240 ideas

Things to Draw When Bored

Deal one idea you can start with the pen already in your hand, and see how many minutes it should take.

All 240

A rabbit peeking over the bottom edge of the page2 min. Two tall ears, the top of a head and two eyes. The page edge hides everything difficult.

Next step More quick subjects, built shape by shape

All 240 ideas

5 minutes 107

A 3D box around the date 2 min. Draw a rectangle round it, pull a short diagonal from three corners, then join the ends.
A ball bouncing across the page with its path dotted 2 min. Squash it where it lands and stretch it as it rises. Animators call this squash and stretch.
A bat hanging upside down in a blanket 5 min. Draw it the right way up as a wrapped bundle with ears, then turn the page over.
A border of repeating shapes down the margin 5 min. Pick two shapes and alternate them. The ruled lines keep your spacing even.
A brick wall growing between two ruled lines 5 min. Offset each row by half a brick. Leave three bricks missing and the wall looks old.
A bumblebee slightly too round to fly 2 min. Nearly a circle, with two bands, a dot eye and wings the size of its feet. Dot a loop for its flight.
A cactus holding a balloon very carefully 5 min. A tall rounded column with two arms that bend up. Short dashes for spines, a circle on a string above.

Show all 240 ideas (233 more)

5 minutes, continued

A cactus, a jar and a mug as solid silhouettes 5 min. Fill them in completely. If you can still tell which is which, the outline is doing its job.
A candle and its glow 5 min. The flame is a teardrop with a darker core. Shade the page round it and leave a halo of bare paper.
A caterpillar of overlapping circles along the bottom edge 2 min. Let the row of circles rise in the middle like a hill. The face goes on the last circle only.
A chain of paper clips linked along the top of the page 5 min. Each clip is three nested U shapes. Where two clips link, one wire passes over the other.
A checkerboard that fades out as it crosses the page 5 min. Fill every other square solid at one side, then hatch them, then dot them, then leave them empty.
A chess piece from memory 5 min. Start with a pawn: a ball on a collar on a cone on a base. The knight is the hard one.
A city skyline standing on one ruled line 5 min. Rectangles of different heights and widths. A few lit windows and one aerial finish it.
A cloud watering its own small garden 5 min. Overlapping circles on a flat base, a few slanted drops, and three flowers directly underneath.
A comic sound-effect word inside a spiky burst 5 min. Letter the word first, big and slanted, then draw the burst round it so it never crowds the letters.
A drop of water sitting on a table 5 min. A dome with a bright spot on the lit side, and a soft glow inside it on the opposite side.
A duck in wellington boots 5 min. An oval body, a circle head and a flat bill. The boots are two L shapes wider than the legs.
A face made from exactly three shapes 2 min. A circle, a triangle and a rectangle, any sizes. Overlapping is allowed and usually helps.
A feather drifting down to the bottom of the page 5 min. One curved spine, then strokes flicking outwards and back. Leave two or three splits in the vane.
A fish made of one loop 2 min. One line that crosses itself once makes both the body and the tail. Add an eye and stop.
A flag in a strong wind 5 min. Draw the wavy top edge, copy it lower down, and join the ends. Any stripes follow the same wave.
A frog in a tiny rain hat 5 min. A wide bean body with two bumps on top for eyes. Keep the mouth one long, flat line.
A ghost holding a balloon 5 min. An upside-down U with a wavy hem and two oval eyes. The balloon string gives the hand a job.
A hamster with both cheeks full 5 min. Start with a circle, then add a bulge each side until it is wider than it is tall. Tiny paws in front.
A heading in block letters with a drop shadow 5 min. Thicken only the right and bottom edge of each letter. Keep the shadow on the same side throughout.
A house drawn with your other hand 2 min. A square, a triangle, a door. The wobble gives it more charm than your good hand would.
A key for a door that does not exist 5 min. A ring, a long shaft and teeth at the end. The shape of the ring should hint at what the door guards.
A keyhole with something on the other side 5 min. A circle sitting on a narrow triangle. Whatever shows through it has to be drawn very small.
A ladder up the margin with someone very small on it 5 min. Two long rails and evenly spaced rungs. Drawing the climber tiny makes the ladder look enormous.
A leaf with every vein 5 min. One centre vein, then side veins leaving it in pairs at the same angle, like a herringbone.
A light switch or a plug socket 5 min. A rectangle inside a rectangle. A thin shadow along the bottom and one side lifts it off the wall.
A loaf-shaped cat with its eyes shut 5 min. A rounded rectangle with two triangle ears. Having no legs at all is what makes it a loaf.
A mole popping up with a flower it has found 5 min. A mound of earth, a pointed head, two big paws. Moles have tiny eyes, so use dots or leave them out.
