• 80 exercises

Line Art Ideas

Press the button for three exercises, read which kind of line each trains and how many minutes it takes, then draw one in pen.

Line Art Ideas

Show all 80
  1. Basket weave with every under-strip stopped shortPattern, 15 min. Over-under bands. The line of the strip underneath stops at the edge of the one on top.
  2. Feather from one spine and two hundred hair linesTexture, 15 min. Barbs leave the shaft at a slant and curve toward the tip. Split the vane in two places.
  3. Circle made only of dashes that stop shortImplied line, 5 min. Spokes that all end on an invisible ring. No circle is drawn, yet everyone sees one.

Next step Set up a still life and draw it in outlineKeep the pen moving: pattern doodles

All 80 exercises

One line 20

  • Blind contour of a crumpled paper bag Blind contour, 10 min. Every crease is an edge to crawl along. Peek only to find a new starting point.
  • Blind-contour drawing of your free hand Blind contour, 5 min. Eyes on the hand, never the paper. Move the pen only as fast as your eye crawls the edge.
  • Blind-contour portrait of whoever sits opposite Blind contour, 5 min. Tape the paper down, look only at them, and expect the eyes to land outside the head.
  • Blind-contour self-portrait in a mirror Blind contour, 10 min. Look only at the mirror. The result is lopsided, and the looking is the point.
  • Both hands in one line, fingers interlaced Continuous line, 15 min. Follow one finger over and the next under. Each overlap is where the line changes hand.
  • Bunch of keys on a ring, never lifting the pen Continuous line, 10 min. The ring is your hub: leave it for each key and return along the same path.
  • Continuous-line skyline from the left edge to the right Continuous line, 10 min. Roofs, aerials, one crane. Drop to street level and climb again without lifting.
  • One-line bicycle leaning on a wall Continuous line, 10 min. Both wheels first, then the frame as one zigzag between the hubs.
  • One-line cat asleep on a chair Continuous line, 10 min. Let the chair leg run up into the tail so cat and seat share a single line.
  • One-line coffee cup that ends as its own steam Continuous line, 5 min. Rim, side, base, handle, then let the final stroke drift upward and fade.
  • One-line dancer caught mid-turn Continuous line, 5 min. Head to toe in one sweep first, then loop back for the arms. Speed keeps it alive.
  • One-line elephant starting at the tip of the trunk Continuous line, 10 min. Trunk, brow, the ear as one big loop, back, tail, four legs, belly, home.
  • One-line face without lifting the pen Continuous line, 5 min. Start at one ear, cross the features, leave by the other. Retrace a line to get back.
  • One-line fish that finishes on its starting dot Continuous line, 5 min. A closed loop shows no loose end. Plan the route before the pen lands.
  • One-line houseplant, pot and all Continuous line, 10 min. Climb a stem, round the leaf, come back down the same stem to reach the next.
  • One-line mug drawn with your other hand Continuous line, 5 min. The weaker hand wobbles, which slows you to the speed of looking. Keep the wobble.
  • One-line rose drawn from the centre outward Continuous line, 10 min. A tight spiral that loosens into petals, then drops away as the stem.
  • Pair of glasses in one line Continuous line, 5 min. A figure of eight through the bridge, then out along each arm and back.
  • Wire-sculpture giraffe you could bend from a coat hanger Continuous line, 10 min. If wire could not hold the shape, change it. The legs double back on themselves.
  • Your shoe in one unbroken line, laces included Continuous line, 10 min. Thread the pen through the eyelets as the lace does: over, under, across.

