We’ve all been there. You're sitting with a blank sketchbook, a $2 pen you found in the junk drawer, and absolutely zero ideas. It’s frustrating. You want to be "artistic," but your brain is currently a dial-up modem trying to load a high-def video. Most people think you need to start with a sprawling landscape or a hyper-realistic portrait of a cat, but that's a lie. Honestly, the best way to get moving is to find things to easy draw that don't require you to calculate vanishing points or anatomical proportions.
Drawing is mostly muscle memory and just getting over the fear of a white page. When you're looking for things to easy draw, you aren't looking for a masterpiece; you're looking for a "win." You need that little hit of dopamine that comes from finishing a sketch that actually looks like what it’s supposed to be.
The Secret to Low-Stakes Sketching
Most beginners overcomplicate the process. They see a rose and try to draw every single vein on every single petal. Stop doing that. Think in terms of symbols. If you can draw a circle, a square, and a triangle, you can basically draw anything on this list. It’s all about breaking complex shapes down into "primitives." This is a concept widely taught in foundational art courses, like those at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) or through massive open online platforms like Drawabox.
Keep it simple.
1. The Potted Cactus
Cacti are the ultimate cheat code. Why? Because they are naturally lumpy and irregular. If your line wobbles, it just looks like character. You start with a basic "U" shape for the pot, add a slightly larger oval on top for the rim, and then draw a tall, rounded cucumber shape for the cactus itself. Add some tiny "V" marks for the needles. Done. You’ve just made art.
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2. Celestial Doodles (The 90s Aesthetic)
Think back to middle school notebooks. Tiny crescent moons, five-pointed stars, and those little "sparkle" marks that are just four-pointed crosses. These are great because they require zero perspective. You can fill a whole page with them while you’re on a boring Zoom call or waiting for your pasta to boil. There’s something meditative about repeating these shapes.
3. Basic Botanicals and "One-Line" Leaves
You don't need to be a botanist. Draw a slightly curved line—that’s your stem. Then, draw small teardrop shapes coming off the sides. If you want to get fancy, leave a tiny gap between the leaf and the stem. This is a staple in the "Bullet Journaling" community, where efficiency is just as important as aesthetics. It looks intentional and "minimalist" even if it took you twelve seconds.
Why Your Brain Craves Easy Shapes
There’s actual science behind why doodling simple things helps you. A study published in the journal Applied Cognitive Psychology found that people who doodled while listening to a boring phone message recalled 29% more information than those who didn’t. It keeps your brain in a "ready state" without overtaxing it.
When you pick things to easy draw, you’re lowering the "activation energy" required to start.
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If you tell yourself you're going to draw a human hand, you'll probably quit before the pen touches the paper. Hands are a nightmare. Even professional animators at Disney have struggled with hand consistency for decades. But if you tell yourself you’re going to draw a coffee mug? That’s doable. It’s just a cylinder with a "C" attached to the side.
The Myth of the "Natural" Artist
Nobody is born knowing how to draw. It's a mechanical skill, like typing or driving. The people who seem "naturally" good just happened to spend a lot of time as kids drawing the same thing over and over. Maybe they were obsessed with dinosaurs or fighter jets. They did the "boring" work of repetition because they were having fun. By choosing easy subjects, you’re recreating that fun without the pressure of "Art with a capital A."
Things to Easy Draw: The Household Edition
Look around your room. Seriously, look right now. There is probably a goldmine of simple shapes within five feet of you.
- A Paperclip: It’s just three loops. It’s a great exercise for controlling your line weight and keeping your hand steady.
- An Envelope: A rectangle with a triangle on top. You can add a little "stamp" in the corner for flavor.
- A Polaroid Photo: A square inside a slightly larger rectangle, with more space at the bottom. You can doodle a tiny sun inside the inner square.
- A Slice of Pizza: A triangle. Some circles for pepperoni. A wiggly line for the crust. If you can't draw this, we might have bigger problems.
Dealing With the "Ugly" Phase
Every drawing goes through an ugly phase. You start it, and about halfway through, you think, "This looks like a kindergartner did it." This is where most people stop.
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Don't stop.
The difference between a bad drawing and a "stylized" drawing is often just confidence. If you draw a wonky-looking cat but you fill in the eyes with solid black ink and add some whiskers, it suddenly looks like a deliberate choice. Use a thicker pen to go over your main outlines. This is a trick used in comic book inking to hide mistakes and make the image "pop."
Common Misconceptions About Beginner Drawing
People think they need expensive supplies. They don't. You don't need a $200 set of Copic markers or a fancy tablet. In fact, some of the best "easy" drawings come from the constraint of a ballpoint pen and a Post-it note. Constraints breed creativity. When you have fewer choices, you make faster decisions.
Another big mistake is trying to draw from memory. Even the pros use references. If you want to draw a bicycle—which is actually surprisingly hard because of the frame geometry—look at a picture of a bicycle. There is no shame in looking. Professional illustrators like James Gurney (the guy who did Dinotopia) emphasize the importance of observation over imagination.
Actionable Next Steps for Your Sketchbook
Stop scrolling and actually do the thing. Here is a quick way to build the habit without feeling overwhelmed:
- The 5-Minute Rule: Set a timer. Choose one of the objects mentioned above—let’s say the cactus. Draw it as many times as you can in five minutes. Don’t erase anything.
- Change Your Tool: If you usually use a pencil, try a Sharpie. You can't erase ink, which forces you to commit to your lines and move forward instead of obsessing over a "perfect" circle.
- Focus on Silhouette: Instead of drawing the details, just draw the outline of an object and fill it in completely with one color. It teaches you to see the "big shapes" first.
- The "Daily Doodle" Corner: Dedicate a small 2x2 inch square in your planner or notebook for one tiny drawing a day. By the end of the month, you’ll have a collection that shows actual progress.
Drawing isn't about being "good." It’s about seeing. When you look for things to easy draw, you start noticing the world differently. You see the curve of a coffee handle or the way a leaf attaches to a branch. That's the real win. Grab your pen and just make a mark. Any mark. The rest will follow naturally once you stop overthinking it.