A mountain range with the sun coming up behind it 2 min. Overlapping zigzags, a half circle and straight rays. Snow caps are a wobbly line below each peak.
A mug of cocoa with a sleepy face 5 min. Put the eyes low on the mug and far apart. Low, wide-set eyes do most of the work of cute.
A page of parallel lines with no ruler 2 min. Look at where the line is going, not at the pen tip. Pull the pen towards you, never push it.
A pair of wings 5 min. A curved arm shape along the top, then three rows of feathers: short, medium and long.
A paper aeroplane in flight 2 min. A long thin triangle with a fold line down the middle and one wing tipped up. Dashes show its path.
A pigeon wearing a backpack 5 min. A plump teardrop body with a small head and a straight beak. The straps cross over the chest.
A puddle with something reflected in it 5 min. Draw the object, then the same shape upside down beneath it, broken up by a few ripple lines.
A punched hole turned into a porthole, a doughnut or a moon 5 min. Let the hole do the work: rivets for a porthole, icing drips for a doughnut, craters for a moon.
A rabbit peeking over the bottom edge of the page 2 min. Two tall ears, the top of a head and two eyes. The page edge hides everything difficult.
A ribbon banner wrapped round a heading 5 min. One long rectangle, a small triangle folded behind each end, and a V cut into both tails.
A ribbon curling across the page 5 min. Draw one wavy line, copy it a little lower, then join the two wherever the ribbon turns over.
A roll of tape 5 min. Two ovals, one inside the other, joined by straight sides. The loose end sticks out like a small flag.
A rope or plait running down the margin 5 min. Stack short S curves down a centre line for rope. A plait is the same idea with three strands.
A row of chicks in order of height 5 min. Each chick is one circle with a triangle beak and two stick legs. The smallest looks the other way.
A row of five hats with nobody under them 5 min. Top hat, beanie, cowboy, crown, chef. Each one is a simple solid sitting on an oval brim or band.
A row of light bulbs with one of them lit 5 min. A circle melting into a short neck, then a screw cap of stacked lines. Short rays mark the lit one.
A row of speech bubbles in different moods 5 min. Spiky for shouting, cloud for thinking, dashed for whispering, wobbly for nervous.
A row of ten different mouths 5 min. Open, shut, shouting, smirking, toothy, whistling. The corners of the mouth carry most of the mood.
A row of tiny cubes, all lit from the same side 5 min. Each cube is a Y inside a hexagon. Shade the same face on every cube and the row looks solid.
A scribble turned into an animal 5 min. Scribble for three seconds with your eyes shut, then turn the page until a loop suggests a beak or a tail.
A sheep that is mostly cloud 5 min. Scribble the wool as one loopy outline, then add a small dark face and four short sticks.
A shelf of tiny plants, each in a different pot 5 min. Vary two things at once, the pot shape and the leaf shape. Six pots is a full shelf.
A slice of pizza, a slice of cake and a slice of melon 5 min. Three wedges, three textures: bubbly, layered, seeded. Same shape, different surface.
A sloth asleep, hanging from the top margin 5 min. Let the top line of the page be the branch. Two long arms reach up and the body hangs like a sack.
A smiling planet with a ring of tiny moons 5 min. A circle, a tilted oval ring that passes behind it, and moons threaded along the ring like beads.
A snowflake with six arms 5 min. Six arms, always. Draw one arm with its side branches, then repeat it five times round the centre.
A spider web in a corner 5 min. Spokes first, all from one point. Then sagging curves between the spokes, never straight lines.
A spiral that fills one graph-paper square, then the next 5 min. Square spirals are easier than round ones. Turn the corner one step earlier each time.
A stack of pancakes wearing a pat of butter as a hat 5 min. Flat ovals piled slightly off-centre, syrup dripping down one side. The face goes on the middle one.
A staircase climbing one ruled line at a time 5 min. One step up per line, one square along. Add a tiny figure halfway up for scale.
A stick figure playing five different sports 5 min. Draw the spine line first and bend it. A stick figure with a curved back already looks like it is moving.
A strawberry with freckle seeds and a face 2 min. A rounded heart shape with a leafy collar. Keep the seeds off the face area.
A tiny island with one palm tree 2 min. A low mound, a curved trunk and five drooping fronds. Two short lines of water each side.
A tornado made of one spiralling line 2 min. Wide loops at the top, tightening to a point at the ground. Add a few flying specks of debris.
A tunnel of squares shrinking to the centre of the page 5 min. A small square mid-page, a big one at the edge, corners joined. Add more squares in between.
A value scale from white to black in five boxes 5 min. Press harder for each box, or hatch one more layer. Five clean, even steps is the whole goal.
