120 prompts

Sketchbook Prompts

Three prompts per press, each with how many pages it takes and where to start.

Sketchbook Prompts

All 120

Armour for a cat that hates baths1 page. It still has to fit round the tail and the ears.
An object that is older than youHalf a page. Look for where hands have worn it smooth or rubbed the paint away.
A night-shift worker who is a moth1 page. A uniform, a lunchbox and a lamp it cannot stop looking at.

Next step Lit set-ups to draw from life Wrong combinations to draw

All 120 prompts

Look closer 24

A corner nobody cleans Half a page. Dust, a lost coin, a spider's thread. Soft pencil for the grey.
A flower, drawn twice an hour apart 2 pages. Cut flowers open, droop or turn to the light. Put the two drawings side by side.
A label or packet, drawn with the writing left out 1 page. Keep the shapes of the letters as grey blocks. Now the design shows.
A plant seen from an ant's height at its base 1 page. Put your eye at the pot's rim. The stems become a forest.
A present, or anything tied with string Half a page. The string pulls the paper into folds. Draw where it digs in.
A shadow without the thing that casts it 1 page. Draw only the shadow shape on the floor or wall. Let the viewer guess what made it.
A stack of anything: books, plates, stones 1 page. Each thing in a pile sits a little crooked. Draw the tilt of each one.
A tool you have never used, from a shed or a drawer 1 page. Draw it before you look up what it does, then write your guess beside it.
An object that is older than you Half a page. Look for where hands have worn it smooth or rubbed the paint away.
The back of a picture frame 1 page. Tape, nails, a wire, a price in pencil. The side that faces the wall.
The biggest thing in view, drawn the size of a stamp Half a page. Keep only the outline and one detail. Shrinking forces you to choose.
Everything within arm's reach, without standing up 1 page. You may turn your head but not move. Your limits set the frame.
Rain on a window, and the blur behind it 1 page. Draw a few drops sharp and the whole view behind them soft.
The smallest thing in this room, drawn as big as the page 1 page. A button, a seed, a staple. Close up, every small thing has a surprising shape.
Something broken, before you fix it 1 page. Draw the crack or the missing part first and biggest. It is the reason for the drawing.
Something seen through a glass jar 1 page. The jar bends and shrinks what is behind it. Draw the bend, not what you know is there.
Something soft beside something hard 1 page. A cushion on a brick, a sock on a spoon. Soft edges get a lighter line.
Something white on something white 1 page. An egg on a plate, paper on a sheet. Only the shadows separate them, so draw those.
Steam from a kettle or a hot cup Half a page. Steam has no outline. Rub it in with a finger or leave it as paper.
The street seen through a net curtain 1 page. Draw the street faint first, then lay the curtain's pattern over it.
The tap you use every day 1 page. Metal shows the room in it. Draw the bright window shape on its curve.
Three things in the room that are the same colour Half a page. Draw them in a row with one pencil or pen of that colour.
The ugliest object in your home, drawn with care 1 page. Give it the time you would give something precious. Ugly things often have the best shapes.
The underside of a table 1 page. Lie on the floor. Screws, brackets and old chewing gum: the side nobody draws.

What if 26

A bridge built by ants between two mugs 1 page. Matchsticks, thread and crumbs. Draw the ants carrying the last piece.
A bus stop at the bottom of the sea 1 page. Who waits there, and what comes along instead of a bus?
A car a family of mice would build Half a page. Only things a mouse could find: cotton reels for wheels, a spoon seat.
A castle built from a stack of books 1 page. Spines become walls, an open book the roof. Letter a title on each floor.
A door in a tree trunk and the room behind it 2 pages. Outside on the left page, inside on the right. Roots come through the floor.
A garden grown on a moving bus 1 page. Tomatoes on the luggage rack, a tree through the sunroof.
A hotel for lost socks Half a page. Every room holds one sock. Draw the front desk and the lonely guests.
A house for a snail that has outgrown its shell 1 page. Keep the spiral somewhere in the design: a stair, a roof, a chimney.
A library for birds 1 page. Perches instead of chairs, nests between the shelves, a very quiet owl.
A lighthouse standing on the rim of a teacup 1 page. The tea is the sea. Draw a tiny boat and a biscuit for a rock.
A market on the rooftops that opens at night 2 pages. Lanterns on washing lines, stalls on chimneys, ladders between roofs.
A museum label for an ordinary object Half a page. Draw the object on a plinth and write its invented history under it.
A removal van for a hermit crab 1 page. It is moving to a bigger shell. What does it pack?
A town on the back of a sleeping whale 2 pages. Use the spread. The fin is a hill; the spout is the fountain in the square.
A town where every roof is a hat 1 page. A top hat for the bank, a woolly hat for the bakery, a cap for the school.
A train that runs through the inside of a tree 1 page. Cut the trunk open like a diagram and draw the track spiralling up.
A tree that grows something that is not fruit 1 page. Lamps, keys or teacups: work out how each one hangs from the branch.
A weather map for a planet with three suns 1 page. Invent the symbols, then draw the key in the corner.
An island in the shape of your hand 1 page. Trace your hand, then name the bays between the fingers and draw the towns.
An umbrella for a place where the rain falls upward Half a page. The handle is on top. Draw the drops rising from the ground.
The inside of a clock where tiny people work 1 page. Give each gear a job and a worker. The pendulum can be a swing.
The inside of a snow globe, from the point of view of someone in it 1 page. Draw the curved glass and the giant face looking in.
The window display of a doorknob shop 1 page. Hundreds of knobs in rows. Draw the owner polishing one.
Your breakfast as a landscape 1 page. Toast cliffs, a lake of milk, a cereal beach. Add a very small walker for scale.
Your room with one of the walls as the floor 1 page. Pick the wall, then let the bed, the rug and the books fall onto it.
Your street a hundred years after everyone left 1 page. Plants in the gutters, a sagging roof, one lamp post still standing.

