"Why don't you . . . " Art Prompts From Samohi AP Students.
Art Project Ideas
Technical
Creative
Sketchbook Suggestions
Try drawing the objects on your desk with the opposite shading (light switched with dark)
Research an artist and use a similar technique
Work on your marker skills
Try shading evenly using colored pencils
Use geometric shapes to create a piece
Draw a horizon and work on perspective
Work on straight lines and design with paint
Work on realistic characteristics of people
Make a value chart and use four of those values
Draw human emotions
Experiment with texture (use lots of paint, incorporate foreign objects)
Use geometric figures to create a picture
Cross-hatching
Make a bar that transitions from white to black
Study a certain body part, drawing it over and over again in different positions.
Sponge tactics!
Massive colorful circles
Use math symbols to make a picture
Use foreign objects to stamp your paper
Finger painting
Foot prints!
Use very small canvas
Use construction paper on canvas
Stretch canvas
Use photo and different paint mediums together
Work on a giant canvas
Paint a bunch of doors in a hallway
Make a collage of things with triangles
Blend chalk with oil to make a cool piece
Do your entire drawing with a ruler (all straight lines to make a curvy object
Try cubism and make your image that way
Try pointillism
Use overlapping circle to make a tree
Use sponges to create a unique look
Paint anything and distort it with a fork
Use actual leafs as stamps to create a pattern
Use rocks or pebbles to paint and make a weird look
Try to draw triangle and randomly place them all over the place with different colors
Cut out some lace and place it under your paper and paint over it to see what comes out.
A detailed piece in pen of your hand (with all the little wrinkles, lines)
Picture of the inside of a book with all the text written out
Detailed piece of your make-up bag- the view into it
Detailed portrait in pen- with shadows in the lines
Painting or drawing of a wooden table/desk
A trash can filled to the top with trash. Do a picture in pencil of what that looks like.
Pencil drawing of something glass
Draw a person’s ear
A man’s body, very muscular, maybe in pastel
Hair on a person’s body (head, mustache, eye lashes, eyebrows)
A grapefruit- make sure you can see the texture and color.
Roll up or fold your jeans and do a detailed sketch.
Take several photos of feet and put them together
Paint a car engine
Paint piping like a maze
Use dots to form a landscape
Paint a bunch of overlapping hands
With marker, draw 10 cubes into a shape
Paint the night sky through a sky light
Paint a bunch of connected belts
Draw the same person at a bunch of angles.
Combine Impressionist techniques with more life-like realistic ones
Layer different types of paper on a canvas and paint over them in an abstract manner
Focus on a piece of fabric, using 15 different brush strokes
Paint the human figure in a difficult position
Use only black and white to re-create a piece you’ve already done
Create an urban environment with crisp clean lines
Draw an "a" five times in different perspectives
Paint a chair, looking at it as if a grid were placed over it.
Paint a lamp and us glazing to create a ‘luminous’ appeal.
With careful attention to shadow, draw an outlet in your house with lots of plugs, for example near a computer
Draw one person/object 15 times, allowing only a fixed time (5-10 minutes) for each drawing.
Draw a glass jar in colored pencil and include all highlights and visible reflections
Do a figure painting with people in real-life situations, as opposed to posing on a stool.
Crinkle up a dollar bill, unfold it and then draw it.
Draw a building at different times of the day, with attention to changing shadow and light
Do a caricature of a friend, exaggerating his/her most predominant features.
Draw a complex object while constantly turning it. Incorporate several different angles into one piece.
Do a line drawing in ink of whatever is currently n your computer screen
Draw a chess piece upside down, including all shadows and textures.
Paint a fabric such as a tablecloth or bedspread with large brushes
Draw a piece of tree bark or a sponge as a line drawing in ink without value.
Make a collage focusing on one color (for example, make a collage using only pink objects)
Do an "op art" project using different shapes to create the object.
Draw a still life using no shading, just lines.
Do a piece with animals having human characteristics.
