60 Pencil Drawing Ideas: Easy Black and White Subjects

A pencil can only do one thing: make a mark lighter or darker. That limit is why pencil drawing ideas should be chosen for their light and shadow, not their color. The 60 subjects here all look good in black and white, and each section pushes a different skill.

You need one ordinary pencil to begin. A softer, darker one helps later.

Easy pencil drawing ideas for shading practice

1. An egg on a white plate with its soft cast shadow
2. A sphere shaded in five steps from highlight to core shadow
3. A white mug standing against a dark background
4. A folded napkin with three crisp creases
5. A single pear lit from a window on the left
6. A stack of three sugar cubes
7. A paper cup lying on its side with the inside visible
8. A candle and the gradient of glow around its flame
9. A ribbon curling so that both sides show
10. A plain cardboard box with one flap open
11. A garlic bulb with its papery skin
12. A smooth stone with one thin crack

Texture studies

13. The weave of a wicker basket
14. A patch of cat fur built from short overlapping strokes
15. Tree bark with deep vertical furrows
16. A rusty hinge on an old door
17. A feather with a few barbs pulled apart
18. A knitted sleeve with every stitch visible
19. A pinecone, drawn scale by scale
20. A weathered plank with knots and grain
21. A glass marble with a twist inside
22. A crumpled piece of kitchen foil
23. A scallop shell with ridges fanning out
24. A worn leather boot with a creased toe

Black and white drawing ideas with strong contrast

25. A full moon behind bare branches
26. A zebra's face cropped close
27. A white cat on a black sofa, shown only by shadow
28. A piano keyboard receding in perspective
29. A city at night drawn as lit windows on black
30. A crow perched on a snow-covered post
31. A chessboard mid-game from a low angle
32. A dandelion seed head against a dark doorway
33. Shadows from window blinds striping a wall
34. A streetlamp lighting a cone of falling snow
35. A panda half hidden in bamboo
36. An old pocket watch with its back open

Easy and beautiful pencil drawings of nature

37. A rose with its outer petals starting to curl
38. A dragonfly wing with every cell of the lattice
39. A wave curling just before it breaks
40. A birch trunk with peeling bark
41. A stem of lily of the valley with hanging bells
42. A swan with its neck in an S-curve above its reflection
43. A pine ridge in fog, drawn as three fading layers
44. A cobweb strung with dew
45. A leafless oak with a tangle of fine twigs
46. A fawn asleep in long grass
47. A waterfall drawn by shading only the rocks around it
48. A sunflower head with its spiral of seeds

Pencil art ideas for a longer session

49. A realistic eye with a window reflected in it
50. A pair of elderly hands resting in a lap
51. A still life of a bottle, a lemon and a cloth
52. A bicycle wheel with every spoke
53. A portrait in profile with the light behind it
54. A cathedral doorway with carved arches
55. An open book with its pages mid-turn
56. A wolf's face with the fur direction mapped first
57. A sailing ship inside a bottle
58. A violin lying on sheet music
59. A rowboat pulled up on a pebble beach
60. A bedroom interior in one-point perspective

Pencil basics that make every idea easier

• Know the grades. H pencils are hard and light. B pencils are soft and dark. HB sits in the middle. A 2B and a 6B cover most drawings.
• Draw a value scale first. Make five boxes and shade them from white paper to your darkest dark. Every drawing should use all five.
• Shade in layers. Build darks with several light passes. Pressing hard dents the paper and leaves a shine.
• Three ways to shade. Hatching uses parallel lines, cross-hatching adds a second set across the first, and blending smooths the marks with a tissue or a paper stump.
• Save your whites. The brightest highlight is bare paper. Plan it and draw around it.

How to use this list

Work down the page in order. Spend a week in each section, one subject a day, and keep every drawing the same small size, about the width of your palm. After five weeks, lay them side by side. The shading in week five will look like it came from a different person.

Shading a character

The same light logic applies to faces and figures. If you want a character to practice on, create one in the Character Creator and redraw the portrait in pencil, working out where the light comes from. The guide on how to draw a face covers the proportions.

Related: realistic drawing ideas, sketch ideas and hard things to draw.

FAQ

What are easy pencil drawing ideas for beginners?

Simple white or pale objects under one light: an egg, a mug, a sugar cube, a folded napkin. They have clear shadows and no distracting color.

Which pencil is best for drawing?

An HB or 2B is fine for sketching and light shading. Add a 4B or 6B for dark areas. You don't need a full set to start.

How do I make pencil drawings look realistic?

Use the full range from white to very dark, keep edges soft where forms turn and sharp where they overlap, and leave highlights as untouched paper.

How do I stop smudging my pencil drawings?

Rest your hand on a spare sheet of paper, and work from the top left to the bottom right if you're right-handed, or the mirror of that if you're left-handed.