What’s Your Best Drawing?

Ask any artist, “What’s your best drawing?” and watch them immediately forget how to speak English.
Do you mean the most realistic one? The piece that went viral? The messy little sketch that helped
you survive a bad day? Picking just one “best” drawing is oddly emotional especially in a world
where sharing art online can feel like walking into a crowded room and yelling, “So… I made this.”

On Bored Panda and across social media, artists constantly post their favorite pieces, before-and-after
glow-ups, and deeply personal sketchbook pages. Some show insanely detailed portraits, others share
small doodles that tell a powerful story. Behind every post is the same question: What makes
a drawing feel worth sharing?

In this article, we’ll explore what “best drawing” really means, how to choose yours, and how to get
brave enough to share it with the world Bored Panda–style. We’ll talk about improvement, sketchbook
habits, online art communities, and practical tips to turn that one favorite drawing into the first step
of a much bigger creative journey.

What Do People Mean by “Best Drawing” Anyway?

Let’s clear this up first: there’s no official global committee of art judges hiding in your closet,
ready to stamp one piece as your “best” forever. When artists say “my best drawing,” they usually mean
one (or more) of these:

• The most technically impressive piece – super clean lines, accurate anatomy, realistic shading.
• The drawing that means the most emotionally – maybe it helped them process grief, anxiety, or joy.
• The piece that got the biggest reaction – most likes, comments, or shares.
• The one that marks a turning point – the “before/after” moment where their skills or style leveled up.

Skill vs. Story

On sites that feature art challenges and community posts, you’ll see everything from ultra-realistic
portraits to charmingly simple line drawings. Some pieces are jaw-droppingly accurate; others are
powerful because of the story behind them like drawings that track someone’s mental health journey
or celebrate a major life change.

Your “best” drawing doesn’t have to be the most detailed or the most polished. It might be:

• The first time you successfully drew hands that didn’t look like starfish.
• A quick sketch you made in a hospital waiting room that still makes you cry.
• A silly doodle that made people laugh when they really needed it.

In other words, “best” is a mix of technical skill, personal meaning, and connection.
If a drawing changed you, or clearly shows how far you’ve come, it’s already a strong candidate.

Can Your “Best” Drawing Change Over Time?

Absolutely and it should. Artists who share progress pics online often show a beginner drawing next
to a newer one, sometimes years apart. The contrast can be wild: anatomy improves, line work becomes
more confident, shading gets deeper, and compositions feel more intentional.

If you keep drawing regularly, whatever you consider your “best” right now will eventually look like
a stepping stone. That’s not embarrassing; that’s proof that you’re growing.

How Artists Share Their Best Drawings Online

The internet has turned art sharing into a giant, messy, inspiring global sketchbook. If you’re wondering
where people show off their best drawings, here are some of the most common places:

• Social media – Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest are huge for process videos, reels, and finished pieces.
• Art community sites – Platforms like Behance, ArtStation, and DeviantArt let you build full portfolios.
• Online challenges and prompts – Inktober, Draw This In Your Style, and Bored Panda challenges encourage artists to share specific themes.
• Reddit communities – Subreddits focused on sketches, progress pics, and critique help artists compare “before and after” drawings.
• Personal websites and newsletters – Many artists treat these as their “home base” for their best work.

These spaces are full of people posting their proudest pieces, asking for feedback, and cheering on
other artists. The posts that stand out aren’t always the “perfect” ones. Often, the most-loved drawings
are the ones with a genuine story behind them: “This is the first portrait I’ve finished in years,” or
“I drew this during a tough time, and I’m finally ready to share it.”

Why Sharing Your Best Drawing Feels So Scary

If the thought of posting your best drawing makes you want to throw your sketchbook into the nearest
volcano, you’re not alone. Artists everywhere talk about:

• Fear of judgment – “What if people hate it?”
• Fear of being ignored – “What if nobody reacts at all?”
• Comparison – “My best drawing doesn’t look like their warm-up doodle.”
• Perfectionism – “I’ll share it when it’s just a little bit better.” (Spoiler: perfection never arrives.)

Many art coaches and bloggers point out that we often tie our self-worth to our art. When you
post a drawing, it can feel like you’re posting your soul for a rating. No wonder your brain suddenly
insists you’re not ready.

Separating You From Your Drawing

A simple mindset shift can help: your art is something you made, not what you are.
Feedback on a drawing is information, not a verdict on your value as a person. Once you see it that way,
comments become less like a threat and more like data you can use.

It also helps to:

• Start by sharing in smaller, supportive communities instead of huge public pages.
• Tell people you’re nervous and that this is a big step for you.
• Ask for specific feedback (“How’s the lighting?”) instead of “Do you like it?”
• Remember that most people scrolling by are just happy to see someone creating something honest.

Turning “Best Drawing” Into a Creative Habit

Here’s a secret a lot of artists share: your best drawing usually appears after a lot of
not-so-great drawings. The difference between beginners and experienced artists isn’t “talent” as much
as it is reps.

Build a Sketchbook Routine

Many drawing teachers recommend keeping a dedicated sketchbook and spending 15–30 minutes a day on it.
Fill it with:

• Freehand doodles while you drink your coffee.
• Gesture drawings of people, pets, or characters.
• Studies of hands, eyes, or objects around your home.
• Weird experiments you’d never dare to post on social media (yet).

