5 Fun Art Exercises

Sometimes, I just don’t feel like working on a big finished piece. But I also still want to draw something. When this happens, I usually turn to my sketchbook. Today I’ll share a few of the exercises I like to do in my sketchbook that help develop my art skills.

1. Single Line Drawing

I’m sure any artists reading this have done this exercise at least once, whether it was for an art class or just for fun. And for good reason- this is a really helpful exercise! Basically, you have to draw a picture without lifting your pen off the page. I like to draw faces for this exercise, but you can do plants, animals, buildings, whatever you want.

I made this sketchbook page a long time ago with some references off Pinterest. (Please ignore the blue one in the top left - I don't know what happened there)

2. Watercolour Wash

For this one, all you need is watercolours and a pen. Start by creating a wash of colour over the page. Make sure you pick similar colours like 2 blues and a purple to avoid making a muddy mess. Try to use a lot of water to create interesting shapes and forms with the paint. Once it’s dry, you’ll try to see objects and pictures on the page. Use your pen to draw the objects and add details of your own. This project will help you exercise your imagination and think outside of the box.

I used some earthy tones for the background wash and found some tree shapes in the paint.

3. Draw a Picture in Different Styles

Style is something a lot of artists stress about. We all want to have a distinct and unique art style that’s immediately recognizable. This exercise will help you develop your own. Find a good reference picture that interests you: I chose this portrait because of her interesting makeup and hair (source).

Then draw it in as many different styles as you can think of. I painted mine in 2 different media (acrylic and watercolour) and sketched it a few times in pencil. Lastly, I made one with a random pink marker I found on my desk, just as an experiment.

I think my favourite one is the top pencil sketch. It's in a caricature-like style. I really exaggerated the hair, lips, and earrings to give it a more cartoony look.

4. Draw What You See

I've done this one a few times when I was really struggling to think of something to draw. I would just draw whatever I saw right in front of me. If you like observational work, this will be fun for you.

In this one, I was sitting in front of my window, so I drew the view outside.

This one I actually made just last night. It's super experimental. It was done using some really cheap watercolours and some water-based markers I've had for years. I had just finished making a watercolour painting but wanted to make something else after, so I drew my painting supplies, headphones, and water bottle that were sitting on my desk. Everything turned out decent except for the water bowl, which is really wonky.

5. One Colour

Make a drawing using only one colour. You can use different shades and hues, but try to keep them relatively similar. This exercise really helps with shading and creating form in your artwork.

I chose green for this one. I was having trouble deciding what to draw, so I fell back on one of the other exercises: drawing what I see in front of me. I drew my desk lamp and pencil cup as well as the iPad I was watching a video on.

I really like this one even though the perspective is kind of bad. It's a picture of my bedroom coloured with pink water-based markers.

BONUS: Just draw literally anything. This is the most fun exercise out of all of them. Don't plan the drawing, don't even think about what you're going to draw. Just go right in. I did this once a few years ago and ended up with this horse-man that everyone tells me looks like Bojack Horseman. I definitely didn't draw any inspiration from that, I've never actually seen the show and didn't even know it existed at the time. Just a weird coincidence lol.

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this article. Remember, I release new ones every week. Before you go, don't forget to check out my shop!