band of one repeated motif. Each is one simple shape with a pattern inside it.
What is Pennsylvania German folk art?
The decorative art of German-speaking settlers in Pennsylvania: fraktur drawings in ink and watercolor, barn stars in circles and scissor-cut paper. Birds, hearts and tulips appear again and again; the stylized goldfinch is called a distelfink.
Where are the Mexican folk art ideas?
On Mexico drawing ideas, which has a Crafts and dress group beside the country's animals, places and food. This list leaves them there.