A vine climbing the margin, one leaf per line 5 min. Draw the wavy stem first from bottom to top, then add a leaf wherever it crosses a ruled line.
A vocabulary word with a doodle that explains it 5 min. Draw the meaning into the letters: tall letters for 'tall', melting ones for 'thaw'.
An animal drawn in one continuous line 5 min. Start at the nose and finish at the tail. To reach a leg, run along the belly line and come back.
An egg, shaded so it looks round 5 min. Leave the top left as bare paper. The darkest band sits just inside the far edge, not on it.
An open book with its pages lifting 5 min. Two leaning rectangles meeting in a valley. The page edges curve like a shallow letter M; let two lift.
An umbrella, open and then closed 5 min. Open: a dome with a scalloped hem and ribs to the tip. Closed: a long thin cone with a strap.
Bubbles, overlapping 2 min. Circles with a small curved window of highlight near the top. Where two overlap, draw both outlines.
The clock on the wall, showing the real time 5 min. Mark 12, 3, 6 and 9 first and the other numbers space themselves.
The corner where two walls meet the ceiling 5 min. Three lines meeting in a Y. It is about the simplest perspective drawing there is.
Everything on the desk in one continuous line 5 min. Do not lift the pen. Travel from object to object along the desk edge or a shadow.
Finish my doodle upside down 5 min. Draw a simple shape, hand it over upside down, and your friend has to finish it that way up.
Finish the other half 5 min. Draw half of something symmetrical, a butterfly, a vase, a face, and pass it over to be completed.
Five styles of arrow: curly, blocky, dotted, bent and 3D 5 min. Arrows are the most useful thing a note-taker can draw. Practise the heads: open, filled, barbed.
Forked lightning over a flat sea 5 min. Lightning is a jagged line that splits into thinner branches. Keep the horizon low and the cloud heavy.
Mountains stacked up the ruled lines like layers of distance 5 min. Far ranges are small, pale and high up the page. Near ranges are big, dark and low.
The nearest door handle 5 min. A plate fixed to the door, a short neck, then the lever. Shade under the lever and it stands out.
Noughts and crosses with tiny drawings 5 min. Tic-tac-toe rules, but each pick a small drawing as your mark: a fish against a star, say.
One feeling, two faces 5 min. One names a feeling. Both draw it on a plain circle using only eyebrows and a mouth, then compare.
The pen in your hand, drawn with itself 5 min. A long thin barrel, a cone for the tip and a clip near the top. Look hard, then draw it from memory.
The phases of the moon in a row of eight 5 min. New, crescent, half, gibbous, full, then the same in reverse with the shadow on the other side.
Portraits without looking at the paper 5 min. Blind contour: eyes on your friend's face, pen never lifts, no peeking. Both will be terrible. Good.
Raindrops running down the page into a puddle 5 min. Vary the drop sizes. The puddle is a flat oval with two or three rings inside it.
The ring-binder holes turned into a row of planets 5 min. Give one a ring, one some craters and one a stripe of storms. Add dots of stars in between.
The same cube from three angles 5 min. From above you see the top, from below the base, and straight on just a square. Draw all three.
Same idea, two minutes, reveal together 2 min. Agree on one subject, draw it without looking at each other's page, and turn both over on three.
Six moods using eyebrows alone 5 min. Draw six identical faces with dot eyes and no mouth. Only the eyebrow angle changes.
Squiggle swap 5 min. Each draw one random squiggle, swap papers, and turn the other person's squiggle into something.
Ten dots 5 min. Your friend scatters ten dots. You must use every one as an eye, a button, a star or a nostril.
Ten trees, each the size of a thumbnail 5 min. Change one thing each time: lollipop, triangle, cloud, weeping, bare, palm, leaning, split.
The title of your notes in bubble letters 5 min. Build each letter from fat sausage shapes, one per stroke. Where two overlap, the front one hides the back.
Today's lesson as three tiny icons 5 min. A sketchnote habit: one icon for each idea and an arrow between them. A flask, a flame, a cloud.
Twenty circles, as round as you can get them 2 min. Move from the shoulder, not the wrist, and go round each one twice. Hover over the paper first.
Two odd socks who have found each other 5 min. Different patterns, same shape. Bend the toes towards each other and they look pleased about it.
Two peas in a pod, one of them asleep 5 min. A long curved pod split open along the top, and circles inside that touch their neighbours.
Waves along a ruled line, with one small boat 5 min. Repeat one curl shape all the way across. The boat is a half circle and a triangle.
Wrong-hand race 5 min. Both draw the same thing with the hand you do not write with. The wobbly lines often have more life.
Your initials with each letter built from an object 5 min. An S can be a snake, an O a doughnut, a T a hammer. Keep the letter readable before the object.

