60 ideas

Self Portrait Art Ideas

Deal one way to draw yourself: in a mirror, through your things, as an idea or in a new style.

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Drawn: Your face peeking over your sketchbookYour face peeking over your sketchbookThe book fills the bottom half. Eyes and forehead only above the edge.

Next step Draw your things as a still life

All 60 ideas

Mirrors and reflections 15

Your eye reflected in a pair of sunglasses Draw the lens as a dark oval and your eye as a small, bent shape on its surface.
Your eyes in a rear-view mirror Only the eyes and brows fit in the strip. A good ten-minute study.
Your face half lit by a desk lamp Light from one side leaves half your face in shadow. Draw the shadow shape first.
Your face in a steamed mirror with one wiped patch Shade the whole mirror grey, then leave one clear stripe where your eyes show.
Your face reflected in a dark phone screen A black rectangle and a dim face. Keep it to the light parts: forehead, nose, cheeks.
Your reflection in a shiny kettle The curved metal pulls your face wide. Add the kitchen stretched round the sides.
Your reflection in a window at night The room behind you shows, the garden outside does not. Keep the glass edges dark.
Yourself at the bathroom mirror, toothbrush in mouth A quick, honest one: tilt of the head, foam, hair still unbrushed.
Yourself between two mirrors, repeating Each copy smaller than the last. Draw five, each one simpler.
Yourself drawing yourself in the mirror Get the mirror, your arm and the paper all in the frame. Your drawing hand is the hard part.
Yourself in a car wing mirror A curved oval frame. Fit your face small at the centre and the road bending round it.
Yourself in a puddle, upside down Draw your feet at the top of the puddle and your head at the bottom, with ripples breaking the lines.
Yourself in a round magnifying mirror One feature fills the circle: an eye or a mouth. The rest of your face is cut off by the rim.
Yourself in a shop window, the display behind you Two layers at once: draw the goods crisp and your reflection faint over them.
Yourself in a spoon, stretched by the curve The bowl of a spoon turns you upside down and swells the middle. Draw the nose big, the ears tiny.

With your things 15

Your bag emptied out around your face Face in the middle, the contents laid in a ring around it like a frame.
Your face peeking over your sketchbook The book fills the bottom half. Eyes and forehead only above the edge.
Your hand drawing your hand Draw your non-drawing hand holding the pencil. A study of fingers and grip.
Your hands holding something you use every day No face at all. A mug, a controller or a pen says who you are.
Your shoes as a portrait of you Worn heels, knotted laces, a mark on one toe. Draw them as you left them.
Yourself among the things on your desk Pens, cables and crumbs in the front, you small behind them. Draw from what is there.
Yourself behind a stack of your favourite books Only your eyes and hair show over the pile. Make the spines readable.
Yourself from behind, walking away in your coat No face. Posture, coat and the way you walk tell the viewer enough.
Yourself holding the first drawing you remember making Redraw the old picture in a childish line and yourself in your line today.
Yourself in headphones, the music drawn round you Draw the sound as shapes or lines coming out of the headphones.
Yourself in the chair where you always sit Draw the chair first, sagging where you sit. Then fit yourself into it.
Yourself in the hat you always wear Draw the hat carefully and the face simply. The hat is the portrait.
Yourself with a cup of your usual drink Steam rising across your face. Keep the cup simple and the eyes sharp.
Yourself with your bike or skateboard Full figure plus the object. Measure how long the bike is against your height.
Yourself with your pet, both looking out Match the two gazes. The pet can be drawn a little bigger than life.

Portraits with an idea 15

Your face as a jigsaw with one piece missing Draw the face, then the puzzle lines over it. Choose which piece is gone.
Your face drawn with your other hand Use the hand you do not write with. Wobbly lines are the point.
Your face in one continuous line Do not lift the pencil. Start at an eye and let the line wander.
Your face made only of words you say a lot Write the words small and dense for the dark parts, big and loose for the light.
Your portrait on a postage stamp A small frame with a zigzag edge and a price in the corner.
Your silhouette filled with a place you love Draw your profile as an outline, then draw a beach or a street inside it.
Yourself as a book cover Title, your portrait and the kind of story your life would be.
Yourself as a house, your face in the window The house stands for your body. Draw the rooms you would keep lit.
Yourself as a map of the places you have lived Draw the outline of your head and fill it with streets, rivers and labels.
Yourself as a plant growing in a pot Keep one feature of your face on the plant, such as your hair as leaves.
Yourself as a shadow on a wall Use a lamp and trace your real shadow, then add one detail to it.
Yourself as today's weather Sunny, cloudy or stormy: draw the weather on your face or around your head.
Yourself as you might look at eighty Keep your features and add the changes: softer jaw, lines by the eyes, thinner lips.
Yourself at age five and now, side by side Work from a photo for the younger face. Keep the same pose in both.
Yourself split down the middle, morning and night One half bright and awake, the other tired under a lamp. Same face, two moods.

A different style 15

Yourself as a cartoon, three lines for a face Pick the three things people know you by and leave out the rest.
Yourself as a chibi figure Head as big as the body, stubby limbs, one item of clothing that is yours.
Yourself as a comic panel with a thought bubble One square panel, you in it and the bubble saying what you really think.
Yourself as a constellation Put a dot at each key point of your face and join them with thin lines.
Yourself as a figure in an old illuminated letter Draw a big capital letter of your name with you standing inside it.
Yourself as a four-colour print Four flat colours, strong outlines and dots for shading.
Yourself as a marble statue Blank eyes, smooth hair in chunky locks and a plinth with your name.
Yourself as a mosaic of small squares Draw a grid first, then fill each square one flat colour.
Yourself as a paper-cut silhouette A black profile on white paper. The shape of the nose and lips does all the work.
Yourself in an old rubber-hose cartoon style Bendy arms without elbows, round eyes and big white gloves.
Yourself in blocky shapes, front and side at once Show the nose in profile and both eyes from the front, in flat shapes.
Yourself in charcoal, big shapes only Smudge the dark areas first and lift the lights out. No fine detail.
Yourself in dots only Build the face from dots, packed tight in shadow and spread out in light.
Yourself in one colour and its tints Choose one colour and use it from very pale to very dark. Nothing else.
Yourself on a wanted poster Draw the poster, your face in the box and what you are wanted for.

How it works

These self portrait art ideas are 60 ways to draw yourself, in four kinds: mirrors and reflections, with your things, portraits with an idea, and a different style.

Read the full guide

A self-portrait does not need your face

Half of these ideas leave the face out or push it to the edge. Your shoes, your bag emptied out or your hands round a mug can say more than a careful likeness. With your things is the group for that, and most of it is easy.

Self portrait drawing ideas for a mirror

Mirrors and reflections is the classic sitting made stranger: a spoon, a kettle, a dark phone screen. Put one lamp to the side, keep your head still and look more than you draw. A curved surface stretches you, which frees you from getting the likeness exactly right.

Draw from a mirror, not a photo, for the first try: a photo flattens the face and hides the shadows.
Keep every self-portrait you make and date it. A year of them is its own portrait.

Questions and answers

What is the easiest self-portrait to start with?

Your shoes as a portrait of you, or Your face peeking over your sketchbook: both are easy and leave most of the face out. Easy, under More filters, holds 18 like them.

How do I make a self-portrait more interesting?

Give it an idea. Draw yourself as today's weather, as a map of the places you have lived, or split down the middle into morning and night. The Portraits with an idea group holds 15 of these.

Do I need to be good at faces?

No. Try Your face drawn with your other hand or Your face in one continuous line: wobbly lines are the point. The style group also has cartoon, silhouette and dot versions that need no likeness.