3 Easy Sketchbook Ideas with a Fineliner

Making To Make Happy
Sep 20
4 min read

If you’re looking for fresh sketchbook ideas or fun ways to use a fineliner pen, this post is for you. Fineliners are one of the simplest yet most versatile art tools - perfect for doodling, drawing, or experimenting in your sketchbook. In this post (and in my YouTube video), I'm sharing easy creative fineliner drawing ideas. Each one is simple to start and playful to explore - the perfect antidote to a blank page!

There’s something so satisfying about picking up a fineliner and diving straight into a page. Simple, versatile, and wonderfully direct - fineliners are one of those art supplies that always spark ideas.

In my recent YouTube video I shared a handful of sketchbook ideas with fineliner prompts - here are three for you to try:

✨ Liney Shelves 🏰 Cardboard Castles 💃 Dampy-Dancer

Grab a fineliner pen, (and have a pot of water and a brush nearby for the last idea) and let’s doodle!

1. Liney Shelves

a hand holding a fineliner pen draws a line silhouette on white paper

This idea is like continuous line drawing, but with a playful twist. Start by drawing a horizontal line on from the side of your page - this will become your first “shelf.”

Then use that line to divert and draw the outline of something - anything! - that pops into your head. Maybe it’s a jar, a plant, a teacup, or an animal. When you finish the object, return your pen to the horizontal line and carry on to the next one. It’s as if you are drawing a shelf and all the things on the shelf, but just using one line.

Hand drawing black line art of vases, a plant, and a rabbit on white paper with a black pen. Minimalistic design in a calm setting.

It’s a great way to get your brain ticking, because narrowing things down to their most basic silhouettes can be challenging. And by using a fineliner for this, you have to commit to the idea in your head, and let it play out on the page. If it comes out a bit weird and wonky that’s ok - with every line you’re learning.

Hand holding notebook with simple black line drawing of vases, heart, and utensils.

As you near the edge of the page, drop the shelf line downwards and draw a new one flowing in the opposite direction. You’ll end up with multiple rows of shelves, each stacked with quirky silhouettes. As more shelves come into being, you might find some shapes overlap others and that’s fine, let them.

Hand draws black ink vases and plants on white paper, with intricate patterns and detail, creating a calm, creative atmosphere.

The beauty of this idea is that you don’t need to plan - it can be random, themed, or even like a word-association game where one drawing leads to the next. As you get to the bottom of the page and let the line exit off, you might be surprised at what a cool page you’ve made. If you want to take it further, go back in to add detail, patterns, or shading to the objects. Fill in some of the gaps and make them look like the things you intended them to be. It’s as if you’ve created a stream of consciousness and now you can dip your toes back in to make more sense of it.

Ink doodles of various objects on paper: vase, plant, rabbit, bird, flowers, bottle, key, lamp, teapot, butterfly, and house. Minimalist style.

What do you think - will you give it a try?

2. Cardboard Castles

This one starts with a few basic shapes. Draw a rocky mound at the bottom of the page. On top of that draw rectangle - then add some different sized rectangles around it.

Add triangles on top of the narrow rectangles to create rooftops, or add uppy-downy battlements, and suddenly you’ve got the makings of a castle.

Hand drawing a castle with pen on white paper. The illustration features towers and a large doorway. Simple, black ink line art.

Once you’ve sketched the main structure, decorate it with windows, doors, and brick textures. Here’s the fun trick: wherever you see an outer corner of a box, draw a tiny diagonal from it towards another box, and then colour in the little triangle it creates. When you repeat this, the whole thing starts to look like it’s built out of cardboard panels — hence the name Cardboard Castles.

Black and white sketch of a castle with arched windows and brick patterns. Wavy, striped lines suggest a textured landscape in the foreground.

You can keep it simple or go wild with details. Surround your castle with rocky cliffs, swirling skies, or even fantastical landscapes. Using a fineliner gives it a strong contrasty look that makes the page really pop.

This one became one of my favourites while filming - I ended up wanting to draw a whole series of buildings in this style!

Pen drawing of a castle on paper, detailed with towers and flags. Black pen labeled Staedtler nearby. Soft blue tone.

3. Dampy-Dancer

For something looser and more expressive, try sketching something in motion - I chose a dancer. (You’ll need your fineliner and (if possible) a little water for this one!)

Hand brushing water over a fineliner figure sketch on white paper, creating blurry lines.

Start by lightly brushing water onto your page, then draw quick, gestural lines with your pen. The damp paper softens the ink, giving your sketch a blurred, ghostly quality that can suggest motion. Keep your grip loose and focus on capturing basic shapes and directions of movement rather than detail.

Sketch of a person dancing energetically, arms raised. Drawn in black on white paper, notebook on wooden surface.

Once the page dries, you can go back in with your pen to add details and refine the figure. The watery under-sketch gives a softness beneath your stronger lines, keeping the drawing feeling gestural and playful.

This is a lovely way to practise capturing motion - and a reminder that sketchbook work doesn’t have to be “finished.” It’s about exploration, not perfection.