In class 11

A bookmark design in a strip 2 cm wide 10 min. Tall, thin subjects suit the strip: a giraffe, a lighthouse, a beanstalk, a rocket with its trail.
A coat of arms for the subject you are sitting in 10 min. Split a shield in four. Maths might get a compass, music a note, science a flask.
A flip-book figure in the bottom corner of ten pages 15 min. Change each drawing only slightly from the one before. A bouncing ball is the classic first flip book.
A labelled diagram of something from the lesson 10 min. A labelled drawing counts as notes. Cells, volcanoes, circuits and river maps all work.
A maze that fits in a 3 cm square 10 min. Draw the two walls of the winning corridor first, entrance to exit. Then branch dead ends off both sides.
A square split in four with a different pattern in each part 10 min. Try stripes, dots, scales and a checkerboard. Dense next to sparse makes the tile look designed.
A timeline with a small drawing at each date 10 min. One horizontal line, a tick for each date, and a drawing no bigger than a thumbnail above each tick.
A treasure map small enough for a sticky note 10 min. A coastline, a dotted route, one landmark and an X. Tear the edges afterwards to age it.
A very small animal hiding in each corner of the page 10 min. Show only a part: two ears, a tail, a pair of eyes over the edge. Hidden animals need less drawing.
Everything on your desk as a row of tiny icons 10 min. Shrink each object to its simplest outline, all the same height, like buttons on a toolbar.
Your morning as a three-panel comic, thumbnail size 10 min. Stick figures are fine. Panel one sets it up, two goes wrong, three is the face you made.