Change one thing 22

A backpack with a room inside 1 page. Draw the backpack small on one side and the room it opens into.
A bench for exactly one person and one dog 1 page. Two seats of two sizes. Draw them both sitting on it.
A bicycle for two people facing each other 1 page. Where do the pedals go? Show how it steers.
A bin people would want to use 1 page. Make it fun to feed: a mouth, a hoop, a slide.
A chair for an octopus 1 page. Eight places to rest something, and nowhere to sit that is flat.
A clock that tells the time with plants 1 page. Twelve pots round a circle. Which flower is open at three o'clock?
A lamp shaped like the thing it lights 1 page. A reading lamp that is a book, a desk lamp that is a pencil.
A letterbox for giant letters Half a page. Draw a person beside it for scale.
A new flag for your street 1 page. Three colours at most and one symbol your neighbours would know.
A new shape for a door key Half a page. The teeth must stay. Everything else can change.
A pencil sharpener turned into a building 1 page. The blade is the door. The shaving drawer is the basement.
A phone made in 1850 1 page. Brass, wood and a crank handle. Draw it on a velvet stand.
A raincoat for a house Half a page. Hood over the roof, sleeves for the chimneys.
A shoe for walking on the ceiling 1 page. Suckers, magnets or tiny wings. Draw it on and upside down.
A soup spoon that will not spill on a train Half a page. Show how it stays level: a lid, a hinge, a deep bowl.
A toaster redesigned as an animal 1 page. The slots are its mouth. Decide what pops up when it is happy.
A treehouse with a lift 1 page. Rope, a bucket, a pulley. Show how it goes up and down.
A trophy for the most ordinary thing you did today Half a page. Draw the cup and letter the award on its base.
Armour for a cat that hates baths 1 page. It still has to fit round the tail and the ears.
Glasses for an animal with eyes on the sides of its head 1 page. A horse or a fish. Work out where the frame goes over the nose.
Your mug, if it had to walk to the sink by itself 1 page. Keep the real mug's shape and pattern. Add legs that suit its weight.
Your school or work bag as a tiny house 1 page. Pockets become rooms. Draw the zip as the front door.

A moment in a story 24

A balloon getting away above the rooftops Half a page. Small balloon, big sky, a hand reaching up from the bottom edge.
A cake that sank in the oven Half a page. The dip in the middle, the oven glove, the face at the door.
A cat staring at a closed door 1 page. Draw it from behind. The ears and tail say everything.
A chess game halfway through, from above 1 page. Squares are a grid to hang the pieces on. Leave one piece knocked over.
A dropped ice cream, one second later Half a page. The cone upright, the scoop on the floor, one drip.
A kite caught in a tree and the person looking up at it 1 page. Draw the string running from the branch to the empty hand.
A letter arriving through a letterbox, seen from inside 1 page. Low view from the hall floor. The dog is already there.
A lost toy found years later in a garden 1 page. Moss and roots grown round it. Draw the hand brushing off the soil.
A note on a door and the person reading it 1 page. Keep the note's words for the reader to imagine.
A photo being taken, drawn from behind the camera 1 page. The camera's back and the people posing beyond it, one pulling a face.
A picnic just as the rain starts 1 page. The first big drops on the blanket and everyone grabbing something.
A queue for something you cannot see 1 page. Draw the queue bending round a corner. The reader never finds out what for.
A shop window with one thing missing 1 page. Draw the empty stand and the price tag still on it.
A single glove left on a fence post Half a page. Someone put it there so its owner would find it.
A small boat coming alongside a huge ship 1 page. The scale is the story. Draw the ship running off the page.
A snowman in a heatwave 1 page. A carrot sliding, a hat tipping, a puddle round the base.
A tent at night with a torch on inside 1 page. The shadows on the canvas show what the campers are doing.
Footprints in snow that stop in the middle of a field 1 page. No person, only the tracks. Draw the snow as paper and the prints in grey.
The morning after a party, before anyone wakes 2 pages. Paper hats, a half-eaten cake, one balloon on the ceiling.
The second before someone opens a strange parcel 1 page. Hands on the tape, the box moving by itself. Stop before it opens.
Someone asleep on a train who has missed their stop 1 page. The station sign sliding past the window behind them.
Someone reading a letter that makes them laugh 1 page. The letter can be blank. Put the laugh in the shoulders.
Two dogs meeting on their walks 1 page. Tails up, leads tangled, owners pretending not to notice.
Two hands reaching for one biscuit Half a page. Only the tin and the hands. Who gets there first?

