• 100 ideas

Hard Things to Draw, With the Skill Each One Tests

Press the button for one hard subject and the skill it tests, then start the clock and see how far you get.

Hard Things to Draw, With the Skill Each One Tests

Show all 100
  1. Chrome kettle reflecting the roomTests distortion. The reflected room wraps round the kettle, and straight window bars bend into curves.

Next step Set it up on a table: still life ideasBuild a scene round this subject: art prompts

All 100 ideas

Hands, faces and figures 20

  • Adult and small child standing side by side Tests proportion. Measure each figure in its own head lengths before you draw. The two counts differ.
  • Bare foot pointing at the viewer Tests foreshortening. The toes stack in front of the instep, which rises steeply behind them.
  • Clenched fist seen from the thumb side Tests planes. The knuckles form a stepped arch, not a straight row, and the thumb lies across two fingers.
  • Face in three-quarter view Tests asymmetry. The far eye narrows, the far cheek shortens and the nose overlaps part of it.
  • Face lit by a torch held under the chin Tests light logic. The undersides of the nose and brow catch the light, and every shadow climbs upward.
  • Face seen from below the chin Tests foreshortening. The underside of the jaw and nose show, and the features crowd toward the top.
  • Figure lying down with feet toward the viewer Tests extreme foreshortening. The soles are the biggest shapes and the head is a small oval far behind.
  • Figure sitting cross-legged, seen from the front Tests foreshortening. Both thighs point at you, so each leg draws as a short wedge with a knee on the end.
  • Hand gripping a mug by its handle Tests hands plus ellipses. Fingers wrap a curved handle while the rim stays a clean, even ellipse.
  • Hand reaching straight toward the viewer Tests foreshortening. The fingers become stubby overlapping ovals and the palm almost vanishes behind them.
  • Human ear from the side, life size Tests form inside form. Follow the outer rim round, then the Y-shaped fold inside it, before any shading.
  • Laughing mouth with the teeth showing Tests restraint. Treat the teeth as one pale shape with soft divisions. Outline each and they become a fence.
  • Old face with deep lines Tests form. A wrinkle is a soft fold with a lit side and a shaded side. It is not a pen line.
  • Pair of eyes both looking to one side Tests symmetry. The second eye has to match the first in size, tilt and the exact direction of its gaze.
  • Runner caught in mid-stride Tests gesture and balance. Opposite arm and leg swing forward together. Find one line through the pose first.
  • Self-portrait from a mirror, not a photo Tests measuring. Hold your head still and compare widths by eye. There is no screen to trace.
  • Standing figure in contrapposto Tests weight. Most of the weight rests on one foot, so the hips and shoulders tilt in opposite directions.
  • Two hands clasped with fingers interlaced Tests overlap. Eight fingers alternate, so count them, then check the knuckle line of each hand.
  • Two people hugging, seen from the side Tests overlap. Four arms and two torsos share one silhouette. Decide whose arm is on top at every crossing.
  • Your free hand holding a second pencil Tests overlapping forms. Draw it life size and decide which fingers the pencil passes behind.

