Get Your Creative Ideas Flowing!
Ready for some fun art ideas and drawing prompts? I’ve been a public school teacher for 18 years (yay, high school and middle school!), and though I’m technically labeled an English or ELA instructor, I also consider myself an art teacher.
What makes me an art teacher, you ask? Each and every day, and in any project in my “English class,” I infuse visual and creative expression, including art and drawing prompts and ideas. Why, I’m even a cartoonist, myself! I know the freedom and happiness that come from artistic expression for both kids and adults, and the dejection that neglecting it breeds.

In addition to teaching and making creative drawings, I’m also a traveler. This means that in the past 10 years of running this site, I’ve amassed some perfect photos and articles for art prompts, craft projects, and drawing inspiration.
Are these Art and Drawing Prompts for Kids?
These imaginative art ideas and drawing prompts are designed to get your creativity flowing, whoever you are: adult, teen, child, teacher, homeschooling family, parent… anyone! That’s why the title says “Drawing Prompts for Kids AND ADULTS!” Each activity is flexible to be done in a variety of media to fit your preferences.
Plus, while you get your art on, you’ll also be taking an educational tour of arts around the world! Got your art supplies ready? Great — let’s take off…
Art and Drawing Prompts for Kids and Adults!
40+ ideas from around the world to get creativity flowing! Art and drawing prompts and for kids, adults, teachers, homeschooling families, teens, and anyone who loves inspiration to create!
Make Your Own Lantern: A Fun Crafts Project
Arts and crafts fun: How to create colorful lanterns with empty soda bottles and tissue paper!
Draw the View from the Tallest Building
Seeing these images from the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, one of the tallest buildings in the world, design your own building and show what it looks like to peer down from it.
Model Unique and Funny Poses
Inspired by these pictures, draw or act out and photograph the most unique, ridiculous, funny, or pleasing poses for modern modeling!
Make Your Own Wild Bicycle
Browse photos of the thousands of historic, famous, nostalgic, and bizarre vintage bikes from the "Bicycle Heaven" Pittsburgh, PA museum and draw your own unique two-wheel transport.
Design Colorful Quilt Patterns
Either using visual art (paints, colored pencils, etc.) or actual textiles, let these famous historic quilt patterns from the Pilgrim and Roy collection (photographed here at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston) transport your imagination.
Sketch or Paint an Ornate Doorway
Use these fabulously decorated portals from Jaipur, India to dream up your own delicious door design.
Create a Neighborhood Plan with a Creative Theme
Browse these photos of the Fishtown neighborhood of Philadelphia which is totally decorated by fish designs. Draw a new neighborhood plan which features another motif (repeated pattern)!
Imagine Your Own Studio in this Art Colony
If you could have your own art studio in Lowe Mill, a 250-artist colony in Huntsville, Alabama, what would it look like? What would you sell, and how would it be arranged? Sketch your dream space.
What if You Were on a Billboard Advertisement?
Read this shocking story of how I ended up on a highway billboard in West Africa without my knowledge, and then draw: what kind of billboard could YOU end up on?
Be Inspired by Chihuly's Bright Glass Art
Dale Chihuly is one of the most famous glass art creators in the world, and his rainbow-colored glass museum in Seattle, Washington will set your mind racing with creative ideas. If you have clay or Play Dough, see if you can re-create some of the curling and twisting shapes pictured here. You can also use watercolors or colored pencils (or digital art) to mimic the bright colors swirling together.
Make a Mosaic Decoration... for an Old Coal Mine!
Browse the shocking way that Rachel Sager has decorated this abandoned coal mine using mosaics from around the world... and consider sending her your submission to add to the growing museum! If you don't have real mosaic tiles, use cut up shapes of colored paper, and glue them on cardboard.
Envision Fixing Up an Old Building Using Art and Color
Inspired by these building transformations in the Pietermaai District Curaçao, pick an old building in your neighborhood and imagine how you would use fresh construction and color to revitalize it.
See Blacksmithing Classes
Ever dreamed of using a forge to heat metal and pound it into artistic shapes? See dramatic photos and video from blacksmithing classes at one of the top crafts schools in America. Anvil, forge, hammer, and other wonderful tools to help create!
Make Decorative Rock Formations
Check out these unique rock formations ("karsts") in Vinales, Cuba, and draw an imaginary town which mixes natural stone formations and buildings, of if you don't mind getting dirty, make the formations out of real rocks and mud for a mini town.
Dream Up Giant Colorful Murals
Look at the way the Massachusetts modern art museum, MASS MoCA, mixes large-scale paintings and installations to invite the visitor to explore (internally as well as externally). Sketch a giant art installation that you would want to create, and see if you can embed symbols and messages like these do.
