When we go to a museum, we usually spend all our time looking at the big, colorful paintings. We stare at the Mona Lisa or The Starry Night and think, “Wow, I could never do that.”
But if you want to actually learn how to draw, you are looking at the wrong thing!
The secret to getting better isn’t looking at the finished painting; it is looking at the sketchbook.
Famous drawings and sketches give us a peek behind the curtain. It is like seeing the “behind the scenes” of a movie. You can see the artist thinking, making mistakes, and figuring things out.
I have put together a list of the best drawings of all time – not just because they are famous, but because they have secrets we can steal!
Let’s look at these famous historical artists and see what they can teach us about drawing today.
Table Of Contents
The Masters of Anatomy & Precision
If you love details, muscles, and getting things “perfect,” these are the artists you need to study.
1. The Vitruvian Man – Leonardo da Vinci
You have definitely seen this one before. It is the drawing of a man standing inside a circle and a square, with four arms and four legs. It is often called the greatest drawing in the world.
Why It’s Famous: Leonardo wasn’t just an artist; he was a scientist. He wanted to prove that the human body was mathematically perfect.
🎓 Technique to Steal: Proportions.
Leonardo didn’t just guess where the knees went. He measured! This drawing teaches us that drawing is a science.
Try this: Next time you draw a character, measure them. A standard realistic human is usually “8 heads” tall.
Using a guide like this stops your character from having tiny legs! If you want to master this, check out my guide on how to draw human proportions.
2. Praying Hands – Albrecht Dürer
This might be the most famous pair of hands in history.
Dürer drew this on blue paper using black and white ink. Fun fact: This was just a practice sketch for an altarpiece, but now it is more famous than the final painting!
Why It’s Famous: The detail is incredible. You can see the veins, the wrinkles, and the dirt under the fingernails.
🎓 Technique to Steal: Volume through Hatching.
Look closely at the lines. He doesn’t just draw straight lines to shade; he uses curved lines that wrap around the fingers (this is called cross-hatching). This makes the hands look round and 3D, like you could grab them.
Hands are notoriously hard to draw, but they are worth the effort. Here is a step-by-step on how to draw hands to help you get started.
3. Studies for the Libyan Sibyl – Michelangelo
Michelangelo was obsessed with muscles. He is the guy who painted the Sistine Chapel. Before he painted, he made detailed red chalk drawings like this one to figure out the anatomy.
Why It’s Famous: It shows a back with incredibly defined muscles. It proves that Michelangelo understood what was under the skin.
🎓 Technique to Steal: Underlying Structure.
Don’t just draw the outline of an arm. Think about the muscles underneath. Even if your character is wearing a shirt, knowing where the shoulder muscles connect makes your drawing look solid and believable.
The Masters of Line & Simplicity
Sometimes, less is more. These famous sketches by famous artists prove that you don’t need to spend 100 hours on a drawing for it to be amazing.
4. The Dog (and The Penguin) – Pablo Picasso
We usually think of Picasso for his weird cubist paintings, but his simple line drawings are my absolute favorites. He drew a dachshund using just one single, wobbly line.
Why It’s Famous: It is pure genius in its simplicity. You know exactly what kind of dog it is, even though it is just a scribble.
🎓 Technique to Steal: Economy of Line.
Challenge yourself! Can you draw your pet without lifting your pencil off the paper? Picasso teaches us that capturing the idea of something is more important than drawing every single hair.
5. Self-Portrait – Egon Schiele
Schiele’s drawings are very different. They are twisted, skinny, and a little bit uncomfortable to look at.
Why It’s Famous: Before him, art was mostly about making things look “pretty.” Schiele drew things raw and emotional.
🎓 Technique to Steal: Contour Lines.
Notice his lines: they are shaky and jagged. He uses a strong outline (contour) to show the shape of the body. If you have a “shaky hand,” don’t worry! Embrace it. It gives your art a unique style.
He uses a strong outline to show the shape of the body. If you aren’t sure what that means, read my guide on what is contour drawing.
6. The Dove – Henri Matisse
Matisse was the master of simplifying things. He would draw a bird over and over again, removing lines each time until only the most essential lines were left.
Why It’s Famous: It became a worldwide symbol of peace.