Outline and contour 20

  • Bell pepper cut in half, with its inner walls Contour, 10 min. Contours are not only outer edges. The ribs, the seed core and the wall thickness all count.
  • Bottle, glass and jug overlapping, drawn see-through Contour, 15 min. Draw every ellipse whole, straight through whatever stands in front, then firm up what shows.
  • Circle made only of dashes that stop short Implied line, 5 min. Spokes that all end on an invisible ring. No circle is drawn, yet everyone sees one.
  • Folded towel with every crease as a line Contour, 10 min. Each fold line starts at an edge and fades out. Let it taper rather than stop.
  • Garlic bulb in outline with its papery ridges Contour, 10 min. Ridge lines run pole to pole and bunch at the neck. They describe the roundness for you.
  • Houseplant in outline only, no shading Contour, 10 min. Where one leaf passes behind another, stop the hidden line dead. That gap is the depth.
  • Kitchen chair drawn from the gaps between its legs Contour, 15 min. Outline only the empty shapes: between legs, under the seat, through the back. A chair appears.
  • Koi in a brush-pen outline that swells and thins Weighted line, 10 min. Press at the belly, lift toward the tail. The swell of the stroke reads as weight.
  • Overlapping leaves with the nearest leaf in the boldest line Weighted line, 10 min. Three layers, three pressures. The lightest line reads as the furthest away.
  • Pear whose outline thickens on the shadow side Weighted line, 10 min. One line, two pressures: heavy under the belly and away from the light, thin on top.
  • Row of bottles where shared edges are drawn once Contour, 10 min. Where two bottles touch, one line serves both. Its weight says which bottle is in front.
  • Stack of books, heaviest line where they meet the table Weighted line, 10 min. A thick line at a contact point plants the object. Thin lines for the page edges.
  • Street corner in clean outline with three line widths Contour, 20 min. Thick for the near kerb and lamp post, medium for buildings, thin for anything past them.
  • Teapot in a broken outline, pen lifted at each highlight Implied line, 10 min. Gaps on the lit side read as shine. Keep the line solid underneath.
  • Trainer in outline with every seam and stitch row Contour, 20 min. Panel seams curve round the foot, so they show the form with no tone at all.
  • Two facing profiles whose gap reads as a vase Implied line, 10 min. The vase has no line of its own. The eye builds it from the two faces.
  • Two people watching one kite, sight lines left undrawn Implied line, 15 min. Tilt both heads along the same invisible diagonal. The viewer's eye runs up it.
  • White cup on white paper, drawn only on its shadow side Implied line, 15 min. Leave the lit edge open. The eye finishes the rim from the two ends you gave it.
  • Winter tree whose branches thin to a hair Weighted line, 15 min. Every fork halves the line width. Turn the page so you always pull toward the tip.
  • Your pet as one blank outlined shape that still reads Contour, 10 min. No eyes, no fur. If the outer edge alone does not say spaniel, change the pose.

Hatching 20

  • Banana wrapped in contoured hatching Contoured hatching, 10 min. Curve each stroke round the fruit like a rubber band. Straight strokes flatten it.
  • Crumpled paper ball in straight hatching only Linear hatching, 20 min. Each facet gets one direction and one tone. No blending, no curves.
  • Cube with a different hatch direction on each face Linear hatching, 5 min. Changing direction at an edge separates the planes even when the tones match.
  • Cutaway apple with section lines on the cut face Linear hatching, 10 min. Technical drawings mark a cut surface with even diagonal lines. Borrow that for the flesh.
  • Egg on a table in crosshatching, cast shadow included Crosshatching, 15 min. One layer everywhere but the light, then a new angle for each step darker.
  • Five-box value scale in parallel hatching Linear hatching, 5 min. Same pen, same pressure. Only the spacing changes from the pale box to the dark one.
  • Fork left as white paper inside its own hatched shadow Linear hatching, 10 min. Hatch the table and the cast shadow. The fork is the paper you did not touch.
  • Hanging cloth, hatched along the fall of each fold Linear hatching, 15 min. Strokes run down the fold, packed tight in the valleys and open on the ridges.
  • Moiré patch from two hatch layers at a slight angle Crosshatching, 5 min. Cross the second layer at about ten degrees, not ninety, and ripples show up.
  • Night window: hatch everything except the lit panes Crosshatching, 15 min. Three layers of wall make the untouched paper glow. Keep the pane edges crisp.
  • Nose from the front in hatching, with no outline at all Crosshatching, 15 min. A front-on nose has almost no edges. Tone on the two side planes and under the tip does it.
  • Old boot in crosshatching, darkest inside the opening Crosshatching, 20 min. Save the fourth layer for the mouth of the boot and the strip under the sole.
  • Pear in exactly three hatched tones Crosshatching, 10 min. Bare paper, one layer, two layers. Limiting the steps forces you to pick where each ends.
  • Pebble in dots alone, no outline Stippling, 15 min. Denser dots make darker tone. Let the edge of the pebble form where the dots thin out.
  • Ribbon banner shaded like banknote engraving Linear hatching, 15 min. Parallel lines that swell where the ribbon turns under and thin to nothing on top.
  • Shield coded in heraldic hatching Linear hatching, 10 min. Engravers' code: vertical lines mean red, horizontal blue, dots gold, bare paper silver.
  • Sky in horizontal hatching with the clouds left blank Linear hatching, 10 min. Close the spacing toward the top of the page. The cloud edges stay ragged.
  • Sphere built from hatching swatches Linear hatching, 15 min. Map four tone zones first, then fill each like a swatch. The highlight stays bare paper.
  • Sphere, cone and cylinder under one light Contoured hatching, 20 min. The cone's strokes fan from its tip, the cylinder's stay parallel, the sphere's curve.
  • Tree trunk in short hatching that wraps the cylinder Contoured hatching, 10 min. Broken curved ticks for bark. Pack them on one side so the trunk turns.