Patterns with human parts
Paste newspapers and make a story that correlates with your painting.
Make a still life entirely out of square things
Draw anything that gets progressively darker as it comes to the center.
Try a still life drawing which shows only negative space.
Chose a small area of skin and show as much detail as possible.
Research a known artist
Go to the garden and draw outside
Have a healthy discussion ABOUT ART with your neighbor
Character draw your teachers or peers.
Create an advertisement for certain product using design elements
Use charcoal to do one minute quick drawings of someone.
Explosion of colors representing a specific emotion
Paint a red background with distinct black lines crating a design
Paint a red background with distinct black lines crating a design
Create someone’s face using cubist techniques.
Circles intertwining
One big square and then smaller inside it and keep going until the square is really small
A polka dotted object
Tons of random letters
Diamonds attached to one another
Draw stars in the sky with floating images
A dress made of triangles
Hats on a rack with distorted shapes and colors
A street with the exact same houses, with the same people in them
Overlapping squares in different colors that turn into a flower
A street corner with tall buildings
A tall stack of uneven books
Draw a portrait using only straight lines
A blueprint of a house
A room with a mirror on each wall
Pencils falling and hitting the ground
Drawing the structure of a tall building
Four separate frames of a person swinging a bat
Stars in a dark deep blue and purple sky
Draw objects with a ruler and see what you come up with
Draw shapes and make them interact in some way
Cut and paste magazine pictures
Draw a monochrome drawing of a peacock
Use only two colors and color in scribble areas to create shapes
Draw a lot of dots and connect the furthest dots away
Use a newspaper, cut out and make an elephant
Cut out a shape of a rabbit on consecutive larger or different paper
Use the eraser to do the drawing instead of the pencil
Draw concentric circles and stagger some bars
Invert a picture color-wise
Draw with your left hand (or right if you’re left-handed)
Something on a grid
Draw some cloth realistically
Draw a watercolor landscape with a focus on the medium
Paint a whole picture using triangles
Draw something from far away
Use ten circles so that they only touch once to make a flower
Paint a piece of fabric focussed on a pattern.
Pick one object and draw it using three different mediums
Do a charcoal drawing where you cover the paper in charcoal and then erase the highlights
Draw your foot or shoe
Do a self-portrait in black and white paint
Pencil drawing of a glass object
Do a watercolor of a flower in a vase
Copy a famous piece of art in a different medium
Self-portrait from a mirror in conte
Use any medium to do clouds
Do a portrait in brown… crayon.
Make paper dolls.
Use a lot of paint- go crazy!
Draw an historical moment
Draw your neighbor
Paint the inside of your refrigerator
Paint your room filled with animals.
Draw something with the paper upside down
Draw your worst fear
Use colored pencils to draw jeans
Come up with a character and put it in a series of pictures
Draw the inside of something
Draw or paint a favorite hobby
Paint or draw your favorite band
Draw a toilet
Draw your lunch
Paint a friend
Draw a background without the main object
Put random images in unlikely settings!
Draw/paint your enemy in a silly outfit
Draw/paint what you would rather be doing right now
Draw/paint an image very close up or very far away
Draw/paint the food you crave at the moment
Draw your greatest fear
Copy a photo and replace the head with someone more humorous
Animals doing human activities!
Draw/paint what outfit you plan to wear tomorrow
Paw prints on the painting
Copy a picture
Do scenery
Use a different medium
Make a painting all the same color but different shades
Make a sculpture
Paint on a different type of canvas
Paint abstract
Paint body parts
Use objects to create texture
Self portrait in reverse color
Paint animals to represent mood
Clothing for a different type of texture on canvas
Use a type of splatter effect
Create your own pattern with different shapes and different types of lines
Mix and match real fabric materials and match their pattern by drawing the rest
Cut out different wrapping papers and put them together to make a unique collage
Cut out pictures of magazine and mix them with your own pictures to make an abstract piece
Do a piece with beads or with anything colorful and 3D to make patterns/images
Use charcoal to create anything that you want to look like an old document.