Characters 24

A baker who works all night 1 page. Flour on everything, one lamp, the first loaves on the rack.
A bus driver on a tea break at the depot 1 page. The empty bus behind them, lights on, a flask of tea.
A chef who is too small for the kitchen 1 page. A ladder to the stove, a spoon taller than they are.
A child in a costume three sizes too big Half a page. Sleeves past the hands, a hat over the eyes.
A detective who is a dog 1 page. Hat, coat, a magnifying glass held in a paw, nose to the ground.
A dragon with a cold 1 page. Smoke sneezes, a blanket, a mug of something hot held in two claws.
A gardener whose hair is her garden 1 page. Flowers, a watering can balanced on top, a bee or two.
A ghost who needs glasses 1 page. It keeps floating through the wrong wall. Draw it squinting at a door.
A giant who lives in a small flat 1 page. Knees at the ceiling, a teacup like a thimble in their hand.
A grandmother who is also a knight 1 page. Cardigan over chain mail, knitting needles as a sword.
A knight in armour made of kitchen things 1 page. Colander helmet, baking-tray shield, oven-glove gauntlets.
A librarian who shushes with their whole face Half a page. Exaggerate the eyebrows, the finger and the pursed mouth.
A lifeguard at a pool for fish Half a page. High chair, whistle, a rubber ring nobody needs.
A musician who plays the rain 1 page. Pots and pans set out under a leaking roof as a drum kit.
A night-shift worker who is a moth 1 page. A uniform, a lunchbox and a lamp it cannot stop looking at.
A pirate who is afraid of water Half a page. Life ring, armbands and a sword. Draw the shaking knees.
A postman who delivers by kite 1 page. Letters hanging from the tail, a sack on the back, windy hair.
A retired superhero doing the weekly shop 1 page. The cape tucked into a coat, the trolley, one very heavy bag.
A robot learning to knit 1 page. Wool tangled round its arms and one very long scarf.
A shopkeeper who sells jars of weather 1 page. A shelf of labelled jars: fog, drizzle, first snow, a thunderstorm.
A witch who runs a café 1 page. Cauldron coffee, a broom by the door, a cat on the counter.
An astronaut on a day off 1 page. Suit on the chair, helmet as a plant pot, feet up.
The cat of a lighthouse keeper 1 page. Draw it on the lamp gallery, fur blown flat by the wind.
The person who mends clouds 1 page. Give them tools: a ladder, a needle, a bag of fluff.

How it works

Sketchbook prompts, not page layouts: the tap you use every day, a toaster redesigned as an animal, a pirate who is afraid of water. Each says how many pages it takes. Choose a group, or Quick for half a page.

Read the full guide

What to sketch in a sketchbook when nothing comes

Start with Look closer. Its 24 prompts send you to something already in the room, with a twist: the underside of a table, something white on something white, a shadow without the thing that casts it. Nothing to invent, only to notice.

A sketchbook prompt with a story in it

What if and A moment in a story hold 50 between them. Draw the second before something happens: hands on a strange parcel's tape, a balloon just out of reach. Leave the ending to whoever turns the page.

Write the prompt small along the bottom edge of the page. A year later you will know what each page was for.
Stuck on a character? Draw the prop first, such as the colander helmet or the kite. The figure builds round it.

Questions and answers

What should I draw in my sketchbook if I only have a few minutes?

Choose Quick. Its 24 prompts fill half a page, such as a dropped ice cream one second later, or a trophy for the most ordinary thing you did today. One a day fills the book without a plan.

How are these different from sketchbook ideas?

Sketchbook ideas are page layouts and habits: a contents page, a weather strip, nine boxes in a grid. These prompts hand you a subject with a twist, so they fit any layout you have ruled.

Which prompts help with drawing people and characters?

Characters holds 24 people and creatures, each with a job and a problem: a detective who is a dog, a robot learning to knit, a giant in a small flat. For what to draw in your sketchbook to practise faces and poses, start there.