🎓 Technique to Steal: Simplification.
Next time you draw, ask yourself: “Do I really need this line?” Try to erase the clutter. A clean, simple drawing often has more impact than a cluttered one.
The Masters of Light & Emotion
Art is about feeling. These best drawings of all time capture mood, energy, and atmosphere.
7. Sleeping Woman – Rembrandt
Rembrandt is one of the giants of art history. His sketches often look messy, like quick scribbles with a brush or pen.
Why It’s Famous: Even though it’s “messy,” you can feel the weight of the woman sleeping. You can feel that she is tired.
🎓 Technique to Steal: Gesture Drawing.
Rembrandt captured the energy first and the details later. This is called Gesture Drawing. Try setting a timer for 30 seconds and drawing a pose. Forget the fingers and toes – just capture the motion!
You can see some gesture drawing examples here to understand how loose these should be.
8. Head of a Woman – Käthe Kollwitz
Kollwitz used charcoal to draw very emotional subjects, often dealing with poverty or sadness.
Why It’s Famous: It is powerful. You don’t just see a face; you feel her sorrow.
🎓 Technique to Steal: Value & Contrast.
She didn’t worry about perfect outlines. Instead, she used broad, dark strokes of charcoal to carve out the shadows. This is the core principle of value drawing. Don’t be afraid to press hard and make your darks really dark!
9. The Great Wave Sketches (Hokusai Manga) – Katsushika Hokusai
You know the famous print of the Great Wave? Well, Hokusai filled thousands of pages in sketchbooks (called the Hokusai Manga) drawing everything from ghosts to waves to people making funny faces.
Why It’s Famous: It is an encyclopedia of Japanese life.
🎓 Technique to Steal: Movement.
Even his drawings of static objects feel like they are moving. Use “Action Lines” (swooshing lines) to guide the viewer’s eye through your drawing.
10. Study of Hands – Vincent Van Gogh
Did you know Van Gogh started drawing later in life? He wasn’t a “natural” genius; he worked incredibly hard. These sketches show him practicing hands over and over.
Why It’s Famous: You can see his struggle and his passion.
🎓 Technique to Steal: Texture.
Van Gogh didn’t blend his pencil shading smoothly. He used dots, dashes, and aggressive marks. This gives his work a vibrating texture in art. Try using different marks to shade instead of just smudging with your finger!
Why You Should “Steal” From These Masters
I know what you are thinking: “But isn’t copying cheating?” (Spoiler: Is drawing with reference cheating? Absolutely not. It’s how you learn!)
In art, copying is called Master Studies. Every single artist on this list learned by copying the artists who came before them.
If you are feeling stuck, pick one of these famous drawings and try to copy it in your sketchbook. You will learn more about line weight and shading in one hour of copying Dürer than in ten hours of trying to figure it out alone.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is considered the greatest drawing in the world?
Most historians would say Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man. It perfectly combines art, science, and math in one image. Plus, it is iconic!
2. Who is the best pencil artist in history?
This is subjective, but Albrecht Dürer and Leonardo da Vinci are usually at the top of the list. Their control over ink and chalk was unmatched. For modern pencil art, many people look to M.C. Escher or hyper-realistic artists.
3. Why are sketches considered art?
Because they show the raw, unfiltered idea of the artist. A painting is like a rehearsed speech, but a sketch is like a honest conversation. Sometimes the sketch has more “life” than the finished piece!
Conclusion
I hope this list inspired you to grab your pencil! It is comforting to know that even these famous historical artists had to practice, sketch, and study just like we do.
They weren’t magic; they just observed the world closely. So, whether you like the messy scribbles of Rembrandt or the perfect lines of Da Vinci, there is a lesson there for you.
If these masters look too intimidating, just start small with some easy drawing ideas and work your way up!
And as always: Keep on drawing!
-Patricia
(Don’t forget to check out my other guides on Gesture Drawing and How to Draw Hands to put these tips into practice!)
Patricia Caldeira is the main writer here at Don Corgi. She's an art teacher with over 20.000 happy students across many platforms and courses!
Enjoy your stay and as always:
Keep on drawing!
Patricia’s courses have enrolled 22 000+ students around the world, in platforms such as Udemy, Skillshare, Gumroad and more.