Look around you 34

A backpack slumped on the floor 15 min. A soft sack has no straight lines. Draw the sagging outline first, then straps, zips and pockets.
A chair seen from floor level 20 min. From down there the four legs never look the same length. Draw what you see, not what you know.
A coin, drawn five times bigger than life 10 min. Draw the circle, then a second circle just inside it for the rim. The lettering follows the curve.
A crumpled ball of paper 15 min. Sacrifice one sheet. Outline first, then the main folds, then shade every plane facing away from the light.
A fork, a spoon and the shadows they cast 10 min. A shadow touches the object where the object touches the table, and drifts away where the handle lifts.
A glass of water with a straw or a pen in it 10 min. The straw seems to break at the water line. Draw the two halves slightly out of line.
A lamp and the pool of light under it 15 min. Shade everything except the pool of light. The paper you leave white does the glowing for you.
A pair of glasses lying folded 10 min. Two lens shapes and a bridge. The folded arms cross behind them, one passing in front of the other.
A pair of scissors, open 10 min. Two long triangles crossing at a pivot dot, with two ovals for the handles.
A pot of pens, pencils and one ruler 10 min. Draw the pot as a cylinder. Everything in it leans outwards, and no two things lean the same way.
A radiator, a vent or a ceiling tile pattern 10 min. Dull subjects are good practice for even spacing. Rule nothing. Judge every gap by eye.
A stack of books with the spines facing you 10 min. Rectangles of different widths, none quite lined up. A tilt on the top book makes the stack look real.
A switched-off screen and the room reflected in it 10 min. Keep the reflection faint and simple: one bright window shape and one dark figure are enough.
A tap with one drip about to fall 10 min. The drip hangs as a teardrop with a bright spot near the top. Leave a gap of air beneath it.
A window and everything you can see through it 20 min. Draw the frame first as a grid. Then treat each pane as its own small picture.
A zip, half open 10 min. Two rows of tiny teeth that meet in a Y at the slider. Draw the teeth as small rectangles, not lines.
The inside of your bag 15 min. Draw the opening as a wide oval and let things poke out of it. You only need the top third of each one.
The knot in a shoelace or a drawstring 10 min. Follow one lace at a time, over then under. Where it passes under, stop the line and restart beyond.
The nearest plant, even if it is a weed 15 min. Draw one leaf properly, then repeat it at other angles. A leaf pointing at you looks short and wide.
The pattern on your socks, jumper or curtains 10 min. Find the unit that repeats and draw it once. Then tile it in rows until a patch of the page is full.
Tangled earphones or a charging cable 15 min. Draw the cable as one line that crosses itself. At each crossing, break the line that goes underneath.
The underside of your other shoe 15 min. The tread pattern is the drawing. Map the big zones first, heel, arch and ball, then fill each one.
The view from exactly where you are sitting 20 min. Biggest shape first, usually a window, a door or a desk edge. Small details go in last, if at all.
Your hand making a fist 15 min. A fist is a box with four rounded steps along the top. The thumb wraps across the front.
Your keys in a heap 10 min. Overlap them. The key in front is drawn whole and every key behind it loses a piece.
Your lunch, before you eat it 10 min. Draw the container as a simple box or circle, then the food as overlapping shapes inside it.
Your non-drawing hand, held flat 10 min. Draw the palm as a rough square first, then hang the fingers off it. Each finger has three sections.
