15 Easy Things to Draw that Look Impressive – Step by Step Tutorials

Easy things to draw that look impressive

If you are a beginner, choose a subject that can be built from a few simple shapes and finish one small drawing before moving to the next. The examples below include facial features, animals, flowers and figure studies.

Start with one clear goal

• Practice a single feature such as an eye, nose or mouth.
• Build an animal from circles and simple body shapes.
• Try a flower when you want to practice curves and overlapping forms.
• Use a figure study when you want to work on proportion.

For more quick prompts, see 25 easy things to draw when bored. If you prefer a structured lesson, try the step-by-step rose drawing guide or our anime drawing tutorials.

Use the examples as short studies

Do not try to master everything on this page in one sitting. Pick one reference and give yourself 10–20 minutes. The goal is to understand the main shapes and proportions, not to make a finished illustration every time.

• Facial features: draw the eye, mouth, nose or ear several times at a small size.
• Animals: block the body with simple masses before adding fur or small details.
• Figures: check the head-to-body relationship and the angle of the shoulders and hips before refining anatomy.
• Flowers: establish the overall bloom shape first, then layer petals around the center.

A rough study that teaches you one thing is more useful than a polished drawing you copied without understanding.

What to look for when you copy a reference

Before drawing details, compare the big relationships: width versus height, the angle of the main form, and where one shape sits relative to another. If an eye looks wrong, for example, the problem is often its size or placement rather than the eyelashes. The same applies to animals and figures.

After one attempt, redraw the subject from memory. Then compare the two versions. That second drawing quickly shows which proportions you actually understood and which ones you were only following mechanically.

Practice simple forms without chasing perfection

Circles, boxes and cylinders are useful because they help you simplify complicated subjects, not because they need to be perfect. Draw a few quickly, then use them immediately: a circle can become a flower center or skull mass, a box can become a torso or car body, and cylinders can build arms, legs or animal limbs.

A better drill than drawing the same circle for an hour is to make five loose forms, turn each into a small object, and notice which angles or curves are hardest for you. That keeps the exercise connected to actual drawing.

What to do next

Rotate through different subjects instead of waiting until one exercise feels “mastered.” Spend one session on a face, another on an animal or flower, then return to the first subject a few days later. Repetition with a gap between attempts makes improvement easier to see.

When a drawing fails, identify one specific problem—proportion, angle, line control or shading—and make the next study about that problem. Avoid restarting just because the first sketch looks rough.

For more structured practice, continue with the drawing tutorials hub, the gesture drawing guide, or the one-point perspective examples.