10 Sketchbook Prompts to Jump-start Your Art

Keeping a sketchbook is one of the most powerful habits an artist can develop. It’s a personal space to experiment, explore and express without pressure. Whether you're just starting out or you’ve been drawing for years, a sketchbook can help you build creative momentum and document your artistic journey over time. And yet, even the most dedicated artists can find themselves daunted by the dreaded empty page.

That’s where sketchbook prompts come in: With their ability to get you drawing or painting quickly, they’re invaluable for overcoming creative blocks. From quick daily exercises to more in-depth projects, the right prompt can transform your sketchbook from a blank slate to a creative playground. Here are 10 sketchbook prompt ideas to inspire fresh thinking, hone your skills and keep your creative energy flowing.

Blob Monsters

A sketchbook page filled with four characters that are all based on bright pink blobs. Two characters are humanoid, one resembles a rabbit and one is a dripping blob. — In the Skillshare class “Always Drawing: 7 Creative Exercises to Jumpstart Your Sketchbook,” teacher Mike Lowery transforms colorful blobs into distinctive characters.

This might just be the best prompt for getting your creative juices flowing. The secret of its efficacy is how simple it is: All you need to do is draw some blobs on the page, then turn them into creatures, people or monsters by adding features like limbs, facial expressions, hair, fur, clothes and whatever else you feel like.

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Teacher Tip: Embrace Artistic Play
“A sketchbook should be a place where you can play,” says Skillshare Top Teacher Mike Lowery. “A place where you can…get some ideas down and really just play around with some things” and “get [your] pen moving.”

Personal Travel Map

A person’s hands drawing a brightly colored map of Ireland on a white piece of paper. The map is decorated with several small doodles alongside labels of major areas. — In the Skillshare class “Sketchbook Illustration: Draw a Personal, Colorful Travel Map,” teacher Mike Lowery creates a stylized map of Ireland.

Have a favorite trip you’ve taken, or a dream destination you’d love to see one day? Use it to fill up a page of your sketchbook by drawing a stylized map of the place you have in mind. But instead of filling out the map with hyper-accurate labels, populate it with things that you’re looking forward to (or fondly remember) seeing and experiencing.

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Loose Flowers

A person’s hands holding a sketchbook open on a table. It’s filled with a two-page spread of colorful flowers and their leaves. — In the Skillshare class “The Sketchbook Fillers' Club: Four Powerful Guidelines for Stunning Spreads,” teacher Dylan Mierzwinski sketches one of her favorite subjects—blooming flowers.

If you’re looking to create a gorgeous spread in your sketchbook without agonizing over what to draw or how to draw it, you can’t go wrong with some loose and colorful flowers. All you need to do is pick a reference photo (or look at the nearest bouquet) and start drawing. Try not to think too much, and focus on filling space first before adding details later.

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Objects You See

A person’s hands holding a sketchbook open. Its pages are filled with brightly colored illustrations of fishing-related items, including a net and a package of filament. — In the Skillshare class “Drawing Is Important: Develop a Sketchbook Habit in 30 Days,” teacher Tom Froese draws items he found in a catalog.

When you set out to draw the objects around you, whatever they might be, there’s no need to wait for inspiration to strike or the perfect subject to appear. Simply choose a nearby object that piques your interest, or find one in a book, magazine or social media post. Then draw it, using as much or as little detail as you’d like. Use this prompt whenever you’re feeling unsure what to draw, and you’ll always be able to keep your drawing skills sharp.

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Your Pinterest Board

A person’s hand holding up an open sketchbook. Its pages are filled with two brightly colored illustrations, one of a rabbit and one of a deer. — In the Skillshare class “Sketchbook Play! Easy Mindset Shifts to Draw and Paint Freely and Frequently,” teacher Yasmina Creates fills her sketchbook with cute animals that inspire her.

If you use Pinterest to collect photos of beautiful art, adorable animals, stylish outfits or even tasty recipes, try using your Pinterest boards to inspire your next sketchbook entry. Just pick a favorite board, then scroll until you find an image you want to sketch (or if you’re feeling indecisive, close your eyes, click a random image and draw whichever one you clicked).