Your own eye, from memory 10 min. The top lid hides a slice of the iris. Showing the whole circle makes the eye look startled.
Your own foot, propped up in front of you 20 min. Seen end-on, the foot is mostly sole and toes. The big toe is a rounded box; the rest tuck in behind.
Your own shoe, laces and all 15 min. Start with the sole as one long bean shape, then stack the rest of the shoe on top of it.
Your pencil case and whatever is spilling out of it 15 min. Draw the case as one simple shape, then let three or four things overlap its open edge.
Your sleeve, folds and all 15 min. Folds fan out from the elbow. Draw the five biggest ones and leave the rest out.
Your thumb, close up, with every crease 10 min. The nail takes up less of the thumb than you expect. The knuckle creases are curved, never straight.
Your water bottle, including what is left in it 10 min. A tall cylinder. The water line is a flat oval seen from the side, never a straight line.

Cute 19

A baby dragon hatching, with the eggshell as a hat 10 min. Big head, small body. A cracked shell cap, two nostril dots and wings no bigger than its ears.
A bear asleep on a crescent moon 10 min. Draw the crescent first. The bear is a bean draped over it, with closed eyes as two small curves.
A bowl of noodle soup with a tiny swimmer doing lengths 15 min. A wide bowl, wavy noodles, half an egg as an island. The swimmer is just a head and one arm.
A capybara in a bath with an orange on its head 10 min. A loaf-shaped body, a blunt square muzzle, small ears set far back. Calm, half-shut eyes matter most.
A family of dumplings in a steamer basket 10 min. Each dumpling is a dome with a pinched pleat on top. Give them different faces, one of them asleep.
A fox using a big leaf as an umbrella 10 min. A triangle face with a white muzzle. The leaf stem is the handle, and the rain bends round the leaf.
A hedgehog carrying an apple on its spines 10 min. A teardrop lying on its side with the point as the nose. Spines are short strokes that all lean back.
A kitten tangled in a ball of wool 10 min. Draw the kitten first, then wind one long line round a leg, over the back and away to the ball.
A mouse having a bath in a teacup 10 min. Draw the cup first, then only the head, ears and one arm above the rim. Bubbles hide the rest.
A mushroom cottage with a crooked chimney 10 min. A dome on a fat stem. Put a round door off-centre and push the chimney out through the cap.
A penguin in a scarf that is much too long 10 min. A tall egg with a white bib. Let the scarf trail off the page and nobody has to draw the end.
A seal balancing a ball, or a ball balancing a seal 10 min. A seal is one smooth banana curve with flippers. Whiskers and a dot nose are all the face it needs.
A slice of toast tucked up in bed 10 min. A rounded square with a crust line. The blanket is one curve across its middle, folded at the top.
A snail whose shell is a house with a chimney 10 min. Draw the spiral first, then add a door, one window and smoke. The body slides in underneath.
A turtle with a garden growing on its shell 15 min. Draw the shell as a dome, then plant it: a small tree, a fence, a washing line between two poles.
A whale with a tiny boat balanced on its spout 10 min. One long teardrop on its side with the eye set low. The boat is smaller than the whale's eye.
An octopus holding eight different ice creams 15 min. A balloon head and eight curling arms. Draw the ice creams first so every arm has somewhere to go.
An open jar with fireflies drifting out of it 10 min. Each firefly is a dot inside a small ring of glow. Space them wider the further they drift.
An otter floating on its back, holding a pebble 10 min. A long oval, a round head at one end, paws folded on the chest. The water line crosses its sides.

