A foil-wrapped chocolate, one corner of the foil peeled backNo gray on foil: each facet is black or bare paper. Draw the creases first with a sharp point.
A glass heart paperweight on a deskShade the glass mid gray. Lift one curved streak with an eraser and keep a bare dot beside it.
A glass jar filled with candy heartsThe glass is two bare stripes down the sides. Shade the candies flat and leave the lettering off.
A glazed heart-shaped doughnut on a plateGlaze has one wet highlight along the top. Shade the rim of the plate pale and the hole dark.
A pair of heart earrings pinned to a cardEach earring gets one bare dot and one dark edge. Leave the card behind them as plain paper.
A paperclip bent into a heartWire is a dark stroke with a bare one riding beside it. Where the wire crosses itself, break the lower one.
A round locket, closed, on a coiled chainDarken the rim of the locket and fade toward a bare spot off center. Each chain link is a tiny dark C.
A round rubber balloon with one long streak of lightShade the whole ball smooth, then lift the streak out with an eraser. The knot is darkest.
A thin bangle threaded with a single heartThe bangle is a dark oval with a bare top edge. The heart gets one hard highlight and a blurred shadow.
The bow on a heart-shaped box, looked at from aboveFrom above, each loop is a ring: bare paper on the crest, darkest where it tucks into the knot.
Chocolates in pleated paper cups, each one glossyEach chocolate gets one small bare highlight. The paper cups are fine dark pleats.
Pinking shears lying on a strip of ribbonThe blades are bare paper with one dark edge. The zigzag teeth are tiny dark notches.
Soft things 12
A crepe paper flower with crinkled petalsCrepe has no smooth tone. Lay fine wavy strokes across each petal and keep the folded edges pale.
A cushion with a heart stitched on the frontFour soft corners and no hard edge anywhere. The stitching is a row of short dashes.
A peony bud just starting to splitA tight ball, darkest in the cracks. Each ring of petals is paler than the one inside it.
A sprig of tiny white flowers on thin stemsShade a soft gray cloud first, then lift each flower out with an eraser pinched to a point.
A tulip with its petals just openingSmooth petals need smooth tone. Blend from the dark base up to a bare tip.
A velvet ribbon coiled on a tableVelvet has no hard highlight. Shade it dark and lift a soft pale band along each curve.
A white anemone with a black centerShade around the petals, not on them. The center is the darkest mark on the page, ringed with dots.
Loose rose petals shaded in only three tonesPick a light, a middle and a dark. The edge of a petal that curls toward you stays bare paper.
One white feather lying on a black sleeveShade the sleeve, not the feather. Its edge is soft, so break the outline into fine flicks.
The plush of a toy bear, close up on one earNo outline. Short soft strokes outward, blended with a fingertip where the plush turns away.
Tissue paper pulled halfway out of a gift bagCrumpled tissue is pale planes with soft folds. Shade lightly inside each fold, never to black.
Whipped cream piled on a mugLeave the cream as paper. A gray crescent under each swirl is all it needs, darkest near the mug.
Glow 12
A heart-shaped candle burned halfway downLit wax glows: palest just under the flame, darker toward the base. The pool around the wick stays bare.
A heart-shaped neon tube, switched onLeave the tube bare and smudge a narrow haze along both sides. The wall gets darker away from the light.
A jam jar lantern hanging from a wire handleThe flame is a bare dot. The jar is pale, and the tone deepens toward the edges of the page.
A match just struck, held to a candle wickThe flare is bare paper with a pale gray halo. The fingers nearest it are lit, the rest in shade.
A paper heart on a stick and its shadow on the wallThe shadow is sharp near the heart and blurs as it stretches. Keep the wall pale around it.
A paper heart taped to a window, daylight behind itBacklit paper glows at its edges. Shade the middle of the heart and leave a thin bare rim.
A porch lamp shining on a box of flowers at the doorA bare cone falls from the lamp. The top of the box is lit and its front is in shadow.
A sparkler writing a heart in the darkLay the dark down first. Lift the heart out with an eraser in one looping stroke, brightest at the tip.
Light through a heart-shaped hole in a shutterA dark room, one bare heart on the wall and a paler one stretched across the floor.
One candle flame reflected in a spoon and a glassThe flame is bare paper three times: once real, twice bent. Everything else goes dark.
Paper hearts stuck to a lamp-lit pane, seen from outsideShade the whole wall. Leave the glass bare and draw each heart as a dark shape against it.
Thin candles on a heart-shaped cake, all litEach flame is a bare teardrop. Light falls on the icing nearest the candles and fades outward.
