Stop overthinking it. Seriously. Most people pick up a pencil, stare at a blank sheet of paper for twenty minutes, and then give up because they aren't Leonardo da Vinci by lunchtime. It’s frustrating. We’ve been conditioned to think that if it isn’t a masterpiece, it isn’t worth the lead. But the truth is that easy drawings to do are actually the backbone of visual literacy. They’re the "hello world" of the art world.
Whether you’re trying to de-stress after a long shift or you just want to doodle something that doesn’t look like a total train wreck in your bullet journal, the barrier to entry is way lower than you think. You don't need a $200 set of Copic markers. A cheap ballpoint pen and the back of a grocery receipt will do just fine.
Drawing is a physical act. It’s tactile. In an era where we spend half our lives scrolling through curated TikTok feeds of hyper-realistic oil paintings that take 400 hours to complete, we’ve lost touch with the simple joy of a well-placed line. Let’s get back to the basics.
The Psychological Hook of the Simple Sketch
Why do we even care about simple sketches?
According to Dr. James Levy, a researcher who has spent years looking at the intersection of cognition and art, "doodling" isn't just a waste of time. It’s actually a cognitive tool. In a study published in Applied Cognitive Psychology, researchers found that people who doodled while listening to a boring phone message retained 29% more information than those who didn't.
That’s wild.
When you look for easy drawings to do, you aren't just looking for a hobby; you’re looking for a way to ground your brain. It’s about "flow state." That’s that weird psychological space where time disappears and you’re just doing. You can’t get into a flow state if you’re stressed about getting the anatomy of a human hand exactly right. Hands are hard. Even professionals hate drawing hands. But a cactus? A cactus is just a lumpy oval with some prickles. Anyone can do a cactus.
Forget Realism, Embrace the Icon
The biggest mistake beginners make is trying to draw what they see instead of what they know.
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If I tell you to draw an eye, you probably start with a football shape and then get frustrated when the iris looks wonky. Instead, think about icons. Think about the way symbols work in UI design or bathroom signs. These are the ultimate easy drawings to do because they rely on universal visual shorthand.
Take a coffee mug. It’s a rectangle with rounded corners and a "C" for a handle. Done. Steam? Three wavy lines. You’ve just communicated "hot coffee" in about four seconds. That’s the power of simplicity.
Some Actual Ideas You Won't Hate Drawing
Let's get practical for a second. If you're staring at the page and your mind is a total vacuum, here’s a list of things that are genuinely hard to mess up.
- Mountains. Honestly, they're just jagged triangles. If you add a little "V" shape for a bird in the sky, you’ve basically got a Bob Ross painting minus the happy trees.
- Succulents. Since they are naturally asymmetrical and kinda weird-looking, any "mistakes" you make just look like natural biological variation.
- The Classic Lightbulb. A circle on top of a square with some horizontal lines. It’s a classic for a reason.
- Paper Planes. Two triangles and a few trailing lines to show movement. It looks "pro" but takes zero effort.
The trick is repetition. Draw ten mountains. By the tenth one, you’ll start adding little shadows on one side. Suddenly, you aren't just doing "easy drawings," you're practicing light and shadow without even realizing it.
The "Continuous Line" Hack
If you’re feeling really stuck, try the continuous line technique. It’s exactly what it sounds like. You put your pen on the paper and you don't lift it up until the drawing is finished.
It’s gonna look messy. That’s the point.
Because you aren't allowed to lift the pen, you stop worrying about perfection. You just move. This is a favorite exercise in foundational art classes at places like the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). It forces your brain to focus on the relationships between shapes rather than the individual lines. Try it with a chair or a houseplant. It’ll look "artistic" and "abstract" instead of "bad."
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Why Your Tools Don't Actually Matter (Mostly)
I’ve seen people spend $50 on a single technical pen before they’ve even learned how to draw a straight line. Stop doing that.
The best tool for easy drawings to do is the one you have within arm's reach. There is something incredibly liberating about drawing with a Bic Round Stic on a Post-it note. There’s no pressure. If you ruin a $15 sheet of cold-pressed watercolor paper, you feel like a failure. If you ruin a Post-it, you just crumple it up and move on with your life.
That said, if you want to feel a bit fancier, grab a felt-tip fineliner. Brands like Sakura (the Pigma Micron series) are the industry standard, but even a Sharpie Pen (the one that doesn't bleed through paper) works wonders. The consistent black ink makes even the simplest doodle look intentional.
Common Misconceptions About "Easy" Art
People think "easy" means "for kids." That’s a total lie.
Some of the most famous artists in history spent their entire careers trying to simplify their work. Think about Picasso’s line drawings. His "Le Pigeon" or "The Camel" are just a handful of lines. It takes an incredible amount of confidence to leave that much white space.
When you look for easy drawings to do, you're practicing that same economy of line. You’re learning what is essential and what can be ignored. That is a high-level artistic skill, not a "beginner" one.
- Myth: You need a steady hand.
Truth: Shaky lines actually have more "character" and look more organic. - Myth: You have to use an eraser.
Truth: Using a pen forces you to incorporate your mistakes into the design, which usually leads to cooler results. - Myth: You need to know perspective.
Truth: 2D, flat drawings (think Adventure Time or The Simpsons) are just as valid as 3D ones.
Practical Steps to Build a Daily Habit
If you actually want to get better at this, or just keep the mental health benefits of doodling, you need a low-friction system.
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Keep a small sketchbook (A6 size is perfect) in your bag or on your nightstand. Don't call it a "sketchbook" if that feels too heavy. Call it a "mess-up book." Commit to five minutes a day. That’s it. Draw your TV remote. Draw your cat (even if it just looks like a loaf of bread with ears).
The goal isn't to become a professional illustrator. The goal is to reclaim a bit of that childhood creativity that most of us lost somewhere around middle school when someone told us our drawings didn't look "right."
Start with something geometric. Grab a ruler if you have to, but try to do it freehand first. Square, triangle, circle. Turn the square into a house. Turn the triangle into a pizza slice. Turn the circle into a smiley face—but give it a mustache. This kind of low-stakes play is where the real progress happens.
Eventually, you'll find that easy drawings to do become a sort of visual language for you. You'll start noticing shapes in the real world. You'll see a car and think, "Oh, that's just two rectangles and two circles." Once you see the world as a collection of simple shapes, the fear of the blank page disappears entirely.
Go find a pen. Draw a cloud. Then draw a sun behind it. You’re already an artist the moment the ink hits the paper. No further permission required.
Actionable Next Steps:
- The 30-Second Challenge: Set a timer for 30 seconds and try to draw a common object (like a chair or a shoe). This forces you to focus on the core shape rather than the details.
- The "No-Eraser" Week: Commit to drawing only with ink for seven days. This builds confidence and teaches you how to turn "mistakes" into intentional design elements.
- Icon Library: Create a page in your notebook dedicated to "icons" of your daily life—your favorite mug, your house keys, your phone. These become your go-to easy sketches when you're bored.
- Trace for Training: Don't be afraid to trace simple shapes from photos. It builds muscle memory for how curves and angles actually work.
- Texture Practice: Take a simple circle and try to fill it with different textures: dots (stippling), parallel lines (hatching), or little swirls. It's a meditative way to practice pen control.