Free Sketchbook Prompt Jar
Sketchbook prompts to print, cut out and pull from a jar. Choose a medium, a subject and a difficulty from 603 hand-written prompts, add your own, and print them as slips with cut lines, 24, 30 or 40 to a page, with a label for the jar. Or pull today's slip on screen. Exports PDF. Free, with no sign-up, and it runs in your browser.
Today’s slip from this jar
Page 1 of 2Slips 1 to 0
Print at 100 %, cut along the dashed lines, fold each slip and put it in the jar. Pull one when you do not know what to draw.
Jar jar001 · 0 slips, no two alike · Every subject and medium · A4. Made into a PDF in your browser; nothing is uploaded.
Read all 0 slips in this jar
603 hand-written prompts.Nine subjects, nine media and three levels of difficulty. Choose all of them or narrow the jar to one.
Slips with cut lines.24, 30 or 40 to a page, or 12 in large print. Every cut is shared by two slips, so there is no waste to trim.
Your own prompts too.Add up to 200 of your own. They go into the jar first and stay on your device.
No two slips alike.A jar never holds the same prompt twice, however large it is.
- Free
- No sign-up
- Runs entirely in your browser
What are sketchbook prompts?
Sketchbook prompts are short, specific instructions for a drawing: a subject to look at, a limit to work within, or a small problem to solve. They take away the hardest part of a sketchbook session, which is deciding what to draw. Written on slips and pulled from a jar, they take away the choosing as well.
How to use the Sketchbook Prompt Jar
The tool takes 6 steps, all on your device.
Choose a Medium, a Subject and a Difficulty, or leave them at Any.
Type your own prompts under My own prompts, one to a line. They go in first.
Choose Slips to a page and Pages of slips. The preview shows the page as it will print.
Leave Jar label page on for a label for the jar's side and one for its lid.
Choose Download PDF, print at 100 % and cut along the dashed lines.
Fold the slips into a jar. For a slip without printing, read Today's slip or choose Pull another.
What the Sketchbook Prompt Jar does
The Sketchbook Prompt Jar makes a jar to print, for all media or one, in large print if wanted, with labels and a slip for today.
A jar you can print
Among the drawing practice tools, this one ends on paper. The PDF is all lettering and line, sharp at any size.
A jar for one medium
Make a graphite jar, an ink jar or a watercolour jar: every slip in it suits the medium on your table.
Large print
Twelve slips to a page, with lettering no smaller than 9 point, for a classroom wall or tired eyes.
Labels for the jar
A side label 100 × 60 mm and a round lid label 60 mm across, with your own words on them.
Today's slip
The page pulls one slip for the day from your jar. Pull another if it does not suit.
The same jar again
A code in the address and on every page fills the jar with the same prompts next time.
How it compares with other sketchbook prompt pages
Each was used in a browser on 2 October 2026. Only what was seen is stated.
| Feature | This tool | DrawingPrompt.com | Artsydee 100+ sketchbook prompts |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | A jar of slips to print, and one to pull on screen | A prompt on screen, one at a time | An article with a list of prompts |
| Cut-out slips with cut lines | Yes | Its Print button prints the page with one prompt | Not seen |
| Choosing by medium, subject and difficulty | Yes | By theme: fantasy, pet, anime, kids | No |
| Your own prompts added | Yes | Not seen | No |
| The same set again from a code | Yes | Not seen | It is one fixed list |
| What it asks for first | Nothing | Nothing | An email address, for its printable templates |
| Other servers the page contacted | None | 44 | 112 |
DrawingPrompt.com also has a daily challenge and a pass-and-play game, and its saved prompts export as a text file. Artsydee's printable is a set of drawing templates, not slips.
For anyone facing a blank page
Sketchbook keepers, teachers and students draw a slip from it when the page is blank.
Sketchbook keepers
Pull a slip when the page is empty and the kettle is on.
Teachers
Print a jar for the room, in large print, and let early finishers pull from it.
