These 60 art ideas are projects, not just subjects. Each one tells you what to make and how, so you can gather what you need and start. Some take ten minutes and a pen. Others fill a weekend.
If you're hunting for art inspo because everything you make has started to look the same, jump to a section that uses a material you rarely touch.
Simple art ideas with pen and paper
- Cover a page in overlapping leaf outlines and color only the overlaps
- Draw a city skyline as one unbroken line across two pages
- Fill the silhouette of your pet with tiny flowers
- Rule a grid of twelve squares and draw a different eye style in each
- Trace your hand and turn the outline into a coral reef
- Draw a staircase of books with a tiny reader at the top
- Letter your favorite word so the letters look like what it means
- Draw a jar and fill it with things that made you smile this week
- Turn a coffee ring stain into a planet with moons
- Fold a page in four and draw one bridge in four kinds of weather
Painting ideas
- Paint a night sky by flicking white paint off an old toothbrush
- Paint a bowl of lemons using only yellow, blue and white
- Paint a foggy forest in five shades of one gray-green
- Paint your street in the rain with reflections on wet pavement
- Lay down a sunset wash, then ink a row of rooftops over it once dry
- Paint a slice of cake with thick strokes that look like frosting
- Paint a koi pond as seen from directly above
- Paint your current mood using nothing but circles
- Paint a window from indoors, lamp inside and storm outside
- Dot a field of poppies using the tip of a cotton swab
Collage and mixed media ideas
- Build a face from torn magazine colors with no drawing allowed
- Glue pressed leaves to a page and draw insects visiting them
- Cut a skyline from old newspaper and add yellow lit windows
- Cut a mountain range out of an outdated road map
- Stitch a simple constellation onto card with needle and thread
- Layer tissue paper into a sea, then draw a boat on top
- Carve a leaf stamp from an eraser and print a whole forest
- Trace a shadow that falls across your paper and turn it into a creature
- Make a self-portrait from one week of receipts, tickets and scraps
- Wrap a small box in pattern paper you drew yourself
Digital art ideas
- Redraw a childhood drawing with everything you know now
- Design an app icon for an imaginary bakery
- Animate a three-frame loop of a blinking cat
- Paint a landscape using only the lasso tool and flat fills
- Design a set of six custom emoji for your friend group
- Build a pixel-art bedroom on a canvas 32 pixels square
- Draw a lineup of five characters with clearly different silhouettes
- Make a phone wallpaper from a repeating pattern of snacks
- Paint one scene twice, in a warm palette and a cold one
- Design an album cover for a band made up of frogs
Cool art ideas for a series
A series gives you a reason to come back tomorrow.
- Draw one door a day for a week, each from a different building
- Illustrate the twelve months as twelve tiny shop windows
- Make an eight-page zine about one ordinary day
- Draw the same mug every morning for ten days and note what changes
- Design a deck of six creature cards with stats and habitats
- Illustrate a family recipe step by step in six small panels
- Paint five skies from your window at five times of day
- Create a set of badges for small wins nobody gives awards for
- Map your neighborhood using only your personal landmarks
- Paint four cards, one for each season, in a matching border
Art ideas for your room and for gifts
- Paint a row of small canvases that join into one long horizon
- Make a bookmark with a cat tail that hangs out of the book
- Turn a relative's handwritten recipe into a kitchen poster
- Design a birthday card that unfolds into a very tall giraffe
- Paint smooth stones as a village of tiny houses
- Frame a real pressed flower inside a hand-drawn vase
- Draw a friend's pet as royalty in a formal portrait
- Make a calendar page with one small drawing per day
- Decorate a plain tote bag with a line of marching ducks in fabric pen
- Letter a friend's favorite saying and border it with their favorite flowers
How to pick a project and finish it
Starting is easy. Finishing is the skill. A few habits help:
- Choose by material. Look at what you already own and pick an idea that uses it. Shopping for supplies feels like progress and usually isn't.
- Set a size limit. Small work gets finished. A postcard-size piece done tonight teaches more than a poster abandoned next week.
- Decide when it's done before you begin. "Ten minutes" or "when the page is full" are both fine. Without an end, you'll fiddle or quit.
- Make two. The second attempt at the same idea is almost always better, and it takes half the time.
Art ideas that start with a character
A lot of art projects get easier when there's a character at the center: the zine has a hero, the card deck has a cast. You can sketch one from scratch, or describe one in the Character Creator and use the portrait as your reference. The character design tips guide covers silhouette and color if you want to design your own.
Related lists: drawing ideas, abstract drawing ideas and pretty things to draw.
FAQ
What are some simple art ideas for beginners?
Pen-and-paper projects with a clear rule: overlapping leaf outlines, a one-line skyline, or a traced hand turned into a coral reef. The rule does the designing for you.
Where do artists get art inspo?
Mostly from limits and from looking. A new material, a size limit or a rule like three colors forces new results. Taking your own photos and keeping a list of things you notice helps too.
What are good digital art ideas?
Try projects that use what digital does well: a short looping animation, the same scene in two palettes, pixel art on a tiny canvas, or a repeating pattern for a wallpaper.
What art can I make to decorate my room?
A row of small canvases that share one horizon, painted stones, a framed pressed flower with a drawn vase, or a hand-lettered saying. Small pieces in a group look more finished than one large piece.
