The Most Popular Thing to Draw, Ranked

Choose the thing you think is the most popular!

Author: Gregor Krambs
Updated on May 1, 2024 06:51
In a world brimming with creativity, every artist seeks inspiration, often wondering which subjects capture the collective imaginations of their fellow creators. A ranking system that sorts these popular drawing choices by general consensus can offer valuable insights, guiding aspiring artists towards widely admired themes and styles. This helps not only in skill development but also enhances a sense of community among artists. By participating in voting on such rankings, artists and enthusiasts contribute to a dynamic snapshot of current trends and preferences in the art world. This ongoing interaction ensures that the list remains relevant and reflective of real-time shifts in artistic interest. Each vote is a voice adding to a larger conversation, validating preferences and sometimes revealing surprising patterns in popularity across different communities.

What Is the Most Popular Thing to Draw?

  1. 1
    52
    votes
    People have always been fascinated with capturing the likeness of others, making portraits one of the most popular things to draw.
    Portraits are artistic representations of a person or a group of people, capturing their likeness and often their unique characteristics. They provide a visual representation that aims to convey the subject's personality, emotions, and inner essence. Portraits can be created using various mediums such as drawings, paintings, sculptures, or even digital illustrations.
    • Mediums: Drawings, paintings, sculptures, digital illustrations
    • Subjects: Individuals or groups of people
    • Purpose: To capture likeness and convey personality/emotions
    • Techniques: Realistic, abstract, impressionistic, or stylized
    • Styles: Classical, contemporary, modern, or avant-garde
  2. 2
    32
    votes
    The beauty of nature has always been a popular subject for artists, and landscapes offer a wide range of colors, textures, and shapes to draw from.
    Landscapes are visual representations of natural scenery and outdoor environments, capturing the beauty and essence of the land. They often depict various elements such as mountains, forests, rivers, meadows, and the sky, showcasing the interaction between nature and human presence.
    • Color palette: Vibrant and diverse colors representing various natural elements.
    • Composition: Balanced arrangement of elements to create a harmonious image.
    • Lighting: Capturing the play of light and shadows to add depth and atmosphere.
    • Perspective: Inclusion of foreground, middle-ground, and background to create depth and a sense of distance.
    • Detailing: Attention to intricate details, such as foliage, texture, and water reflections.
  3. 3
    16
    votes
    Whether it's pets or wild animals, people love drawing creatures of all kinds. The challenge of capturing their unique features and personalities makes animal drawing a popular pastime.
    Animals are diverse multicellular organisms that belong to the kingdom Animalia. They are characterized by their ability to move, consume organic material for energy, and have specialized sense organs. Animals inhabit various environments around the world, ranging from the oceans to deserts to forests and beyond. They play crucial roles in ecosystems, contributing to biodiversity and ecological balance. Animals can be found in all shapes, sizes, and colors, fascinating us with their beauty, agility, and unique adaptations.
    • Classification: Kingdom Animalia
    • Mobility: Ability to move
    • Nutrition: Consumption of organic material
    • Sense organs: Specialized organs for sensing the environment
    • Habitats: Wide range of environments
  4. 4
    13
    votes
    Still life
    Willem Kalf · Public domain

    Still life

    Édouard Manet
    Arranging objects and drawing them from life has long been a popular subject for artists. The challenge of capturing light, shadow, and texture makes still life drawing a great way to improve one's skills.
    Still life is a genre of painting that focuses on depicting inanimate objects such as fruits, flowers, and everyday objects. It typically showcases these objects arranged in a composition, often against a neutral background. Still life paintings aim to capture the essence and beauty of these objects in a realistic or impressionistic manner.
    • Style: Impressionism
    • Subject Matter: Inanimate objects
    • Composition: Arranged objects
    • Background: Neutral
    • Realism: Realistic or impressionistic
  5. 5
    11
    votes
    From political satire to superhero adventures, comics and cartoons are a popular way to tell stories and make people laugh.
    Comics and cartoons is a popular form of visual storytelling that combines illustrations, sequential panels, and dialogue to convey narratives in a humorous or satirical manner. It involves creating characters, often with exaggerated features, and placing them in various situations to evoke emotions and entertain the audience.
    • Illustrations: Characters and scenes are typically depicted through drawings or illustrations.
    • Sequential Panels: The story is divided into panels arranged in sequence to portray a series of events.
    • Dialogue: Speech bubbles or captions are used to convey conversations and narratives.
    • Humor: Comics and cartoons often employ humor, satire, or wit to engage the audience.
    • Exaggeration: Characters may have exaggerated physical features or personalities for comedic effect.
  6. 6
    10
    votes
    The popularity of fantasy novels, movies, and video games has led to a growing interest in drawing creatures, characters, and worlds from the imagination.
    Fantasy art refers to a genre of art that explores imaginative and fantastical elements. It involves creating artwork that is inspired by myths, legends, fairy tales, and imaginary worlds. Fantasy art often depicts otherworldly creatures, mystical landscapes, epic battles, and magical elements.
    • Subject Matter: Myths, legends, fairy tales, imaginary creatures, magical landscapes
    • Imagination: Fantasy art relies heavily on the artist's imagination to bring mystical elements to life.
    • Creativity: Artists often push the boundaries of reality to create unique and fantastical artworks.
    • Detailing: Fantasy art can showcase intricate details in creature design, armor, weapons, and environments.
    • Color Palette: Vibrant and bold colors are often used to enhance the magical and fantastical elements.
  7. 7
    12
    votes

