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USA Drawing Ideas From Bison to the Golden Gate Bridge

One thing from the United States with a checked detail: a symbol, a landmark, a map or an everyday object.

USA Drawing Ideas From Bison to the Golden Gate Bridge

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  1. The north front of the White HouseThe columned porch on the north side, the North Portico, was added in 1829.

Next step Eagles, the bell and the torch, for the Fourth of July

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National symbols 14

  • A bald eagle's nest high in a tree The national bird nests in old, tall trees near open water. A wide pile of sticks, one white head showing.
  • A bison standing in tall grass The national mammal of the United States. A high shoulder hump, a low head and a short tail.
  • A rose, the national flower The national floral emblem is the rose. Petals in a spiral, each one overlapping the last.
  • A Space Shuttle on its launch pad The orbiter rode on a large external tank between two solid rocket boosters. Three tall shapes and one winged one.
  • A spreading oak in a field The oak is the national tree. A short, thick trunk and a crown broader than the tree is tall.
  • An astronaut's bootprint in Moon dust Apollo 11 landed the first people on the Moon on July 20, 1969. Ridges across the sole, sharp shadows.
  • The Capitol dome The dome is cast iron painted to look like stone, with the Statue of Freedom standing on top.
  • The dome of the Jefferson Memorial A round, domed building whose design refers to the Pantheon in Rome.
  • The flag at the top of a town flagpole Thirteen stripes, red first, and a blue corner of fifty stars. From far off the stars are only dots.
  • The front of the Lincoln Memorial A ring of 36 fluted columns surrounds it, one for each state in the Union in 1865.
  • The north front of the White House The columned porch on the north side, the North Portico, was added in 1829.
  • The unfinished pyramid from the Great Seal The back of the Great Seal: a pyramid of 13 courses with a flat top, and an eye in a triangle above it.
  • The Washington Monument and its reflection A 555-foot obelisk on the National Mall. One tall, tapering shape with a pointed cap.
  • We the People in tall script The first three words of the Constitution's preamble. Letter them large, the way a pen would.

Landmarks and parks 16

  • A giant sequoia with a person at its foot The General Sherman Tree in California is the largest living single-stem tree on Earth by volume.
  • A grove of coast redwoods from below Earth's tallest living trees, as high as 381 feet. Trunks lean in toward one point.
  • A passage in Mammoth Cave Part of the world's longest known cave system, in Kentucky. Dark all around, one lit path.
  • Cape Hatteras Lighthouse The tallest brick lighthouse in the United States, about 198 feet, on the coast of North Carolina.
  • Crater Lake, a blue circle in a ring of cliffs The deepest lake in the United States: 1,943 feet by the park's own figure. Keep the water flat and dark.
  • Delicate Arch at sunset A freestanding natural arch in Arches National Park, Utah. The opening under it is 46 feet high.
  • Denali rising over low hills The highest mountain in North America, 20,310 feet above sea level.
  • Devils Tower The first national monument in the United States, established in 1906. A flat-topped rock with grooved sides.
  • The dunes of White Sands Dunes of gypsum crystals in New Mexico, the largest field of its kind on Earth. Shade only the far side.
  • The Gateway Arch A 630-foot arch clad in stainless steel in St. Louis, the tallest arch in the world. One curve.
  • Golden Gate towers and cables, seen from the deck The paint on the bridge is called International Orange. Two towers, and cables that sweep down between them.
  • The Grand Canyon from the rim About 277 miles long, up to 18 miles wide and over a mile deep, carved by the Colorado River.
  • The Great Smoky Mountains in layers The country's most visited national park. Each ridge is a flat shape, paler than the one in front.
  • The hoodoos of Bryce Canyon Hoodoos are spires of rock shaped by frost and running water. Hundreds stand together like a crowd.
  • Old Faithful erupting A geyser in Yellowstone, the first national park. It erupts about every hour and a half to two hours.
  • Sawgrass and water in the Everglades Sawgrass 6 feet tall or more covers much of this national park in Florida. Blades in clumps, sky in the gaps.

