Koi Fish With Ripples
Draw a koi fish turning through circular water ripples.
advanced34 min
Skill level
88 Advanced Drawing Ideas
advanced drawing ideas with the first shape named on every entry, so you always know where the drawing actually starts.
Catalog status
78 ideas · 10 illustrated
Difficulty rubric
An editorial band, not a score
Advanced ideas add complex perspective, anatomy, surface change, or value relationships that need planning before the first mark. Most take half an hour or more, and nearly all of them go better if you block a thumbnail first.
Illustrated references
10 with a checked reference image
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Dragonfly Wing Study
Draw a dragonfly with transparent wings and thin legs.
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Mountain Lake
Draw a quiet mountain lake with a reflected peak.
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Expressive Eyes
Draw a pair of expressive eyes with strong highlights.
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Side Profile Face
Draw a clean side-profile face with simple hair shapes.
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Open Hand Pose
Draw an open hand with visible knuckles and palm lines.
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Curled Fantasy Dragon
Draw a curled dragon with small wings and a long tail.
advanced45 min
Floating Castle Island
Draw a small castle floating on a broken island.
advanced42 min
Tattoo-Style Rose
Draw a bold rose with tattoo-inspired leaves.
advanced34 min
Mandala Sun
Draw a symmetrical sun filled with simple mandala petals.
advanced36 min
More ideas
78 more, each with a starting point
These do not have an illustration, but each one names the shape to block in first and gives an honest time estimate.
Animals
11 ideas
A golden retriever caught mid-shake, ears flying
Blur the ears with repeated light strokes, keep the skull solid.
30 minadvanced
A hummingbird frozen at a flower
Draw the body sharp and the wings as two soft blurred fans.
28 minadvanced
A dragonfly with detailed wing veins
Wings are a grid of long cells; draw the two main veins first.
32 minadvanced
A koi fish turning under ripples
Ripples are broken rings; break them where the fish crosses.
30 minadvanced
An octopus with each arm curling a different way
Give every arm its own curve direction or it reads as seaweed.
34 minadvanced
A deer looking back over its shoulder
The neck twist is the drawing; block the head plane first.
30 minadvanced
A moose standing in shallow water
Antlers are flat paddles, not branches — block them as shapes.
32 minadvanced
A horse head in three-quarter view
Two boxes: skull and muzzle, joined by the cheek curve.
34 minadvanced
A tiger's face with stripes following the fur direction
Stripes wrap the form — never draw them flat across.
34 minadvanced
A lion with a mane broken into big locks
Group the mane into six masses before adding any strands.
32 minadvanced
A reindeer leaping with its legs tucked under
Draw the spine as one long arc first, then fold the front legs back and the back legs forward beneath it.
30 minadvanced
Nature and plants
7 ideas
A pinecone with overlapping scales
Scales spiral — draw two crossing spirals as guides first.
28 minadvanced
A tree seen from directly below, branches overhead
Branches radiate outward and taper fast toward the edges.
30 minadvanced
A waterfall hitting rocks with spray
Leave the spray as untouched paper; darken everything around it.
32 minadvanced
A cracked desert floor stretching to the horizon
Cracks get smaller and closer together as they recede.
30 minadvanced
A peony with tightly packed inner petals
Inner petals are small and crumpled, outer ones broad and smooth.
30 minadvanced
A single iris with three petals falling and three standing
Falling and standing petals need different edge weights.
28 minadvanced
A hydrangea head simplified into clusters of four-petal florets
Draw the overall dome first, florets only along the lit edge.
30 minadvanced
Food and drink
2 ideas
A bowl of ramen with steam and chopsticks
Chopsticks set the perspective; place them before the bowl fills.
30 minadvanced
A bento box with five compartments
Draw the grid in perspective first, then fill each cell.
30 minadvanced
People and faces
16 ideas
A nose in three-quarter view
Block the ball, two wings, and the bridge plane before shading.
28 minadvanced
Lips slightly parted, seen from below
The upper lip is darker than the lower one in almost all light.
28 minadvanced
A hand holding a pencil, seen from the drawer's own view
Draw what you actually see, foreshortening and all.
30 minadvanced
A fist seen from the knuckle side
Knuckles sit on an arc, not a straight line.
28 minadvanced
Two hands holding a mug
The mug's cylinder tells you where the fingers wrap.
32 minadvanced
A three-quarter face with the far eye partly hidden
The far eye is narrower and closer to the head's edge.
32 minadvanced
Curly hair described with only outline and shadow
Do not draw curls. Draw the shadow between the curls.
30 minadvanced
A figure walking away down a corridor
One vanishing point behind the figure; feet shrink toward it.
32 minadvanced
A dancer mid-turn with the skirt trailing
Draw the line of action as one sweep before any body parts.
30 minadvanced
A seated figure with the weight on one hip
Shoulders tilt one way, hips the other. Exaggerate it.
32 minadvanced
A face made of only five value shapes
Squint until you see five tones, then fill them flat.
30 minadvanced
A face half rendered, half left as line
Choose the split line deliberately down the centre or a diagonal.
30 minadvanced
An old face where the wrinkles follow the form
Wrinkles wrap around forms; they never cut straight across.
34 minadvanced
A skull drawn from a three-quarter angle
Cranium sphere first, jaw box second, teeth last.