Use a stamp to stamp a piece of paper and then try to create a theme from it.
Use your thumb and ink it to create a certain image
Pick a letter- any letter- and draw as many things that start with that letter.
Use actual fruit skins to represent something in your painting (e.g. lemon skin=sun)
Create or come up with your own "made-up" world and represent it with a drawing/painting, etc
Use pencils to create a 3D pencil (big pencil)
Draw your reflection from a spoon
A person’s face out of words (cut from a magazine)
Arrange more than one canvas together and paint one big piece then separate the canvases
Do a huge piece of an ant- very detailed.
Do a piece using objects to make it 3D looking- popping off the canvas
Do a piece of a computer mouse and a mouse (rat)
A piece with different keys to make a picture (drawn out)
A piece or set of pieces of objects from the bottom (your view of the object from the bottom of it)
A piece made of cassette tape
Do a piece of a girl and glue on a real earring hanging off the canvas
A piece of a real animal sitting next to a stuffed animal (a real dog next to a fake dog)
Illustrate your most recent or most memorable dream
Do a family portrait or individual portraits of the people in your family.
Take lots of photos of things/places/people you find interesting and then paint it
Do a painting using colors to represent your emotions.
Paint/draw your favorite fruit
Make a collage about a friend
Find an art piece you like and do your own interpretation of it.
Create your own advertisement for a real or imaginary product
Think about people that you dislike and try to depict these people positively.
Paint your face in a tree
Close your eyes and paint a self-portrait
Use watercolor pencils to draw a monster
Put a penguin in an urban environment
Put yourself into the vision of a monkey
Use water to reflect a princess into an old lady
Paint a birds-eye view of somewhere special
Put an image in broken glass
Color your interpretation of your parents young
Paint yourself in the future
Paint someone blowing a huge bubble
Paint a horse jumping from below
Paint an object or an animal in a place where you would never find it
Paint an object multiple times in one canvas in different sizes and colors
Paint someone in the pool as if you were looking at them from under water
Draw a bottle in the shape of something unusual (ex: a fish)
Paint something that you use everyday in "Pop Art" form.
Do a self-portrait while creating a specific mood
Paint an elephant in an unusual color
Paint a person wearing something made out of something strange
Paint a bunch of items that are all the same color
Paint a picture of your friend for his/her birthday.
Draw an object without looking at it, only using your hands to feel it. (Get a friend to give it o you and make sure you don’t look. Don’t let them tell you what it is!)
Open the dictionary and choose an adjective you have not used before, then do a painting of this word.
Do a piece about an object without actually putting its image in the picture.
Paint a famous person you have heard of but never seen (without using a photo or reference. What does s/he look like to you?)
Make a map.
Do a portrait of you or a friend wearing clown makeup or a mask.
Paint somebody as if they were a china doll or stuffed animal.
Do a drawing that answers the prompt of your latest English essay.
Do a piece that shows change over time. For example, molding fruit, growing facial hair, dirtiness in your car.
Distort a corporate logo according of the connotations of its name or products
Depict what you think cannot be seen (music, sounds)
Hitler as a child playing with blocks near a dead tree.
Painting of broken glass vases
A black and white bottle emptying black liquid into a pond of water
Geisha who is making rocks and she’s sweating
Traffic that goes in the opposite direction
A ball of marbles with coins coming out.
Draw someone without them knowing
Look through the remains of your lunch and use it for a still life.
Find a book that you’re reading for class and draw everything on the first page you find
Draw what you did during lunch yesterday
Draw what you think of when you think of summer- or any other season.
Draw something about your childhood that isn’t too important but that for some reason you remember
Draw a singer or writer in an ironic way
Set up a still life and put glasses of water in various points to change the way you see the objects.
Make a campaign poster for your bid for world domination ( a really flashy self portrait)
Play with handwriting and the strokes of letters
Work with your eyes closed.