Cool 48

A bicycle from memory 10 min. Harder than it sounds. Where does the chain go, and what holds the front wheel? Check a real one after.
A board game track that winds all over the page 20 min. Draw the snaking path first, chop it into squares, then add three shortcuts and three traps.
A car designed for an animal to drive 15 min. Choose the driver first. A giraffe needs a sunroof, an octopus needs eight pedals.
A castle on the back of a giant tortoise 20 min. Draw the tortoise shell as a hill, then build on it. Tilt the towers slightly, as if it is mid-step.
A control panel with far too many buttons 10 min. Dials, sliders, switches, one big covered button. Label a few of them with very specific jobs.
A cutaway of an ant nest, a rabbit warren or a secret base 20 min. Slice the ground like a cake and draw the rooms from the side, joined by tunnels. Label them.
A deep-sea fish with its own lantern 10 min. A big head, a bigger mouth and a stalk with a glowing bulb. Shade the page dark except round the bulb.
A dinosaur skeleton in a museum hall 20 min. A long spine curve first, then ribs as hoops, then the skull. Tiny visitors underneath give the size.
A dragon coiled round a lighthouse 20 min. Draw the tower first. Wrap one long S-shaped body round it, hiding the parts that pass behind.
A flag, a crest and a road sign for a country you invent 20 min. Pick one animal, one plant and two shapes, and reuse them on all three. Repetition looks official.
A flying machine with wings that flap 15 min. Bat-style wings on a frame, a seat, pedals and a lot of pulleys. Show the rider pedalling hard.
A hot-air balloon shaped like a shark 10 min. A fat shark outline, nose up, with ropes from the belly down to a small basket.
A jetpack with sensible safety features 10 min. Two cylinders on a harness. Then the extras: seat belt, wing mirrors, a bell, a very small parachute.
A kraken politely holding a ship out of the water 20 min. A dome head at the waterline, arms rising in S curves, and the ship held level so nothing spills.
A machine that does a very small job in a very complicated way 20 min. A chain reaction: ball rolls, lever tips, string pulls. Draw the last step first and work backwards.
A map of an island that does not exist 20 min. Wobbly coastline first. Add one mountain range and one river running to the sea, then name everything.
A maze in the shape of your initial 20 min. Outline the letter big. Draw both walls of the true corridor first, then branch dead ends off them.
A mech suit piloted by a hamster 15 min. Huge boxy limbs, a tiny glass cockpit in the chest. The smaller the pilot, the better the joke.
A Möbius strip 10 min. A loop of ribbon with one half-twist, so it has only one side. Shade it to show where the band turns.
A monster truck with wheels taller than its cab 10 min. Two huge circles first, then hang the small body between and above them. Chunky blocks for tread.
A Penrose triangle 10 min. An impossible triangle of three square bars. Every corner looks right and the whole cannot be built.
A phoenix rising out of a toaster 15 min. Wings up in a V, tail feathers trailing down into the slot. Flame shapes are just wobbly teardrops.
A pirate ship sailing in a bathtub 15 min. A curved hull, two masts, square sails. The taps and a rubber duck as big as the ship set the scale.
A planet cut in half to show what is inside 10 min. A circle with a wedge removed, and rings of layers inside. What sits at the core is up to you.
A racing car seen from directly above 10 min. A long dart shape with four fat rectangles for tyres and a small circle for the driver's helmet.
A road in one-point perspective, vanishing at a dot 10 min. Put a dot on the horizon. Every edge that runs away from you aims at that dot.
A robot built from kitchen equipment 15 min. A toaster chest, whisk hands, a colander helmet. Join the parts with bendy tubes and bolts.
A rocket made from things in the recycling bin 15 min. A bottle body, tin-can engines, cardboard fins. Visible tape and string make it funnier and easier.
A skateboard deck design 15 min. A long rectangle with rounded ends. Tall, thin subjects fit it best, or one pattern run edge to edge.
A snake threaded through the letters of a word 15 min. Write the word in big hollow letters first. The snake goes over one stroke and under the next.
A space station made of spheres and tubes 15 min. Join a few balls with cylinders, add solar panels as long grids, and one tiny astronaut for scale.
A sphere, a cube, a cone and a cylinder lit from the top left 10 min. Every shadow falls down and to the right. The sphere gets a crescent of shade, the cube a dark side.
A submarine shaped like a fish 15 min. A fat fish outline with a row of portholes, a periscope for a dorsal fin and a propeller for a tail.
A suit of armour made for a dog 10 min. A helmet with ear holes, plates along the back like a woodlouse, and a plume that wags.
A superhero whose power is extremely minor 15 min. Design the costume round the power. The chest emblem should explain it without any words.
A tower with a different style of building on every floor 20 min. Stack five boxes: a castle, a greenhouse, a log cabin, a lighthouse lamp room and a tent on top.
A train crossing a bridge made of something odd 15 min. Playing cards, dinosaur bones, giant pencils. Draw the arches first, then the train as linked boxes.
A treehouse with at least five ways in 20 min. Rope ladder, slide, pole, basket lift, trapdoor. Draw the trunk and the platform before any of them.
A vending machine that sells something impossible 15 min. A tall box, a grid of windows, a coin slot. Then decide what it sells: weather, spare time, tiny planets.
A whole city inside a bottle 20 min. Draw the bottle first and keep the tallest tower below the neck. Buildings curve with the glass.
A wolf howling in front of a huge moon 10 min. Draw the moon first and let the wolf overlap it. Fill the wolf in solid. A silhouette needs no detail.
An alien's school photo 10 min. Head and shoulders, neat collar, awkward smile. Then count the eyes you gave it and comb its antennae.
An impossible fork: three prongs at one end, two at the other 10 min. Three round prongs on the left become two square bars on the right. The trick is in the middle lines.
Looking straight down a spiral stairwell 15 min. Draw a circle, mark the centre, then fan wedges round it like slices, each a little darker.
One robot head showing five emotions 15 min. Keep the head identical each time. Only the eye shapes, the mouth grille and the antenna may change.
Six dice with made-up symbols instead of spots 10 min. A cube is a Y inside a hexagon. Draw one good cube, then repeat it at different tilts.
Your hand as a creature 10 min. Trace round your hand, then turn the page. Fingers become legs, tentacles, antlers or a crest.
Your name in 3D block letters 10 min. Draw the letters flat, pull a short diagonal back from every corner, then join the ends.