Plan A 3-Billion Dollar Hotel (Gold Plating Optional)
What kind of hotel would you build for three BILLION dollars? Check out this gold-plated, opulent palace resort from Emirates Palace in the United Arab Emirates for ideas...
Get Ideas for a Children's Picture Book
Examine these famous illustrations from the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, MA by of the man who wrote "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" for inspiration on ways to design children's books. You may want to even try out Carle's method of making an illustration by gluing colored tissue paper collages!
Play With Fancy Food Art and Plating
Food can be art! Browse these photos from a fancy 12-course meal in the culinary town of Portland, Maine, then design your own artisanal dish that would be both tasty and beautiful. You can either draw this or really make it, using the natural colors of food.
Imagine a House Made Bright by Weird Found Objects Like Randyland
In Randyland, a man in Pittsburgh, PA bought a derelict house and decorated the whole thing with wild color and zany curios -- many of which people were throwing away. If you had the opportunity to design a whole courtyard with items from the trash or recycling, then paint it, what would it look like? You could even create your own mini version in a shoe box.
Sketch a House That's Intertwined With Nature Like Fallingwater
Look at photos of the architectural brilliance of Fallingwater, the house in Pennsylvania by Frank Lloyd Wright: how connects the house with the waterfall below (falling water!), how the natural stone outside becomes part of the kitchen, and how the exterior forest blends perfectly with the home. Now, sketch a house of your own that would meld with a natural setting.
Stare Into the Eyes of a Llama and Create Art from It!
Just look at these hilarious llama faces!!! I challenge you to draw them in different ways: cute, comical (and WOW, some of those expressions are comical), dramatic, and fine art-sy.
Build "Gingerbread Houses" From Old Bread and Raisins
Try this crafts (and food!) activity with your family to build healthy "gingerbread houses" from good-for-you ingredients... and learn STEM skills in the process!
Use Juxtaposition in Art
Explore the technique of juxtaposing two contrasting things next to each other, using this tutorial to learn how.
Design Comfortable, Cute Dresses Like These
In 2010, my friend Sarah founded the Leota fashion company, which is now a leading creator of comfortable, colorful, washable dresses. Looking at her styles, create an outfit design of your own that women could wear from day to evening!
Design Tiny Planes Like These at Great Barrington, MA Airport
Super small airplanes are so cute and dramatic! If you could design your own mini plane, what would it look like?
Sketch the Faces of Birds of Prey Like Owls and Falcons
Gaze at these photos of fierce birds in flight at the Birds of Prey Show in Mont Tremblant, Quebec, then draw your own.
Make Magical Portal Stones Like The Burren in Ireland
Look at these ancient rock formations in Ireland which were created by humans 5,000-6,000 years ago on a rocky landscape that looks like the moon. Design your own rock formations and consider adding in depictions of the people who might have built them.
Ink Unique Flowers and Butterfly Wings
Try your hand at sketching some of the unique and exotic flowers found at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Pittsburgh, PA. Some of the blossoms already look like faces... can you make them into characters?
Design a Photography Playground
Which backdrops and props make the most interesting, funny, and engaging photos? Explore this "photo playground" called Happy Place for bizarre ideas. Consider putting together your own pop-up Instagramming studio with bright colors and unique props that friends can use to shoot creative pictures in!
Do You Want Money, Fame, Honor, or Love? A Story from My Middle School Students to Inspire You...
Think: What is most important to you in compensation or payment for the art you create? Read this story to see what one student choose in return for the picture his classmates wanted so much to have.
Drool Over This Art Gallery's Creative Crafts in PA
Wander through the rooms of this world-class art gallery in a small town in Pennsylvania. Check out the fine woodworking (the seams on the chairs are mind-blowing), the giant metal butterfly chair, and the vine-shaped knives for ideas about your own crafts!
Explore Famous Forts of Old San Juan, Puerto Rico
Fortresses guarding an island from sea attacks are naturally dramatic. Design your own sea-side fort, inspired by these famed PR ones.
Be Wowed by the Cathedral of Learning in Pittsburgh
The tallest educational building in the world, the Pitt's Cathedral of Learning in Pennsylvania, has a set of "Nationality Rooms" which are decorated with the historic tradition of different countries. Browse these photos and then design your own "Nationality Room" to represent a culture you love -- or even your local neighborhood!
Travel Back With the Oracle of Delphi in Greece
The famous woman who predicted the future in Delphi, Greece lived among these misty mountains. Sketch what she might have looked like, along with the people who came to ask for her advice about what to do.
Join the Graffiti Artists of Central Square in Cambridge, MA
What would you paint in Graffiti Alley in Boston, the famous public art wall that's open to anyone to add on to?
Be Alone at a Luxury Resort on a Caribbean Island
Imagine you won a trip to travel alone to a beautiful hotel on a Caribbean island. Draw (ideally in color) what it would look like, and what you'd do there during your solo vacation.