Candle flame transforming into something.
Incorporate a photograph into a painting
Draw something inside a transparent can or bottle
Do a collage using 3D things found in the house
Do a piece incorporating fabric
Create mesmerizing eyes
Paint a girl crossing her legs under a table
Draw an old man in a contented state
Draw a little girl looking up at the sky as if everything else is bigger than her.
Expressions that hands give.
Make a dog look like a building
Turn a soda can into a book
Change food into a person
Mess around with the letters ABC so that it looks like a zoo
Draw a twisted picture of what you think of when one says "the grass is greener on the other side."
Use the picture of a boom box and personalize the buttons and tuner
A lion ballet dancer
A foot with a really cool tattoo
A model on the runway modeling food
A silver fan blowing papers in the air
Paint while listening to really loud music of any genre and paint what you hear
Painting of a camera lens with the reflection of a person or place in it
A cow at McDonalds eating fries and a hamburger
Think of a word and ask someone what the first thing that they think of when you say that word and paint it.
Think of a person you feel very close to and do a painting of the back of their head.
A tree with markings on it like a ruler (b/c some rulers are made of wood)
A landscape of a beautiful field with a shopping center in the middle
Rain falling from the sky on objects that aren’t waterproof
A baby pushing an adult in a stroller
Find a picture in the newspaper and draw it, try to make t humorous
Try different art movements in one project (pointillism, cubism etc)
Satirize people or things from your life
Draw/paint your hero or someone you look up to
Draw a human with appendages of different animals
Freedraw the waves of motion in a tidepool
Close your eyes and draw a turkey
Draw a perspective of a room from the POV of the corner.
Scribble on your paper and connect lines together to form pics
Draw the background instead of the foreground of a picnic table
cross-draw a giraffe and a lion
Try to draw light (as in energy light)
Draw a fan overlapping another in different colors
Draw a backwards block letters "damned"
Draw a foot, ankles down
Illustrate a saying that everyone uses
Personify some food
Lunatics
Paint your picture upside down
Paint a flying cow!
Paint with your eyes closed
Draw animals as humans
Paint using only two colors
Paint with your fingers
Paint a detested picture of you
Read a scary book and draw what you see
Do a project with someone else- draw on the same paper
Fold paper into parts and draw on it then fold it down so that the other person can only see the ends of your lines and let them continue the next section
Draw a portrait on magazine cover instead of regular paper
Paint a clown and try to make it happy and lovable (not scary)
Cut up two pages of a magazine into triangle and put them together in an interesting way
Draw your hand without picking up the pencil.
Paint/draw something with your foot
Paint your parents with jobs other than their own.
Do an homage to someone around you.
Make your teachers as stars in famous movies.
Paint a new invention of your own.
Paint the setting of your first kiss
Paint wearing a blindfold.
Adopt the style of a peer
Depict objects you love. Each week, create a strong composition utilizing interesting imagery. At the end of six weeks, your sketchbooks should represent an overall view of who you are and what your love.
Week 1
Create a drawing that uses expressive line. Be bold. Work the piece until it has a free, but finished look.
Week 2
Create a drawing that utilizes strong contour line and color. Create a center of interest.
Week 3
Create a drawing that utilizes strong contrast. Use media of choice.
Week 4
Create a drawing that utilizes repetition to achieve rhythm. Think creatively.
Week 5
Create a drawing that utilizes mixed media. Do not overwhelm the drawing. Be graceful with your media and allow it to direct you to the drawing.
Color, food, clothes, music, patterns, childnood memories, friends, chairs, outdoors, books, classes, hats, shoes, family, cups, closet, room, ulitilatiran objects, presents, supplies, glasses, artists, THINK, THINK, THINK, THINK, THINK, THINK, THINK, THINK, THINK.
Assignment 2: Reflective Surfaces
Depict objects that have reflective surfaces. Create a strong composition utilizing interesting imagery. At the end of six weeks, your sketchbooks should represent a variety of interesting and creative surfaces.