Animals and movement 14

  • Bird seen from below with wings spread Tests structure. Flight feathers sit in overlapping rows that fan out from the arm, longest at the wing tip.
  • Butterfly with two wings that truly match Tests symmetry. Rule a centre line, then check each marking on the second wing against the first.
  • Cat at full stretch in mid-jump Tests gesture. One long curve runs from the front paws to the tail tip. Get it down before any fur.
  • Deer clearing a fence Tests gesture. Front legs tuck, hind legs trail, and the back makes one arc over the top rail.
  • Dog curled up asleep, nose under tail Tests form. The body is a spiral of overlapping masses, and the legs mostly vanish underneath it.
  • Elephant walking toward the viewer Tests foreshortening and texture. The skin folds wrap round the legs like loose bracelets.
  • Horse galloping straight toward you Tests foreshortening. The chest and head hide most of the body, and the legs overlap in a narrow column.
  • Horse trotting, all four legs in view Tests animal anatomy. The backward-pointing joint on the hind leg is the hock: an ankle, not a knee.
  • Lizard with scales that follow its curves Tests pattern over form. Rows of scales bend round the body and shrink toward the toes and tail.
  • Octopus with eight arms in a tangle Tests overlap. Track every arm from body to tip, so none swaps places where two cross.
  • Owl looking back over its shoulder Tests rotation. The head turns while the body stays square on, and the feather pattern follows the twist.
  • Spider with all eight legs attached properly Tests observation. Every leg joins the front section of the body. None grows from the abdomen.
  • Tiger face seen from the front Tests pattern over form. The stripes curve round the cheeks and brow, so bend them with the skull beneath.
  • Wet dog shaking itself dry Tests motion. Blur the ears and loose skin, keep the feet sharp and fling the drops outward in arcs.

Glass, metal, water and cloth 20

  • Candle flame and the glow around it Tests value range. The flame is bare paper. Everything else has to go darker than feels comfortable.
  • Chrome kettle reflecting the room Tests distortion. The reflected room wraps round the kettle, and straight window bars bend into curves.
  • Glass of water and the light it throws on a table Tests caustics. Inside the glass's shadow sits a curved patch of bright light. Leave it as bare paper.
  • Glass of water with a straw in it Tests refraction. The straw seems to break at the water line. Draw the break exactly where you see it.
  • Glasses lying on an open book Tests distortion. Lines of print shift and bend inside the lenses, and the frames cast a thin shadow.
  • Half-crushed clear plastic bottle Tests transparency. Draw the dents as light and dark shapes and let the outline break where it fades.
  • Ice cubes melting in a tumbler Tests edges. Ice has few outlines: cracks, trapped bubbles and a bright rim where it meets the water.
  • Jam jar full of marbles Tests transparency. Each marble shows a highlight, a dark core and a bent glimpse of its neighbours.
  • Polished black leather boot Tests highlights on a dark form. The black stays black, and thin crisp lights describe the shape.
  • Satin ribbon lying in loose curls Tests material. Satin highlights are narrow and sharp, with dark folds right beside them.
  • Sheet of crumpled kitchen foil Tests value. Foil is hard-edged facets of near white and near black, with very little grey between.
  • Smoke rising from a snuffed candle Tests soft edges. No lines at all. Smudge the ribbon of smoke and lift the pale parts with an eraser.
  • Soap bubble with a window reflected in it Tests soft edges. Barely any outline. Two curved window shapes, one the right way up and one flipped.
  • Trees reflected in a rippled lake Tests broken reflection. The mirror image breaks into horizontal dashes that widen as they come toward you.
  • Water drop sitting on a leaf Tests light logic. A specular highlight on the side facing the light, a glow opposite, then a cast shadow.
  • Wave breaking over rocks Tests moving water. Foam is the lightest shape, so draw the dark water and rock around it instead.
  • Wet street at night under street lamps Tests reflection. Each lamp drops a long vertical streak on the road, broken where the surface is rough.
  • White cloth draped over a chair back Tests drapery. Folds radiate from wherever the cloth is held up, then relax and pool toward the floor.
  • White egg on a white plate Tests subtle value. Nearly everything is pale grey. Find the one darkest spot, where egg meets plate.
  • Your face in the bowl of a spoon Tests observation. The hollow side turns you upside down. The back of the spoon stretches you wide.