How to Decorate Your Home in Photo Collages of Travel
This is a hands-on project to create photo collages from inexpensive prints and secondhand picture frames.
Be Inspired by the Inside the Taj Mahal, India
The Taj Mahal in Agra, India is the world's most famous monument to LOVE. If you could design a building or sculpture to represent how you envision or think about love (or another emotion), what would it look like and why?
What Would YOU Buy at This Great Turkish Arts Market?
The markets in Turkey are known for bright colors and glowing glass and ceramics. Look through these photos and see what you could design in reaction.
Imagine a Dog Costume Fashion Show Like This
Create a winning dog costume! Extra points for funny puns or clever mash-ups. Just remember to be kind to our canine friends and not put a pup in anything that will make it uncomfortable if you actually create an outfit.
Envision Hiking Mayan Ruins in Xunantunich, Belize
Read about these ancient ruins in the Central American country of Belize, and sketch what life might have been like, living amid those pyramids.
Make a Neon Billboard Like Times Square, New York City
If you could create a neon billboard to light up NYC's Times Square, what would it be of, and how would you make it flashy enough to attract attention amid all the distractions?
Create a Local Emporium Like Boston Public Market
If you were to design a market featuring local flair from where you live, what would it include? Think about food, crafts, materials, motifs, and other famous nearby elements.
Latrobe, PA: Tour Mister Rogers' Actual Neighborhood
Looking at these photos of the puppets and props from the Mister Rogers "Land of Make Believe," what would YOU want to have in your imaginary city? You can sketch it or actually create puppets and props for a performance.
Martha's Vineyard's Gingerbread Cottages Are So Cool!
Ever imagined a wooden house could be this ornate? Sketch your own house design, inspired by these cottages that look like cookies or cake!
Find Ideas in the Gold and Spice Souks of Dubai
Intrigued by designing with gold? Walk the Gold Souk of the UAE in Dubai and ogle these huge necklaces and vests made of the precious metal, then design a gold-plated outfit of your own.
Base Art on a Great Wall of China Hike
What would it be like to climb the Great Wall of China? Sketch yourself on the wall, or imagine what people who built or used it long ago were like.
Design an Ideal Town, Riffing Off Quebec City
What would your ideal city to visit look like? Inspired by my commentary on what made Quebec City, Canada so great, sketch and label (or make an actual small model) of your ideal tourist town.
Design Your Own Castle, Inspired by Ireland's Bunratty Folk Park
See photos of this real castle in Ireland, and design your own stone palace.
Make a Mansion Like Newport, Rhode Island's Cliff Walk Ones
View these massive and opulent mansions which are set next to an ocean cliff in Rhode Island, and design your own dream house! Alternately, take on the challenge in the article to sketch how the money used to build the house could have been used for a specific other purpose...
Dream With Ancient Greek and Roman Ruins in Ephesus, Turkey
Look at these half-fallen buildings and sketch what they might have looked like in their full glory -- including the ancient toilets pictured!
Did these Art and Drawing Prompts Inspire YOU?
So, which creative suggestions and art and drawing prompts most sang to you? If you tried any of them, do share your experiences and products so we can celebrate your work! And feel free to check out my other website which is fully focused on art, Drawings Of. If you have suggestions for modifications or additions, do leave a comment. Thanks for sharing!

Looking for focus time to work on your art? Check out my review of these art retreats for artists and writers — scholarships available!

The author, Lillie Marshall, is a 6-foot-tall National Board Certified Teacher of English, fitness fan, and mother of two who has been a public school educator since 2003. She launched Around the World “L” Travel and Life Blog in 2009, and over 4.2 million readers have now visited this site. Lillie also runs TeachingTraveling.com and DrawingsOf.com. Subscribe to her monthly newsletter, and follow @WorldLillie on social media!
Farrah
Thursday 7th of May 2020
Aww, these are awesome! I haven't drawn anything for the longest time. I used to take art classes when I was in high school and didn't realize that I've really missed drawing. It'd be a great quarantine activity to pick up! :P
Lillie Marshall
Saturday 9th of May 2020
Yes! Do it!!!
Merryl Fernandes
Wednesday 6th of May 2020
These are some cool suggestions. Itching to try some out.
Lillie Marshall
Wednesday 6th of May 2020
Curious which art prompt you'll pick first!
Sabine
Tuesday 5th of May 2020
It's great to combine art and travel and to get nice travel inspiration from all over the world. I should spent more time in creating art and combine it with my passions, which are food, photography and travel.
Biana
Monday 4th of May 2020
This is amazing, I love all these inspirations and colors. Thank you for sharing all these pictures.
Lillie Marshall
Wednesday 6th of May 2020
My pleasure!
Max
Tuesday 14th of April 2020
Great collection!
Lillie Marshall
Tuesday 14th of April 2020
Thanks, Max!