Week 1
Create a drawing that uses expressive line. Be bold. Work piece until it has a free, but finished look.
Week 2
Create a drawing that utilizes strong contour line and color. Create a center of interest.
Week 3
Create a drawing that utilizes strong contrast. Use media of choice.
Week 4
Create a drawing that utilizes repetition to achieve rhythm. Think creatively.
Week 5
Create a drawing that utilizes mixed media. Do not overwhelm the drawing. Be graceful with your media and allow it to direct you to the drawing.
All objects must be from life. BE CREATIVE WITH YOUR SURFACES AND THE REFLECTIONS THAT ARE CREATED.
Assignment 3: Do you Dream in Color?
Depict objects that have reflective surfaces. Create a strong composition utilizing interesting imagery. At the end of six weeks, your sketchbooks should represent an overall diversity of color and its use in artistic composition.
Week 1
Create a drawing that uses expressive line AND COLOR. Be bold. Work piece until it has a free, but finished look. FOCUS ON INFORMAL BALANCE
Week 2
Create a drawing that utilizes strong contour line AND COLOR. Create a center of interest. FOCUS ON VISUAL MOVEMENT
Week 3
Create a drawing that utilizes strong contrast AND COLOR. Use media of choice. FOCUS ON VALUE
Week 4
Create a drawing that utilizes repetition to achieve rhythm WITH COLOR. Think creatviely. FOCUS ON MOTIF AND PATTERN
Week 5
Create a drawing that utilizes mixed media AND STONG USE OF COLOR. Do not overwhelm the drawing. Be graceful with your media and allow it to direct you to the drawing. FOCUS ON SURFACE TEXTURE
All designs should be non-objective, abstracted from life. Do not use 2D images. Push color, avoid traditional color schemes. Draw what you enjoy, but think outside of what traditional beauty is. Create beauty in the unapparent.
Assignment 4: Figure Drawing
Week 1
An easy way to learn to draw the full figure is by drawing the figure from a back view. Drawing a figure from the back minimizes details, stresses shape and contour, and eliminates the face. To make your composition interesting and exciting, emphasize an element or principle of design.
Week 2
Draw a person’s head and face using exaggeration to communicate emotion. Work from a live model. First use a pencil to make a general drawing. Note the shapes and planes of the face and how they fit together. Then continue over the drawing with a darker media. Utilize strong contrast to greatly exaggerate the areas you want to emphasize. Work from a live model and do not use a front or side view.
Week 3
Create a drawing of a small group of people. Utilize your skills in design to emphasize the negative space between them. Be creative when dealing with line and shape. Draw from life.
Week 4
Create a mixed media collage and then use figure drawing to add line, value, and color. Make sure the media does not overwhelm the drawing. Focus on strong weighted line, value, and contrast to pop the image. Draw from life.
Week 5
Use a brush and coffee to create a simplistic drawing of shadows (Do not work too wet or the paper will wrinkle). Once dry, come back in and emphasize line, shape and value with a dark contrasting media. Push darkness in the back in an exaggerated way to push the figure forward. Be expressive and work from life.
Spend a minimum of 1 hour on each drawing.
Assignment 5: The Power of Themes: A Diary of Shoes
Week 1
Look at the historical relevance of shoes.Think about their uses during a variety of time periods. Select a time period and create a drawing of shoes that reflects that time period. Examples: Roaring 20’s, Civil War. Draw from life and use the full composition.
Week 2
Look at the differences in gender. How are how their shoes are different. Create a drawing using a man’s and a woman’s shoe. Create an interesting design using repetition. Work from life.
Week 3
Select an artist that appeals to you. Create a shoe that would belong to this artist. Begin drawing from life and then go wild. Use your creativity. Example: Picasso, bright colors, wacky laces or Van Gogh, Subtle colors, pattern in swirls. Create an interesting composition.