Pattern lines 20

  • Basket weave with every under-strip stopped short Pattern, 15 min. Over-under bands. The line of the strip underneath stops at the edge of the one on top.
  • Brick wall that fades to bare paper at the edges Texture, 10 min. Full bricks in the middle, then only corners and cracks. The eye fills in the rest.
  • Butterfly matched stroke for stroke across a centre line Symmetry, 15 min. Make one mark on the left, then its mirror on the right, before moving on.
  • Curve made from straight ruled lines in a corner Implied line, 10 min. Mark both arms of an L in tens. Join 1 to 10, 2 to 9 and so on. The curve is never drawn.
  • Eight-fold line mandala on a folded-paper grid Symmetry, 20 min. The creases give eight wedges. Whatever you draw in one, repeat in the other seven.
  • Feather from one spine and two hundred hair lines Texture, 15 min. Barbs leave the shaft at a slant and curve toward the tip. Split the vane in two places.
  • Fingerprint whorl that fills the page Pattern, 15 min. Start with a tiny loop in the middle and echo it outward. Keep the gap between ridges even.
  • Fish scales in overlapping rows of U Texture, 10 min. Each new row sits in the gaps of the last, like roof tiles. Shrink them toward the tail.
  • Hill drawn as a contour map of nested wobbly rings Pattern, 10 min. Rings close together mean a steep slope, wide apart a gentle one. Add a second summit.
  • Knitted fabric as rows of interlocking V stitches Texture, 15 min. Columns of stacked Vs. Tilt them along a fold and the cloth bends.
  • Neurographic-style lines with three circles dropped in Pattern, 20 min. Draw the circles first, let the lines pass through them, and round each new crossing.
  • Neurographic-style tree that rounds at every fork Pattern, 20 min. Trunk lines split and wander to the page edge. Fill each fork into a smooth webbed Y.
  • One wandering line that fills a square and never crosses Pattern, 10 min. Keep an even gap between passes, as if mowing a lawn. It ends when there is no room left.
  • Page of rounded crossing lines in the neurographic manner Pattern, 20 min. Wander edge to edge, then round every crossing into a soft curve until no sharp corner is left.
  • Six-armed snowflake from ruled lines Symmetry, 10 min. Three lines crossing at 60 degrees give six arms. Every barb goes on all six.
  • Three-loop knot with over and under crossings Pattern, 15 min. Draw the ribbon as two parallel lines, then rub out alternate crossings: over, under, over.
  • Twelve texture swatches made from line alone Texture, 20 min. Fur, bark, brick, water, grass, scales, wool, stone, basket, feathers, hair, rust. One box each.
  • Vase built around a centre line, right side copied from left Symmetry, 10 min. Mark the width at five heights on both sides of the axis, then join the marks.
  • Wave pattern of stacked concentric arcs Pattern, 15 min. Rows of nested half circles, each row offset by half a wave, like overlapping fans.
  • Wood grain that swerves round three knots Texture, 10 min. Parallel lines that part for each knot and close up after it. Never let two lines touch.

How it works

No smudged tone and no colour: in these 80 line art ideas the line does all the work. Each exercise names the kind of line it practises, from blind contour to weighted, implied and hatched, and a time between 5 and 20 minutes.

Read the full guide

What each kind of line trains

Contour drawing follows edges, and not only the outer ones: Bell pepper cut in half, with its inner walls asks for the ribs and the seed core too. A blind contour bans looking at the paper, so eye and pen travel at one speed. A continuous line never lifts, so plan a route. Weighted line changes pressure, heavy under a pear and thin on top. An implied line is one the eye completes, as in Circle made only of dashes that stop short.

The outline, hatching and pattern groups

Most drawings begin as an outline and then bury it under tone. The Outline and contour group stops at the line: 20 outline drawing ideas, from a houseplant to a street corner in three line widths. Hatching builds tone from strokes: more, thicker and closer lines read darker, and a second layer at a new angle makes crosshatching. Pattern lines holds the neurographic art ideas, six line textures and four symmetrical drawing ideas.

  • Hatching should wrap around the form. Curve the strokes of Banana wrapped in contoured hatching like rubber bands; straight ones flatten it.
  • Retracing is allowed in a one-line drawing. Going back along a line is how the pen reaches the other eye.
  • Twelve texture swatches made from line alone is a page of easy texture drawing ideas: one box per surface.

Questions and answers

What are neurographic art ideas, and how do I draw one?

Draw freeform lines that wander edge to edge and cross, then round off every crossing until no sharp corner is left. Colour the cells if you like. Three exercises here work that way. We describe the pattern only and claim nothing about its effects.

Are these line drawing ideas suitable for a beginner?

Yes. Twelve of the 80 take five minutes, and contour drawing is widely used as training for beginners. Start with Blind-contour drawing of your free hand. The ten 20 minute exercises, such as Old boot in crosshatching, darkest inside the opening, can wait.

Which pen should I use, and how long should I spend?

Any pen you cannot rub out, since committing to the line is the training. A fineliner suits hatching; a brush pen suits Koi in a brush-pen outline that swells and thins. The clock runs five minutes. For a 20 minute exercise, run it four times.

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