Perspective and ellipses 18

  • Bicycle in three-quarter view Tests ellipses. A circle seen from a side angle looks like an ellipse, and the two wheels differ in width.
  • City street from a rooftop, looking down Tests three-point perspective. Here the verticals close in toward a point far below the buildings.
  • Ferris wheel seen at an angle Tests a large ellipse. The spokes meet at the hub, which sits a little behind the middle of the ellipse.
  • Grand piano with the lid propped open Tests a curved box. The long S-curve of the case and the slanted lid obey the same vanishing points.
  • Mountain ridges fading into the distance Tests aerial perspective. Each ridge further back is paler, bluer and lower in contrast, with less detail.
  • Open umbrella seen from underneath Tests radial structure. The ribs all leave one hub, and the panels between them sag in shallow curves.
  • Parked car in three-quarter view Tests curved boxes. Build a box in perspective, carve the body from it, then fit four wheel ellipses.
  • Room with a tiled floor, from the doorway Tests depth. Tile rows get thinner toward the back wall. A diagonal through the corners keeps them honest.
  • Round table laid with plates and cups Tests families of ellipses. Rims lying on the table share one tilt. Rims nearer your eye level flatten.
  • Row of arches down a cloister Tests spacing in depth. The arches narrow and crowd together as they recede. Even spacing looks wrong.
  • Spiral staircase seen from the top Tests perspective on a curve. Every step is a wedge, and the wedges shrink as they wind down the well.
  • Stack of books at careless angles Tests multiple vanishing points. Each book is turned differently, so each one aims at its own pair.
  • Suspension bridge seen from one end Tests a curve in perspective. Plot the cable's height at each hanger, then join the marks freehand.
  • Teacup on a saucer, seen from above one side Tests ellipses. Four share one centre line: saucer rim, saucer well, cup rim and the surface of the tea.
  • Terraced street in two-point perspective Tests vanishing points. Roof lines, sills and doorsteps along one side all aim at one point on the horizon.
  • Tower blocks seen from the pavement Tests three-point perspective. The verticals lean together toward a third point high above the page.
  • Wooden chair from a three-quarter angle Tests construction. The four feet mark a rectangle on the floor in perspective. Draw that rectangle first.
  • Wristwatch lying at an angle Tests an ellipse with detail. The twelve hour marks bunch up along the narrow ends of the dial.

Detail and patience 16

  • Bare winter tree with every branch Tests branching logic. Each branch is thinner than the one it leaves, and a twig never thickens again.
  • Bookshelf with every spine lettered Tests lettering. Titles run up some spines and down others. Vary the heights, widths and leans.
  • Brick wall turning a corner Tests pattern in perspective. The courses converge on both faces, and each row is offset by half a brick.
  • Bunch of keys on a ring Tests overlap in metal. Each key has its own cut edge and its own highlight, and all hang from one ring.
  • Chain-link fence in front of a field Tests layering. The diamond mesh must stay regular while the landscape carries on behind every gap.
  • Dragonfly with all four wings veined Tests fine line. The veins form a net of small cells. Keep them lighter than the outline of the wing.
  • Fish drawn scale by scale Tests pattern over form. Overlapping rows of scales curve round the body and shrink toward the tail.
  • Lace curtain with daylight behind it Tests negative drawing. Shade the holes and the folds, and leave the threads as untouched paper.
  • Market crowd from a little above Tests simplification. Near figures get faces and hands. Far ones are heads and shoulders, overlapping.
  • One square foot of lawn, life size Tests seeing. Blades overlap, bend and cast shadows on each other. Include the clover and the dead bits.
  • Pine cone, scale by scale Tests pattern over form. The scales sit in two sets of crossing spirals and shrink toward the tip.
  • Plate of spaghetti, strand by strand Tests patience. Follow single strands over and under their neighbours without losing any.
  • Sailing ship with full rigging Tests structure. Every rope runs from somewhere to somewhere. Draw masts and yards first, lines last.
  • Single feather with its barbs Tests line control. Barbs leave the shaft at a steady angle, with a few splits where they have parted.
  • Sunflower head with its seed spirals Tests pattern. The seeds lie along curves that sweep both clockwise and anticlockwise from the centre.
  • Wicker basket with the weave showing Tests weave. Strands pass over one upright and under the next, and the pattern swaps on each row.