Texture 12
A blob of sealing wax pressed with a heart stampWax has a dull gleam: a blurred highlight on the rim and a crisp dark edge around the stamped heart.
A braided friendship bracelet with loose endsThe braid is a row of small slanted lozenges. Shade the lower half of each one.
A chocolate bar snapped in half, crumbs beside itThe top is smooth with one dull highlight. The broken edge is rough, so stipple it dark.
A chocolate-dipped strawberry, half matte and half glossThe dipped half has one hard highlight. The bare half is dimpled, a dark crescent under each seed.
A crocheted coaster in the shape of a heartRows of small loops. Darken the gap under each loop and leave the top of the yarn bare.
A handmade paper card with rough, feathery edgesRough paper is drawn with the side of the lead. Let the tone skip, and fray the edges.
A heart cut from corrugated cardboard, one edge tornThe torn edge shows the ridges inside. Draw them as a row of small dark arches.
A honeycomb paper heart, fanned openRows of small diamond cells. Darken one side of each cell and leave the folds between as thin bare ridges.
A paper lace doily, one quarter drawn in fullShade the tiny holes, not the paper. Finish one quarter and suggest the rest with dots.
A patchwork heart sewn from four fabricsFour pencil patterns side by side: dots, short dashes, a crossed grid and plain flat tone.
A wicker basket full of paper valentinesEach strand dips under the next, so darken just before every dip. The cards stay flat and pale.
Twigs bent and tied into a heart wreathDraw each twig as a narrow double stroke. Cross them at all angles and fill the deepest gaps with black.
Line only 12
A bunch of tulips in outline, the stems crossingDraw the front stems first and stop each line where it passes behind another.
A cat's back and tail in one stroke, ending in a heartOne slow line from the ear to the tip of the tail. Curl the tail around into a heart to finish.
A gift box with its lid lifted, tissue showing, in outlineKeep the lid's edges in step with the edges of the box below. The tissue is the only wavy line in the drawing.
A mug with a heart on it, outline onlyOne even line for the mug, one for the handle, one for the heart. Nothing is filled in.
A paper airplane carrying a heart, straight lines onlyNo curves except the heart. Draw each fold freehand as one quick stroke, corner to corner.
A rose drawn while you look only at the roseBlind contour: follow each petal edge slowly with your eye and let the pencil copy it.
A row of paper-chain hearts, outline onlyEach heart shares a side with the next. Draw the top edge along the row, then the bottom.
An envelope in clean outline, flap openFour straight edges and a V. Keep the line weight the same and leave one corner open.
An open palm with a tiny heart resting on it, one lineStart at the wrist and travel around every finger. The heart is the last loop before you stop.
Finger and thumb curved into half a heart, in outlineCurl the fingers down and the thumb up. Draw the outside edge only and nothing inside it.
Five hearts overlapping in one unbroken lineThe pencil stays down from the first heart to the fifth. Let the line cross itself and keep one pressure.
One heart drawn with a hard pencil, then with a soft oneA hard pencil gives a pale thin line and a soft one a dark wide line. Same shape, two moods.
How it works
Pencil Valentine's Day drawing ideas work best where graphite is strong: shine on foil and glass, soft petals, a glow in a dark room, rough texture. Each hint names the move: shade, lift out or leave bare.
Read the full guide
Start with what stays white
A pencil cannot add white. Before the first stroke, mark what stays bare: the highlight on foil, a flame, the rim of a backlit paper heart. Build the grays up to those edges. An eraser pinched to a point lifts small lights back out.
Hard edges and soft ones
Foil, glass and metal take hard edges: dark beside bare paper, with no blending. Petals, plush and velvet take soft ones, blended with a fingertip or a paper stump. Line only holds subjects with no shading at all.
Sharpen before the Line only subjects. A blunt point cannot hold one even line.
Questions and answers
What can I draw for Valentine's Day with just a pencil?
Things with strong light and dark or a clear texture: a foil-wrapped chocolate, a round rubber balloon with one long streak of light, a paper lace doily, loose rose petals in three tones. None of them needs color.
How do I shade a rose in pencil?
Use three tones: a light, a middle and a dark. Put the dark where petals tuck under each other, and leave the edge of any petal that curls toward you as bare paper.
Which Valentine pencil drawings are easy?
Choose Easy in the box under the button. Most are single objects that need two or three tones, such as a glazed heart-shaped doughnut on a plate.
Which ones suit the front of a card?
The Line only group, because there is no shading to rub off inside an envelope. Five hearts overlapping in one unbroken line fills a card front, and so does an envelope in clean outline, flap open.