what things can i draw?

I, too, agree with maddysun... about Ismlamic art in architecture.

They have done enormously beautiful Calligraphy [of Allah's or the prophet's words or rubaiyat from Koran] that give an appearance of floral designs, geometric patterns, etc. [I would say, it was a good basis for Fractal Art.] So check out some of these Calligraphic techniques eg. Taj Mahal, Aya Sophiya, etc.

Here are some images :

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=calligraphic+d...

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Islamic+callig...

http://www.google.co.in/images?um=1&hl=en&client=o...

http://www.google.co.in/images?client=opera&rls=en...

http://www.indianetzone.com/34/calligraphy_taj_mah...

Bsides, you could also try out some of these formats / artforms :

http://www.creativity-portal.com/howto/artscrafts/... -- how doodling can help ….

http://us.fotolia.com/id/13808084 -- freehand Swirls

http://www.justskins.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/0... -- vector art

http://graphicleftovers.com/images/member/1969/flo...

Vector art question with links for tutorials : http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=As2yE...

And how about anime & cartoons ? Are you permitted to draw those ? These can be closest to human/animal forms, without actually/realistically being so.

Also, as many have already suggested, landscapes, seascapes, still-life, ....

You can also make it Suggestive. eg. clothes strewn around the room to indicate a messy person [teenager ;-)))] ; an upholstered chair that has just been sat on ; a table at meal-time - before or after ; car-tracks on a muddy road [the way you draw them will indicate the speed of the car, etc.] ; a book left open - someone was reading & just left for a few seconds? ; or a telephone receiver off its hook ; toys in a kid's room ; a stable or shed [from the inside] ; and so on. This can Actually become your trademark style !

Here's what my usual answer is - just ignore whatever is 'taboo' for you :

I'm listing categories & when you choose individual items from these categories, your list will become Huge ;-))) Moreover, you can choose from various categories to make your drawing tell a "story".

- the sky [ day & night sky] -- sun, moon, clouds, stars, ......

- the elements - rain, fire, water, land, ....

- beaches - sand, oceans, surfers, shells, driftwood, tides, ...

- aquatic life - algae, whales, sharks, octopus, coral reefs, deep-sea divers, ....

- islands, boats, ships, nets, trawlers, anglers, ....

- still-life -- any & all objects at home, using different light sources & perspectives, shadows & reflections

- yourself, friends & family - portraits, caricatures, ....

- nature from your window -- trees, neighborhood, lawns, birds, ....

- animals, including pets

- birds

- plants, trees, flowers, bees & butterflies.....

- humans performing various activities – series of dancers eg.

- transport systems - bus, car, train, plane, spaceship, UFO, ....

- dreams & fantasies

- mountains, rivers, landscapes, .....

- anatomy

the list can go on & on ;-)

you can change the same sketch by

- drawing close-ups, or 'long-shots'

- drawing realistically, in cartoon form or as fantasy forms

- changing the light source, direction & intensity, including night-time

- drawing only outlines or including shading & shadows [2-D v/s 3-D effect]

- using different types of pencils, charcoal, ..... &/or colors - water, oil, acrylic, crayons, pencils, glitter, glass paints, mosaic-work,....

- changing the perspective & angle

- using surrealism, cubism, abstract forms... ....

may be you can go wild ;-)) use diff techniques & media - including pastels, crayons, oils, cut-n-paste, mosaic, cartoon-drawing, symbolism, etc....

- check out old greeting cards, magazines, net images, comic books, etc. to get some ideas. use these ideas to create your own drawing.

- you could make a 'series' of any one thing. different ways of going about it :

eg. flowers - have 15 different types of flowers in the 15 drawings;

or, have the same flower [eg. rose] but depicted in different ways - eg. in close-up, in a garden, with a bee humming over it, as a bouquet, in a dried-petal arrangement [glued] along with dried leaves/herbs, & so on;

or, each life-stage of a flower;

or you could change the light source, light intensity, colors [from black n white to monochrome to multicolored]

- you could paint a series on school-related stuff. eg. the different rooms in your school, or the diff articles of school usage, the school colors & emblem, diff activities at school, diff moods of students at school, & so on.

How about trying to Visualize & draw Emotions / Traits, etc. eg. Courage, Love, Fear, Hate, Perseverance, Peace, Joy, Kindness, Naivety, etc.

You could also depict Life stages or Rites of Passage such as Birth, Death, Adulthood, Maturation, Childishness, Teenage years, Mid-life crisis, Old age, Senility, Marriage, Widowhood, becoming a grandparent,....