Week 4
Create a mixed media collage and then use a shoe from an unusual point of view to add line, value, and color. Make sure the media does not overwhelm the drawing. Focus on strong weighted line, value, and contrast to pop the image. Draw from life.
Week 5
Use a brush and coffee to create a simplistic drawing of a pile of shoes (Do not work too wet or the paper will wrinkle). Once dry, come back in and emphasize line, shape and value with a dark contrasting media. Use darkness in the back in an exaggerated way to push the focal point forward. Be expressive and work from life.
Spend a minimum of 1 hour on each drawing.
Assignment 6: Interiors and Environments
Focus on line and design within your compositions. Refer to the principles of design: rhythm, movement, unity, variety, etc, to enhance your images.
Week 1
Create a drawing of the interior of your bathroom. Focus on angles and lines. Use modified contour line and focus on composition.
Week 2
Create a drawing of the interior of your kitchen. Utilize a full range of value 1-10. Be creative with your mark making. Expressive.
Week 3
Create an interior drawing of your bedroom. Include yourself in the image somewhere. Focus on composition.
Week 4
Create a drawing looking down a hallway. Use color to extend the mood. Focus on some small in this space and make it spectacular.
Week 5
Create a drawing of an unusual interior. Read the definition of interior and work from that. Be creative.
ALL INTERIORS SHOULD BE DONE FROM LIFE. DO NOT USE PHOTOGRAPHS.
Assignment 7: Four Slides and a Partridge in a Pear Tree
Each week you will take a slide and create a small work of art out of it. Each slide should fit a theme that you have selected. Choose a theme that is interesting and could be well illustrated in a small area.
Consider the following:
- How can I use media in an interesting way?
- Will my theme and style promote unity?
- How could my slides be deconstructed in an interesting way?
- Is my craftsmanship strong?
- Are my designs compelling and strong?
Within the slide you will have to create a small work of art that would emphasize the theme, you would work directly on the foam core or on a small piece of paper of your choice.
When you have completed 5 slides, you will then mount them onto a piece of black foam core. You should mount them in an interesting and unique way.
Assignment 8: Objective: Objects
Week 1
Draw a person holding an object. Be creative with the object they are holding. Use contour line and make the object the focal point. Use modified contour line.
Week 2
Create a drawing of your favorite object in your room. Place it in your favorite spot inside of your house. Use contour line and focus on composition.
Week 3
Create a drawing of the messiest section of your room. Think about composition and balance. Make sure you have a focal point. Use modified contour line.
Week 4
Select an object from life. Create a contour drawing of the object and put it in an abstract setting. Be creative and focus on composition.
Week 5
Draw a chair. Repeat the drawing to create an interesting composition. Use modified contour line. When you are done use a sharpie marker to create an design using positive and negative space.
Assignment 9: Around the House
Week 1
Subject: Breakfast. Still life of a breakfast setting Example: bowl, spoon, cereal, etc. Work large, go off the page. Focus on Composition
Week 2
Subject: Art Supplies. Still life of art supplies. Example: Pencil, crayons, scissors. USE MODIFIED CONTOUR ONLY. Work large, go off the page. Focus on Composition
Week 3
Subject: Interior. Select an interior from an unusual point of view. Example: Corner, hallway, child’s view. Focus on Composition
Week4
Subject: Candy. Create a still life using penny candy. Example: Peppermint, bubblegum, suckers, etc.. USE MODIFIED CONTOUR ONLY. Work large, go of the page, Focus on composition
Week 5
Subject: Messiest Drawer in the House. Remove the drawer and draw from a birds eye view. Enlarge objects and go of the page. CREATE A FOCAL POINT WITH ONE OBJECT
Spend a minimum of 45 minutes on each assignment.
By Nicole Brisco, TAEA Secondary Divisio Chair, School Arts Contributing Editor, Davis Publications, Pleasant Grove High School, Texarkana, Texas
Related Websites:
http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/studiodrawing
http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/studio2d
http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/studio3d