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Teacher Tip: Try Your Hand at Lots of Subjects
“So what should you draw or paint? My advice on what to draw is simple: Just draw what you want to get good at” recommends Skillshare Top Teacher Yasmina Creates. And “if you're not sure what that is yet, try everything until something stands out by being more fun or satisfying to draw.”

Patchwork Collage

Tired of drawing and painting? No problem—with this prompt, you can quickly add some texture to your sketchbook. Gather some interesting-looking scraps of paper, whether they come from newspapers, magazines or old sketchbook pages. Then, cut them into square or rectangular shapes, and glue them down in a patchwork pattern.

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A Fun Pattern

A person’s hands resting near a sketchbook laying open on a table. The page is filled with pink and orange watercolor illustrations of cats in various poses. — In the Skillshare class “Illustration and Inspiration: Keeping a Sketchbook,” teacher Leah Goren paints a delightful feline-themed pattern.

You don’t always have to come up with new things to draw—in the case of patterns, you can just draw a few variations of the same thing, or several things that fall under the same category. For instance, try making a one-page pattern of your favorite animal in various poses. And if you end up loving the pattern you create, you can always digitize it using software like Adobe Illustrator or Affinity Photo.

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Sunset Landscape

A sketchbook laying open on a table alongside a watercolor paint palette. The sketchbook’s pages are filled with a painting of a wooden gate in the foreground and a sunset in the background. — In the Skillshare class “Sketchbook Explorations in Watercolor: Simple Studies for Creative Flow and Discovery,” teacher Bianca Rayala paints a gorgeous countryside sunset in the pages of her sketchbook.

When you sit down to paint a landscape on a canvas or a large piece of watercolor paper, it can be undeniably intimidating. So, why not start by painting a low-pressure landscape in your sketchbook first? If you love it, you can always scale it up later. And if you don’t, it was just another page in your sketchbook.

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Blooming Meadow

A sketchbook laying open on a table next to a gouache paint palette. Its page is filled with a painting of a lush green meadow in the foreground and silhouetted mountains in the background. — In the Skillshare class “Painting Scenic Gouache Landscapes in Sketchbook for 7 Days,” teacher Payal Sinha uses gouache to bring a flowering meadow to life.

With its intense pigment and ability to create precise lines, gouache painting projects are perfect for filling up your sketchbook. Use the medium to paint a page with a lush grassy meadow dotted with white flowers, complete with mountains silhouetted in the background.

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Use a Prompt List

A close-up of a long list of sketchbook ideas, which include premises (e.g. character design, fan art, etc.), subjects (e.g. human, animal, object, etc.), aesthetics and genres (e.g. cottagecor, dark fantasy, etc.) and more. — In the Skillshare class “Sketchbook Regularly: Create Character-Driven, Colorful Spreads,” teacher PricklyAlpaca provides students with an extensive list of sketchbook ideas.

If none of the prompts we’ve explored so far are scratching your artistic itch, you might have more luck using a prompt list. Some are centered around specific themes, such as the snippet pictured above, which focuses on fantasy and fun aesthetics. Others simply list a wide array of random ideas—if they’re numbered, you can even use a random number generator to choose the prompt for you.

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Teacher Tip: Know the Benefits of a Sketchbook Habit
“Keeping a sketchbook that you draw in on a regular basis can be wonderful for” many reasons, explains Skillshare teacher PricklyAlpaca. It can help you with “practice and iteration, keeping a consistent drawing habit, warming up your hand before moving on to more labor-intensive work, experimenting with new-to-you materials or just freely drawing and seeing where your mind takes you.”

Fill Up Your Sketchbook, One Prompt at a Time

A well-used sketchbook becomes more than just a collection of drawings. Over time, it evolves into a space where your ideas, growth, and experiments coexist. By regularly using prompts, you’ll push yourself to think in new ways, step outside your comfort zone and stay engaged with your creative practice.

Whether you're looking to improve your technical abilities, find your unique art style or explore a new hobby, sketchbook prompts can keep your skills sharp and your pages full. But they’re just a starting point, so feel free to interpret, adapt or combine prompts to suit your mood and interests. Most importantly, remember to enjoy the process. Your sketchbook is yours alone, so don’t forget to have fun filling it up.

Written By

Carrie Buchholz

Carrie Buchholz is a freelance writer who lives in Northern Colorado with her husband and dog.