You could think of some "story", incident, issue, quotation, joke, ... & try to depict them through your sketches.

You can choose characters from any book, comic, film, poem, etc. that you like & develop them visually. Draw them as you "see" them.

For any or all of the above, you could do a whole Spectrum of emotions, expressions, positive-to-negative, and so on.

http://painting.about.com/od/inspiration/l/bl-Pain... AND

http://www.magatsu.net/art/index.php

generate random ideas for free

www.creativity-portal.com/prompts/365/pictures.html -- one picture / photo prompts daily. You can use these to spark your own imagination & creativity.

Try to use as much of symbolism & indirect suggestion as you can - eg partial shadow, etc.

Hope these help too

All the very best always :-)

What do you mean you're not allowed to draw people or animals? Are you just trying to get out of your comfort zone?

Carry a sketchbook everywhere. When you're bored, force yourself to find something to draw, even if everything in the room is dreadfully boring. Draw the corner of the wall. Draw a potted plant. Draw that lamp. Your shoes. That guy sitting in the corner reading a newspaper. The birds on the sidewalk. That fugly artificial flower arrangement. That trashcan.

If you need to work on your organic shapes, go outside. Draw trees and water and rocks. If you need to work on your geometric shapes, stay inside. Draw tables and chairs and windows. If you don't feel like moving, go to a stock photography website. Just draw stuff. Drawing anything will make you improve. There's not a magical subject matter that will hone your skills.

EDIT: Sorry, have to strongly disagree with Walking Alone. Don't do abstract and then tell yourself you're applying yourself and getting better. Draw from real life, THEN draw from your imagination. Picasso, van Gogh, and Cezanne could all draw realistically. Abstract art is an extension of reality and a concentration of emotion, not a cop-out method of doodling.

EDIT the sequel: Ohhh. I feel like I should have figured that out... That actually reminds me, have you looked into some of the architecture from the Islamic Golden Age? Architecture might not be your thing, but the method taken to create some of the masterpieces from the time is definitely something to draw inspiration from. One of the common points of the art of that period was to portray figures by implication of abstract motifs, rather than revealing them straightforward. Those guys were masters of symbolism. I always look back to the interiors of those buildings when I'm looking for ideas certain themes.

PS: Does the understanding of that passage differ from person to person? In one of my history courses, while we were covering that period of architecture, I was told that it was forbidden to illustrate god himself... I never knew that included any living thing. I guess I've been subject to a huge misunderstanding for a while...

Cartoons are a fun way to spend your time or may be sketching fruits,bottles,flowers,drapes,sea shells etc with charcoal or shading pencil.Practice still life or landscapes,seascapes,snowscapes or moonscapes.Buy some beginners guide to painting,drawing etc books to help you get started on the projects.These will not only help you understand drawing better but will broaden your Horizon as well about arts.Work with different mediums like water colors,charcoal,wax,colour pencils,oil paints,fabrics,chalk pastels,oil pastels to practice drawing and pass your time.Remember there is always something in each of these mediums that will provide you a new wave of inspiration and you will not run out of ideas.

Okay, well, difficult not being able to draw creatures....Flowers, tree's, things around the house like CD's, Desks, furniture especially, leaves help. I'm curious about the imitating gods creations thing, not offending, just never heard of that before.

Draw houses, cars, cities, design town ect.

EDIT; Aren't tree's and nature basically creations from god, are you even allowed to draw, drawing is about expressing yourself and enjoying time, surely you can't be punished for that.

yeah, it's hard to improve your drawing skills if you can't draw people or animals. :(

do plants count (gods creations too)? observational drawings of flowers and trees help a lot esp because with flowers you can experiment with colour and lighting.

observationals of landscapes or the interior of buildings. Your room or what you can see from your window (which gives me another idea: clouds, realistic or abstract).

Or objects such as cups, silverwear, clothes, jewelry and etc. For sure you should try drawing something made of glass (with will teach you something about drawing water for example), a source of light (candle or lamp) and something metal (tin-foil is a challenge).

have fun :)

Landscapes are a really good practice but I think as an artist, you should draw an allegory of yourself. I was once told that art is a visual expression so why not express yourself. Sorry to be sentimental but I think it would be more meaningful as well.

Try some abstract art. This will really help you alot to improve your drawing skills. If you become perfect in abstract art you can easily draw your imaginations too on paper.

I was going to suggest you to learn how to draw like Leonardo da Vinci. Since you're a Muslim, I'd suggest you to draw something like Salvador Dali.

draw a tree:D