32 minadvanced
A hand throwing a paper plane
The plane leads; the hand is still finishing the throw.
28 minadvanced
An eye reflecting a window
The reflection is a hard-edged rectangle bent over the cornea.
30 minadvanced
Fantasy and characters
12 ideas
A dragon curled protectively around a small egg
Body coils in one spiral; the egg sits at the spiral's centre.
38 minadvanced
A floating island with a waterfall falling off the edge
Underside is a rough cone; the waterfall fades before it lands.
36 minadvanced
A castle on a cliff with a single lit window
One lit window against a dark mass carries the whole mood.
34 minadvanced
A phoenix rising with tail feathers as long ribbons
Ribbons should curve in the same S direction for flow.
36 minadvanced
A griffin mid-landing, wings forward
Front half bird, back half cat; the join is at the shoulder.
38 minadvanced
A goblin merchant with too many pockets
Pockets tell the story — vary their size and how full they look.
34 minadvanced
A knight's helmet with a dented visor
Dents break the highlight; that break makes the metal read.
32 minadvanced
An astronaut helmet reflecting a planet
The reflection curves with the visor and gets darker at the edge.
32 minadvanced
A character turnaround: front, side, and back
Draw horizontal guides across all three so heights match.
45 minadvanced
A character's hands only, showing their job
Calluses, rings, scars, dirt — the hands carry the biography.
30 minadvanced
A magical girl transformation pose
Line of action first — one long curve from foot to raised hand.
34 minadvanced
A mecha head with a visor and vents
Symmetry in perspective: build a centre line, mirror everything.
34 minadvanced
Everyday objects
15 ideas
A pocket watch with the lid open
Two ellipses on the same axis, one tilted open.
30 minadvanced
An open book with the pages fanning
The page block curves; edges are stacked arcs, not lines.
28 minadvanced
A bicycle seen from the side
Two circles at the correct distance apart before anything else.
34 minadvanced
A pair of well-worn trainers
Creases follow where the foot bends — put them all in one zone.
30 minadvanced
A guitar seen from a low angle
The body ellipse and the neck line set the whole perspective.
34 minadvanced
A wine glass reflecting a window
Reflections are hard-edged shapes; leave them as clean white.
30 minadvanced
A worn leather boot with laces undone
Laces are ribbons that twist; show at least one flat and one edge.
30 minadvanced
A toolbox with the lid open and tools inside
Establish the box in perspective, then fit tools to that space.
34 minadvanced
A game controller from a three-quarter angle
Symmetry in perspective: build a centre line and mirror across it.
30 minadvanced
A chair drawn from an unusual angle
Legs converge — check them against one vanishing point.
30 minadvanced
A Christmas bauble reflecting the room
Reflection wraps around the sphere and pinches at the edges.
28 minadvanced
A snowman against white snow with no outlines
Separate white from white with shadow only: a cool grey on the turning side of each ball, and the shadow it casts.
30 minadvanced
A Christmas tree lit only by its own lights
Shade the whole room darker than feels right first, then let only the branches nearest each bulb pick up light and colour.
36 minadvanced
A gold bauble with a hard highlight and dark reflections
Metal is mostly dark: put a near-black band right beside the brightest highlight and keep the gold in the mid tones.
32 minadvanced
A clear glass bauble with branches showing through it
Draw the branches behind it almost unchanged in the middle and bending near the rim, then add one small highlight and a thin bright edge.
30 minadvanced
Places and scenes
13 ideas
A doorway with light spilling across the floor
The light shape on the floor is a parallelogram, not a rectangle.
30 minadvanced
A staircase seen from the top step
Each step's front edge is parallel; the depths shrink going down.
34 minadvanced
A narrow alley with washing lines overhead
Two converging walls, one vanishing point, lines sag between them.
36 minadvanced
A train window with the landscape blurred
Near objects streak, far objects stay sharp. Reverse of instinct.
30 minadvanced
A pier stretching out over the water
Posts repeat with shrinking gaps; reflections sit directly below.
30 minadvanced
A greenhouse with plants pressed against the glass
Glass panes give a grid; plants break it irregularly.
34 minadvanced
A library aisle with shelves converging
One-point perspective; the book spines are texture, not objects.
34 minadvanced
A market stall piled with fruit
Pile shape first, individual fruit only along the front edge.
32 minadvanced
A forest path with light coming through the canopy
Light shafts are straight-edged; everything else stays soft.
34 minadvanced
A bus interior with empty seats
Seat backs repeat and shrink; the aisle is your vanishing line.
32 minadvanced
A snowy village with lit windows at dusk
Keep the sky darker than the snow; roofs are pale wedges, and only the windows get the warm colour.
40 minadvanced
A sledging hill with tiny figures at the bottom
The hill is one long curve; the figures and their tracks shrink and narrow as they get further away.
34 minadvanced
A living room on Christmas morning, seen from the floor
Set the eye level low, as if sitting on the rug; the tree and presents then tower above the horizon line.
45 minadvanced
Patterns and abstract
2 ideas
A mandala built from six repeating segments
Draw guide spokes first, then repeat one segment exactly.
40 minadvanced
A sketchbook cover made from your favourite subjects
Silhouettes only, tightly packed, no gaps larger than a fingertip.
45 minadvanced
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