Maps 15

  • All fifty states, Alaska and Hawaii in boxes Alaska is the largest state, bigger than the next three put together, so its box is never to scale.
  • The Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine A hiking trail of almost 2,200 miles that passes through 14 states.
  • Chesapeake Bay The largest estuary in the United States. A long, ragged inlet with many side branches.
  • The Continental Divide as a line down the map It separates rivers that drain to the Pacific from those that drain to the Atlantic and the Arctic.
  • The five Great Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie and Ontario, on the border with Canada. Each has its own shape to learn.
  • The Florida Keys and the road that joins them The Overseas Highway runs along the chain of islands from the mainland to Key West.
  • Four Corners: where four states touch Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah: the only point in the country shared by four states.
  • Michigan's mitten The Lower Peninsula is nicknamed the Mitten, and its eastern part is called the Thumb.
  • The Mississippi River and its branches It flows about 2,340 miles, from Lake Itasca in Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico.
  • The Oklahoma panhandle A strip 166 miles long and 34 miles wide. With it, the state looks like a pan with a handle.
  • The outline of the lower 48 states The 48 adjoining states, without Alaska and Hawaii. One long outline from coast to coast.
  • Route 66 from Chicago to the coast Established in 1926. It ran from Chicago through Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona.
  • The six states of New England Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont.
  • The straight border along the 49th parallel About 1,260 miles of the border with Canada follows this line, from Manitoba to British Columbia.
  • The thirteen colonies along the Atlantic coast The thirteen British colonies lay in a row along the Atlantic coast of North America.

Everyday America 15

  • A baseball diamond from above The bases sit at the corners of a square 90 feet on each side. Turn the square to stand on one corner.
  • A baseball glove with a ball in the pocket A regulation baseball has 108 stitches, usually in red thread. Show a few along one seam.
  • A covered wagon A wagon with canvas stretched over wooden bows, drawn by horses or oxen.
  • A drive-in movie screen The first drive-in opened in New Jersey on June 6, 1933. Rows of parked cars face one big screen.
  • A football with its laces up Laces run through holes along the top and give a grip for holding and passing.
  • A jazz trumpet resting on its case Jazz began in the African-American communities of New Orleans in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
  • A log cabin with a stone chimney, smoke rising Logs laid flat and locked together at the corners with notches. The log ends stick out past the corner.
  • A motel sign with an arrow Motels of the 1950s and 1960s drew drivers in with bright neon signs. Outline the letters in tubes.
  • A paddle steamer on the Mississippi Paddle-wheel boats saw their widest use in North America, above all on the Mississippi River.
  • A peanut butter and jelly sandwich, cut corner to corner Two spreads on sandwich bread, known for its popularity with children in the United States.
  • A roadside diner at night A diner has a long sit-down counter as well as booths. Light from the windows falls on the lot.
  • A s'more seen from the side, layers showing A toasted marshmallow and chocolate between two graham crackers. Let the marshmallow bulge out.
  • A yellow school bus at a stop, door open School bus yellow was formulated in 1939 just for buses. A long box, a row of windows, a short hood.
  • An apple pie in its tin, vents cut in the crust The top crust can be solid or woven from strips of pastry. Short cuts in a solid one let the steam out.
  • Rural mailboxes on posts by a gravel road On a rural curbside box, a raised flag tells the carrier there is mail to collect. Raise one flag in the row.

How it works

A geyser that erupts many times a day, mailboxes on posts by a gravel road, a pyramid of 13 courses. Each of these USA drawing ideas names a real thing and gives one checked detail.

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American things to draw, by topic

The Topic list sorts the page four ways. National symbols holds the bison, the rose, the oak and the buildings of Washington. Landmarks and parks runs from the Grand Canyon to a lighthouse. Maps turns the shape of the country into a subject. Everyday America is school buses, diners and pie.

America drawing ideas for a map project

Draw the outline of the lower 48 states first, then add one feature at a time: the five Great Lakes, the Mississippi, the Continental Divide, one long road. Trace the outline from an atlas; a coast drawn from memory drifts.

  • A canyon looks deep when the far rim is paler and flatter than the near one.
  • Stars seen from a distance are dots. Only a flag that fills the page needs all five points on each.

Questions and answers

What is the national animal of the USA?

The national bird is the bald eagle; the national mammal, the American bison. The rose is the national floral emblem and the oak is the national tree. All four are in the National symbols group.

What are some easy things to draw from the USA?

The Washington Monument is one tall, tapering shape and the Gateway Arch is one curve. A s'more is three rectangles, and Michigan's mitten is an outline most people already know.

Is there a separate list for the Fourth of July?

Yes. Fireworks, the Liberty Bell, the torch and flying eagles are on the Fourth of July list, linked below. This one covers the country the rest of the year.

Does the list have a place in every state?

No. It names landmarks and parks in about a dozen states, and its maps take in the whole country. Hawaii has a list of its own, linked below.

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