From memory 12

  • A face you saw today, drawn tonight Tests visual memory. Go for the big shapes: hair mass, glasses, jaw. A likeness lives there, not in lashes.
  • Bicycle from memory, no reference Tests what you really know. Afterwards check: does the chain reach the back wheel, and what holds the front?
  • Bird in flight from memory Tests gesture recall. Where do the wings bend, and where do the legs go? Check against a photo after.
  • Both sides of a coin you use every week Tests attention. You have handled it many times. Place the lettering and decide which way the portrait faces.
  • Clock face from memory, twelve numbers evenly spaced Tests spacing. Place 12, 6, 3 and 9 first, then fit two numbers into each gap. Roman numerals are harder.
  • Horse from memory, then corrected from a photo Tests stored anatomy. Make your corrections in a second colour, so the gaps in your memory show.
  • Map of your route to school or work, from memory Tests spatial memory. Put in every turn and landmark, then compare it with a real map for scale.
  • The room behind you, without turning round Tests noticing. Place the furniture first, then commit to what hangs on the walls before you look.
  • Your kitchen from the doorway, from memory Tests perspective without a model. Set a horizon at your eye height and hang every worktop from it.
  • Your left shoe from memory Tests recall of detail. How many lace holes, where the seams run, what the sole looks like from the side.
  • Your own face from memory, no mirror Tests recall of the face you see most. Compare with a mirror afterwards and note what you invented.
  • Your own front door from memory Tests recall. Which side is the handle on? How many panels? Draw it, then go and look.

How it works

One hundred hard things to draw, each chosen because it exposes a weak spot. Every hint opens with the skill on trial: foreshortening, ellipses, reflections, drapery, memory. Hand reaching straight toward the viewer tests the first. Sheet of crumpled kitchen foil tests your nerve with black. Pick a group to work on one skill.

Read the full guide

Why some stuff is hard

A few repeatable causes. Foreshortening: lengths pointing along your line of sight look shorter than lengths across it, so a finger aimed at you becomes an oval. Ellipses: a circle seen from a side angle looks like an ellipse, which is where bicycle wheels go wrong. Knowledge: the backward joint on a horse's hind leg is the hock, an ankle, not a knee. A first attempt at any of these may fail. That is the point.

Six groups, six kinds of difficult things to draw

Hands, faces and figures holds 20 ideas. So does Glass, metal, water and cloth, the group for realistic things to draw: foil, satin, ice. For detailed things to draw, tap Detail and patience. Texture lives there: wicker, lace, Pine cone, scale by scale. From memory is the odd group: 12 subjects drawn with no reference, then checked against the real thing. Pick a subject that stretches you without making you quit. That choice is a skill too.

  • Draw one subject three times in a week. The third Bicycle in three-quarter view is where the ellipses start to behave.
  • Squint at foil, chrome and glass. Squinting merges the small reflections into a few big shapes you can copy.
  • For From memory, draw first and check after in a second colour. The corrections are the lesson, so leave them showing.

Questions and answers

What are the hardest things to draw on this list?

Our vote: Figure lying down with feet toward the viewer, foreshortening at its most extreme, and Glass of water and the light it throws on a table, where the brightest shape sits inside a shadow. Both punish guessing and reward measuring.

Which are the most impressive things to draw for the effort?

Choose Glass, metal, water and cloth. Water drop sitting on a leaf and Chrome kettle reflecting the room look like sorcery, yet each is a set of flat light and dark shapes copied carefully. Nobody needs to know how plain the method was.

How long should I give these hard drawing ideas?

More than the default. The clock starts at five minutes and goes up to ten. A five-minute pass still helps: block in the big shapes of Chrome kettle reflecting the room, stop, then start again with an hour and no clock. Pine cone, scale by scale is an evening however you time it.

More tools

Show 6 more

Browse Drawing Ideas