25 Easy Drawing Ideas for Fall

Yesterday there was a knock at my door. Early. Persistent.

It was Matthew, my 9 year old nephew, "Can we draw?"

Matthew loves to draw. He has the blend of a natural gift and tenacious curiosity  to get better.

And recently, he's been after me to help him draw. What he really needs help with is ideas. Once he knows what he wants to draw, he's pretty good to go on his own with only minimal interaction.

That is the hard part of drawing. A blank page stares at you as you tap your pencil and look blankly back, wondering what to sketch.

Sketching is like stretching before a jog. You can go for a run before stretching but it usually doesn't go so well. Spending a few minutes stretching helps the exercise day go so much better. If you, like Matthew, want to sketch, know sketching helps so much in the other art pursuits, but don't know what to sketch, I've got some ideas to help you.

Matthew inspired me to come up with a go-to list for things to draw.

Since we're smack in the middle of fall, I thought I would go for a fall theme.

1. Pumpkin.

I love sketching (and painting) pumpkins. There is so much to see. Check out a pumpkin. Look at where the light reflects off it and where the shadows seem to gravitate to it. Examine the stem- is it long or short, fat or skinny, straight or curvy. Are there leaves attached to it?

For an even more diverse sketch, draw a  group of pumpkins.  Sketch different sizes of pumpkins.

There are so many varieties of pumpkins. Don't just make one kind. Try fat ones and tall ones, Cinderella pumpkins and white pumpkins. Observe how the colors change and vary.

2. Geese

The geese are flying south, or hanging out in the abandoned field. Depending on where you are may indicate where the geese are and what they are doing. If you can see them live, take a moment to sketch their long necks, their unique faces and strong, short legs.

Just like the pumpkins, there are different kinds of geese. Perhaps the Canadian geese are hanging out in the field near your home. I passed through a town today where a bunch of swans make an annual landing as they fly through on their way to a different winter home.

3. Trees
4. Pile of leaves

There may be nothing more daunting than trying to sketch a pile of leaves. Where does one start? Try thinking out of the box with it. Draw a careful outline and then use crosshatching techniques to show the texture of the leaves. I like to pull out a few individual leaves and make the rest look smooshed.  Add some fall colors and let them blend in to one another to show the variation.

5. House with windows lit- can you make it fallish?

What does a fall-home look like?

Perhaps there are leaves scattered on the front steps with a rake leaning against it. Is there a tree, void of leaves, hanging over the roof? Add a wreath of branches and fall leaves on the front door, a pumpkin on the porch or in the window sill. Perhaps there are piles of leaves on the ground or a tree shedding its leaves and going bare for the winter.

6. A single leaf. (or a group of leaves!)

In the class I'm taking from Junelle Jacobson right now, she started us off with a leaf sketch study. I loved that study. Junelle encouraged us to examine the leaves where we live, to look closer at the colors, the shape and the textures. Then we added some unexpected color. It's easy to get stuck in a rut with seasons. Taking time to observe helps us to see things we didn't notice before. Sometimes I'm in a rush and I sketch from memory. These sketches aren't as good as when I do a sketch study of a certain item, looking at it, smelling it, holding it.

7. A beach chair on a porch with a pumpkin on it.

Another sketch inspired by Junelle. After her leading I expanded out my sketch to include a row of pumpkins and a sign. Learning from another teacher is so much fun and helps us grow.

8. A bicycle leaning on a fence
9. Leaves falling off a tree
10. A piece of apple pie. Or the whole apple pie.

Does anything say "fall" like a fresh baked apple pie?

1. Pears: 3 in a row

Each pear has a unique shape. When you set them against one another, they lean different ways. There are various grades of color on each one. Put them in a sunny spot so you can see where the shadows fall. Sketch the shadows in too.

2. A bowl of apples
3. A stack of school books with an apple on top and a coffee cup on the side of the books.
4. A front porch scene.

I made this one (up at the top) after watching Junelle sketch for the Art of Holiday Goodness Class. As she sketched I got inspired and created my own.

5. A wheelbarrow with a pile of leaves. Or pumpkins. Or empty.
6. Scarecrows.

I've got a couple of scarecrows I bought from Michael's.  When I sketch them, I may add a fence or some long stalks of wheat or corn or maybe a pumpkin patch. Add a bird on the scarecrows shoulder for a bit of extra fun.

7. A party scene with our without people.

Set out pieces of pie or pumpkin bread. Add a cube of butter on a pretty plate. Or maybe you prefer a pot of soup with a crusty loaf of bread and big mugs of cider.  Yum. Sketching makes me hungry.  This one was another inspiration from Junelle. I took off running with it.

8. Girls in boots.

There are so many different types of boots. I learned all about this in Christy Tomlinson's Boot Girls class. My goodness! I've started to look at boots with new eyes!

Pinterest and Instagram are great resources to looking for boots, especially during this time of year.

9. Kitty cats curled up, trying to stay warm in the middle of a fall day.

How do animals look differently in autumn vs. the summer? Do they position themselves differently? Are they as alert as they normally are or do they sleep more? Do they have a new favorite chair or cushion that emphasizes the change in season?

1. Or dogs.

I'm partial to kitties in my drawings (thought I love both cats and dogs). It's probably because my nephew's cat often sleeps on my bed or in the middle of my art work so we've created a bit of a bond. Do you have a pet who hangs around? They could be the perfect model for you to sketch!

1. A fireplace hearth.

A fireplace and hearth can seem a bit like winter but many of these sketches can be altered for the season.

What makes a heart more "fall-ish?"  Is there a trio of pumpkins next to it? Are there fall candles lit on the case next to it? Is there a twiggy wreath above the fireplace? Is there something fall-ish on the mantle?  Can we see out the window to the side? Perhaps the wind is blowing leaves by?

2. Fall coats and umbrellas.

I use Pinterest for almost all of my clothing and fashion sketches. I'm loving the boots, big coats, and umbrellas in so many images. Oh, and the coffee cups in hands along with the big purses- so much fun to draw (and I love it when my people have something in their hands so I don't have to sketch the hands!)

3. Coffee and tea cups.

Whether you enjoy your beverages at home or in your local Starbucks, look at the unique shapes of the cups, mugs and to-go travel cups for coffee and tea.

I've often set up a row of different sized cups and sketched them, noticing their shape. How does light reflect off of them? What is inside those delightful cups? What do autumn coffee cups look like (vs. spring or winter?)

4. What's growing in your garden?

My sister in law shared the neatest website with me. It tells you what you should plant in the region you live in at any time of the year. This website started me on a hunt to see what other people are growing. People with green thumbs are in the know about what to grow! I may never be a terribly successful gardener, but I love observing what other people are doing.

5. The autumn kitchen

I cook differently in the fall than I do in the spring or summer.  Bread loaf pans get pulled out. I make pies a lot during the fall season. Soups and stews are a weekly event. The crock-pot gets dusted off and we make roasts. Yes, I realize I could do all of this during the rest of the year but I don't. ]

How about you? What are you making differently?

The lovely characteristic of the fall table is that the food doesn't run away! (like the kids, the cat, the leaves blowing down the street).

Take five minutes to create a sketch of the table.

O.k. your turn. What are some ideas for a seasonal fall sketch? Tell us in the comments below!

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