With a friend 21

Alphabet animal relay 15 min. Take turns through the alphabet: anteater, bat, crab. Thirty seconds an animal, and no skipping Q.
Back-to-back describing 10 min. Sit back to back. One describes a made-up creature, the other draws it. Compare, then swap roles.
Build a town together 20 min. Start with one road across the page. Take turns adding one building, bridge or park until it is full.
Build an alien, one body part per turn 10 min. Take turns adding a single part to a shared alien until somebody runs out of room.
Caption swap 10 min. Each draw a scene with no words. Swap, and write the caption or speech bubbles for the other's drawing.
Comic jam 20 min. Take turns drawing one panel each of the same comic strip. No planning the ending in advance.
Creature, job, place 10 min. Each write a creature, a job and a place on scraps. Shuffle, deal one of each, and draw the result.
Design each other's dream sandwich 10 min. Interview first, three questions only. Then draw the sandwich in cross-section with every layer labelled.
Draw a pet you have never met 10 min. Your friend describes a pet from memory and you draw it. They mark the likeness out of ten.
Draw it, guess it, no letters or numbers 10 min. One draws a word the other cannot see. One minute to guess. Arrows are allowed, writing is not.
Fold-over monster 10 min. Fold a strip in three. One of you draws a head and folds it under, the next a body, the next the legs.
Guess the object from shapes only 10 min. Describe an object as shapes: a rectangle, two circles under it. Your friend draws, then guesses.
Half a face each 10 min. Fold a page down the middle. Each draw half a face on your own side, using the fold as the nose line.
Map relay 15 min. One draws a coastline, the other adds mountains. Swap again for rivers, towns and names.
Mirror drawing 10 min. Fold a page. One draws slowly on the left while the other copies it mirrored on the right, line by line.
Monster by numbers 10 min. Your friend picks a number from 1 to 6 for eyes, arms, legs and horns. You draw whatever you are dealt.
One line each 10 min. Take turns adding a single line to the same drawing. Nobody is allowed to say what they think it is.
Shadow tracing 10 min. One holds an object in lamp light or sunlight, the other traces its shadow and turns it into something.
Swap every minute 10 min. Both start a drawing. Every 60 seconds swap papers and carry on with the other one as if it were yours.
Tallest tower 10 min. Take turns adding one floor to a shared tower. Every floor must have a different use from the one below.
Write it, draw it, pass it on 15 min. One writes a sentence, the next draws it and folds the words away, the next writes what they see.

How this list was compiled: Original list written for Draw This Next, September 2026. Every idea was chosen to need one pen or pencil, one piece of paper and no reference picture, and the hints were checked on 2026-09-19 so that each works in pen alone, with nothing to rub out. The time at the start of each hint is our own estimate for someone drawing at an ordinary pace, and the 5 minutes group holds every idea marked 2 or 5 minutes. Terms and game rules were checked on 2026-09-18: blind contour drawing (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blind_contour_drawing), the fold-over drawing game, known as picture consequences (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exquisite_corpse), the Penrose triangle (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penrose_triangle), the impossible fork (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impossible_trident), the Möbius strip (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%B6bius_strip), sketchnoting (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sketchnoting) and squash and stretch (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve_basic_principles_of_animation). Licence: own work

How it works

These things to draw when bored need one pen and the back of a worksheet. None of the 240 ideas asks for a reference picture, colours or an eraser. Each shows a time from 2 to 20 minutes and a hint for the first line. Deal one, then pick a group: in class, look around you, cute, cool or with a friend.

Read the full guide

No supplies, no reference, a time on each

Every idea passed two tests: a pen and any scrap of paper is enough, and nothing needs looking up. So 40 are already in front of you, like Your own shoe, laces and all. Not sure what to draw when you're bored? Let the time decide: 107 ideas take 5 minutes or less. The five-minute timer deals the next idea when it runs out.

Things to draw in class without losing the lesson

The In class group holds 40 quiet doodles sized for a margin, such as A maze that fits in a 3 cm square. Some count as notes: sketchnoting mixes icons and arrows with the words, so Today's lesson as three tiny icons is revision too. As things to draw at school, all 240 are safe: no weapons, no gore, nothing rude.

Choosing is the slow part. Of five dealt ideas, draw the one with the fewest minutes.
Cute things to draw when bored run on one trick: eyes low on the face and far apart. A loaf-shaped cat with its eyes shut is one rectangle and two triangles.
The With a friend group has 30 games for two pens. Fold-over monster is the parlour game consequences on paper: head, fold, body, fold, legs.

Questions and answers

Which stuff is the quickest, and which the hardest?

Choose the 5 minutes group. The 17 ideas marked 2 min are the quickest, such as A fish made of one loop. The 19 marked 20 min ask the most, such as A whole city inside a bottle. Hard things to draw goes further.

Do I need a pencil, an eraser or colours?

No. Every idea works in ballpoint pen on lined paper, with nothing to rub out. Wondering what to draw when bored with pencil instead? Pick a shading idea such as An egg, shaded so it looks round. Pencil gives greys that a pen can only fake with hatching.

Can I invent a character instead of drawing an object?

Yes. The Cool group holds 50 ideas, and its characters to draw when bored each come with a design problem. A superhero whose power is extremely minor needs a chest emblem that explains the power without words. In One robot head showing five emotions, only the eyes, mouth grille and antenna may change.