Drawing from Observation
1. Geometric forms: spherical, cylindrical, cubic, conical objects (bottles, lamps, tissue boxes, etc.)
2. Produce: Fruits & vegetables
3. Food
4. A look inside: opened locker, closet, drawer, purse, backpack, medicine cabinet
5. Something that symbolizes you
6. Part of a room: bedroom, bathroom, kitchen
7. Themed still life: kitchen utensils, office supplies, technology gadgets
8. An object with its shadow
9. Your pet sleeping
10. Everyday moments: breakfast, cafeteria lunch, homework
11. Reflections: in the mirror self-portrait, eyes, mouths, noses, or a shiny object with a reflective surface
12. Draw what you see where you are sitting
13. Stuff found in a garage
14. Holidays: Halloween candy, stack of presents, Christmas ornaments and lights, pumpkins and gourds, menorah
15. Found faces: objects that look like faces- plumbing parts, etc.
16. Fabrics: fabrics & folds, crinkled paper bag, favorite plaid shirt, backpack or purse
17. Furniture
18. Writing utensils
19. Outdoors: flowers in the garden, pinecones, leaves, insects, trees
20. Things that hang
21. Architecture: your house, a shed, gazebo, part of the school, a deck or patio
22. Patterns and textures: tree bark, pine cones, hair or fur, something carved
23. Gadgets: iPods, cell phones, laptops, electrical cords
24. Garbage: yuck.
25. Office supplies
Drawing from Imagination
1. Draw from an artist’s work: Try to recreate the composition, medium, techniques, etc. Include credit line information.
2. Try a new technique: use the artists’ sketchbooks links. Find an interesting style and recreate it. Label with artist’s name, medium and web address.
3. Draw and color an unusual object melting (can’t be an object that usually melts like ice cream, snow)
4. Design a costume or disguise
5. New comic book characters
6. A page from a comic: illustrate a moment in your life through your own comic or graphic novel page.
7. Figure drawing: look at references or create your own people walking, dancing, sitting, eating, etc.
8. Draw your favorite animal mixed with your favorite food.
9. Dreamscape: candy land, an indoor zoo, a castle with dragons, the new and improved Main Street, Saugerties, etc.
10. Mix & match: a giraffe with plaid golf pants, a jail cell baby nursery, a snake that turns into an electric cord, etc.
11. Find typography you like and copy it freehand.
12. Magazine drawing: find an image from a magazine to draw from. Change it or try a new medium to color it.
13. Illustrate a song
14. Inventions: neck tie iPod, etc. make it into an advertisement
15. Literal translations: ‘Lend me your ear” take a quote or a popular saying and illustrate it literally.
16. Typography: take the lettering of your favorite logos and write your name or other phrases with them
17. Advertisements: Take the layout for a movie poster or ad and use it to make a new or crazy poster.
18. Change of style: take one object and draw it in 8 different styles, angles, etc.
19. Your alter ego: draw yourself as the opposite of who you usually are: a book worm, party punk, sports jock, glamour model
20. An ant’s point of view
21. Draw a scene from a store you would like to own
22. Super doodle page
Artist Research
These are awesome resources to discover artists, and get ideas for your imagination drawings as well.
http://www.googleartproject.com
http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/
http://www.theartstory.org