    Fashion design

    Charles Frederick Worth
    Whether it's creating new outfits or sketching designs for existing ones, fashion drawing is a popular way to express creativity and stay on top of the latest trends.
    Fashion design is the art of creating and designing clothing, accessories, and other items related to the fashion industry. It involves the process of conceptualizing, sketching, and creating unique and aesthetically pleasing designs that reflect current trends and individual style. Fashion design combines creativity, technical skills, and market knowledge to produce innovative and wearable garments.
    • Creativity: Fashion design allows for endless opportunities to explore and express one's creative vision.
    • Technical Skills: Designers need a deep understanding of fabric, pattern-cutting, sewing, and other technical aspects to bring their ideas to life.
    • Trend Analysis: A key aspect of fashion design is the ability to identify and predict trends, and incorporate them into designs.
    • Individual Style: Fashion design enables individuals to showcase their unique style and personality through their creations.
    • Innovation: Designers push boundaries and challenge traditional norms, constantly striving to create something new and innovative.
  8. 8
    5
    votes

    Cars and vehicles

    Various artists
    From classic muscle cars to futuristic spaceships, people love drawing and designing their favorite modes of transportation.
    Cars and vehicles is a popular theme in the world of art and drawing. It encompasses a wide range of subjects related to automobiles and other types of vehicles. Artists often create intricate and detailed illustrations of cars, motorcycles, trucks, boats, planes, and more. This theme allows for a diverse exploration of various makes, models, and styles of vehicles.
    • Wide Variety: Encompasses cars, motorcycles, trucks, boats, planes, and more
    • Detail-oriented: Artists often focus on capturing the intricate features and design elements of vehicles
    • Realism or Stylized: Can be drawn in a realistic style or with a more stylized and artistic approach
    • Different mediums: Artists use various mediums like pencil, pen, ink, markers, digital tools, and more
    • Mechanical accuracy: Included in drawings is often attention to mechanical accuracy and technical systems
  9. 9
    15
    votes
    The art of beautiful handwriting has been popular for centuries, with many people still practicing it today as a form of meditation and self-expression.
    Calligraphy is a visual art form that involves the design and execution of elegant and decorative handwriting. It is characterized by flowing lines, precise strokes, and attention to detail. Calligraphy is often used in artistic and ceremonial writing, such as wedding invitations, certificates, and religious texts.
    • Styles: Calligraphy encompasses various styles and scripts, including Gothic, Italic, Copperplate, Uncial, and more.
    • Tools: Calligraphy is executed using specialized tools, such as pens, brushes, quills, or reeds. Each tool offers a unique effect and flexibility.
    • Ink: Ink is an essential component of calligraphy. Traditional calligraphy ink is made from natural materials, such as carbon black, while modern variations include various colors.
    • Letterforms: The art of calligraphy emphasizes the beauty and proportions of letterforms. Each letter is carefully crafted using specific strokes and techniques.
    • Line Variation: Calligraphy showcases a wide range of line thickness and variation. Thin and thick lines are achieved through pressure control or pen angle adjustments.
  10. 10
    7
    votes
    Abstract art
    Hilma af Klint · Public domain

    Abstract art

    Wassily Kandinsky
    For those who want to break free from the constraints of realism, abstract art offers a wide range of possibilities for expressing emotions, ideas, and concepts through shape, color, and form.
    Abstract art is a style of visual art that does not attempt to depict an accurate representation of visual reality. Instead, it emphasizes visual form, color, line, and composition to create a unique portrayal of emotions, ideas, or concepts. Abstract art often employs non-traditional techniques and materials to convey its message. It can be interpreted subjectively, and viewers may find a range of meanings and emotions within the artwork.
    • Style: Non-representational
    • Subject: Emotions, ideas, or concepts
    • Techniques: Unconventional methods
    • Materials: Varied, including but not limited to paint, ink, collage, and mixed media
    • Focus: Visual form, color, line, and composition

Missing your favorite thing?

Graphs
Discussion

Ranking factors for popular thing

  1. Difficulty
    Drawings that are more complex or require a greater level of skill may be more highly regarded than simpler ones.
  2. Cultural significance
    Drawings that reflect cultural or historical significance may be more popular among certain audiences.
  3. Style
    Some drawing styles may be more popular than others, such as realistic drawings or cartoon caricatures.
  4. Medium
    Different drawing mediums may have varying degrees of popularity, such as pencil, ink, or digital drawing.

About this ranking

This is a community-based ranking of the most popular thing to draw. We do our best to provide fair voting, but it is not intended to be exhaustive. So if you notice something or thing is missing, feel free to help improve the ranking!

Statistics

  • 1626 views
  • 177 votes
  • 10 ranked items

Voting Rules

A participant may cast an up or down vote for each thing once every 24 hours. The rank of each thing is then calculated from the weighted sum of all up and down votes.

Categories

More information on most popular thing to draw

Artists and doodlers alike have been drawing for centuries. From cave paintings to modern digital art, drawing has been a way for humans to express themselves and capture the world around them. But what exactly are people drawing these days? According to StrawPoll data, the most popular thing to draw is animals. From cats and dogs to lions and tigers, people love to capture the beauty and personality of the animal kingdom on paper. Other popular subjects include landscapes, people, and still life objects. With so many options, it's no wonder that drawing continues to be a beloved pastime for people of all ages and skill levels.

Share this article