Students
Fill a jar with beginner prompts in one medium and work through it a slip a day.
Sketch prompts on slips of paper
A prompt jar is an old studio habit: write things to draw on slips, fold them, and pull one out when you cannot decide. The pulling matters. A list on a screen invites you to scroll for a better one; a slip in the hand is the one you got.
Writing ninety slips by hand is an evening's work. This page prints them, cut lines and all, from prompts written for this site by hand. None was scraped from elsewhere or produced in bulk by a machine.
What goes into the jar
The prompts cover portrait, figure, animal, still life, landscape, urban, fantasy, abstract and master study, in graphite, charcoal, coloured pencil, ink, watercolour, oil, acrylic, pastel and digital, at beginner, intermediate and advanced level. Each choice narrows the jar; the page says how many prompts match before you print.
Your own prompts go in first, then the jar is filled from the matching prompts in an order set by the jar's code. A slip that reads the same as one already in the jar is left out, whether it is yours or the database's.
Printing and cutting
The slips fill the page inside a 13 mm margin, in a grid with no gaps, so one cut separates two slips. The size of a slip is printed at the top of the page, with a rule exactly 100 mm long: if your ruler agrees with the rule, the printer did not shrink the page. Print at 100 %, or Actual size.
The lettering is as large as each prompt allows. A short prompt prints large; a long one is set smaller so that it still fits whole. On the large-print page nothing is smaller than 9 point.
Ideas for sketchbook drawings, one a day
You do not have to print anything. Today's slip is pulled from the jar you have set up, and it is the same all day, so you can come back to it. If it does not suit, Pull another goes through the rest of the jar, in the order set for the day, without repeating. Tomorrow the order is different.
For a single prompt with a time limit and a brief, use the drawing prompt generator. For a month of prompts on a calendar, the art challenge generator.
What it leaves out
It does not keep a record of which slips you have drawn. Your own prompts are kept on this device and are not carried in a shared link. The slips print on plain paper to be cut by hand; there are no perforated sheets. The lettering is in one typeface, and characters it cannot draw are replaced.
Further reading
The page below goes further into the ideas the Sketchbook Prompt Jar works with, and opens on the site named beside it.
- Drawing and painting lessons on Artistic Masterclass (ArtisticMasterclass.com)
Tips from a working artist
From Sujith Puthran, artist and founder: what I actually do at the easel.
I keep one jar for ten-minute drawings and another for long ones. Pulling from the wrong jar on a busy day is how a sketchbook stalls.
When a slip annoys me I draw it anyway. The prompts I would not have chosen are the ones that move the sketchbook somewhere new.
Questions about the Sketchbook Prompt Jar
The 6 questions below cover what to draw, how a jar is made, your own ideas and repeat jars, then printing and privacy.
The jar
What should I draw in my sketchbook?
Pull a slip to find what to draw in your sketchbook. If you have no jar yet, read Today's slip at the top of the tool: it is one prompt from the jar you have set up, and it stays the same all day.
How do I make a prompt jar?
Choose the prompts, download the PDF, print it at 100 %, cut along the dashed lines, fold the slips and put them in any jar. The last page has a label for the side and one for the lid.
Can I add my own sketchbook page ideas?
Yes, you can add your own sketchbook page ideas. Type them under My own prompts, one to a line. They go into the jar first and are kept on your device.
Can I get the same jar again?
Yes, you can get the same jar again. The jar's code is in the address and on every page. The same code with the same choices fills the jar with the same prompts.
Printing and privacy
How many slips fit on a page?
A page fits 24, 30 or 40 slips, or 12 in large print, on A4 or US Letter. The size of a slip is shown beside the choice and printed on the page.
Does the Sketchbook Prompt Jar upload anything?
No, the Sketchbook Prompt Jar does not upload anything. The jar is filled and the PDF is made in your browser, your own prompts stay on your device, and the page contacts no other server.
A jar of slips from 603 hand-written prompts and your own, ready to print and cut.
Free · No sign-up · Runs in your browser