Some artists even treat a small sketchbook like an 8×11 or 9×12 pad as their creative playground,
saving larger canvases or sheets of paper for more finished pieces. The pressure is lower in your
sketchbook, and that’s where a lot of breakthroughs happen.

Practice Line Quality and Confidence

Good drawings aren’t just about what you draw, but how your lines look. Simple exercises can
improve your line quality and confidence:

• Draw long, straight lines without a ruler, focusing on smooth motion.
• Practice drawing circles and ellipses quickly and lightly.
• Trace over your own lines to build firmness without pressing harder.
• Do pages of quick, loose sketches instead of one “perfect” drawing.

The more you draw, the less precious any single piece feels and that actually makes it easier to
create something great.

Use Creative Prompts to Spark Your Best Work

When you’re stuck, prompts and challenges are your best friends. Artists online use:

• Prompt lists (like “draw this in your style,” seasonal challenges, or emotion-based prompts).
• Theme days (animals, food, architecture, fantasy creatures, etc.).
• “Up for a challenge?” exercises like drawing the same subject in different styles or mediums.
• Redrawing an old piece from your childhood or early art days.

That last one is especially satisfying: your “best drawing” might be a glow-up version of a character
you first drew when you were 12.

Fun Ideas for a “Best Drawing” Challenge (Bored Panda Style)

If you’re thinking of posting your best drawing or even launching a challenge here are some
creative formats inspired by online art communities and Bored Panda–style lists:

1. Before vs. After Glow-Up

Pick an old drawing you used to love, then redraw it with your current skills. Post them side by side
with a caption like, “10 years of drawing later.” This gives people a satisfying visual story and shows
that improvement is possible.

2. “Best on Paper” Challenge

Limit yourself to traditional media pencil, ink, markers, watercolor and share the best thing
you’ve created on actual paper. This highlights texture, imperfections, and the charm of analog art.

3. “Best Drawing About Me”

Create a drawing that represents you in some way: your mental health journey, your culture, your
favorite hobby, or a memory. These drawings tend to hit people in the feelings and often become
personal favorites, even if they’re not the most polished.

4. Environment Remix

Take something from your environment a crack in the sidewalk, a coffee stain, a shadow and “complete”
it with a drawing. Turn a random shape into a creature, vehicle, or tiny scene. Your best drawing might
come from a moment of pure play.

5. “Best Drawing So Far” Series

Instead of crowning a single lifetime winner, post a “Best Drawing of 2023,” “Best Drawing of This Month,”
or even “Best Drawing of This Week.” You’ll feel less pressure, and followers can literally watch the
bar rise over time.

How to Share Your Best Drawing Without Losing Your Mind

Okay, you picked a drawing. Your heart is racing. Your finger is hovering over the “Post” button.
Here are some ways to make sharing feel a little less terrifying:

1. Start small. Share first with a trusted friend, a small Discord server, or a cozy
   Facebook group for artists. Once it feels less scary there, move on to bigger platforms.
2. Set your goal. Are you posting for likes, feedback, accountability, or simply to
   document your progress? Knowing your “why” makes random metrics less painful.
3. Write a genuine caption. Instead of “Here’s my art,” try “This is the first drawing
   I’ve finished in months” or “I tried a new style, and I’m weirdly proud of it.”
4. Expect silence (and post anyway). Algorithms are fickle. A lack of views doesn’t
   mean your drawing is bad; it means the internet is noisy.
5. Celebrate the act of sharing. Even if only three people see it, you did something
   brave. That matters more than you realize.

Over time, you’ll get used to seeing your art out in the wild. It might never feel completely
comfortable, but that tiny buzz of nervous energy? That’s a sign you care.

of Real-World Experiences: When People Share Their “Best” Drawings

To make this a bit more human, let’s walk through some composite experiences inspired by what artists
often share in online communities. If you’ve ever hovered over the “upload” button, you might recognize
yourself here.

The Sketchbook Secret Keeper

There’s the artist who has been drawing in private for years. Their sketchbooks are full of characters
with detailed expressions, tiny environments, and notes in the margins like “fix hand later” and
“lol this is cursed but I love it.” Friends know they’re “good at drawing,” but nobody has really seen
how good.

One day, after binge-scrolling through a Bored Panda art list and reading comments like “I started drawing
at 30, it’s never too late,” they pick a piece that feels the least embarrassing: a portrait where the
eyes finally look right. They snap a photo, adjust the brightness a bit, and post it with shaking hands.

The response is small but mighty: a couple of friends say, “You drew this??”, someone comments, “The
shading is gorgeous,” and another person quietly DMs, “I wish I had the courage to share my drawings too.”
That DM hits harder than any like. Suddenly, posting art feels less like showing off and more like opening
a door for someone else.

The Mental Health Storyteller

Another artist starts drawing during a rough patch anxiety, depression, burnout, or all of the above.
They don’t begin with the goal of sharing; they draw because it’s the only thing that makes their brain
slow down. Their “best drawing” isn’t technically perfect. The lines are scratchy. The anatomy is off.
But the emotion? It’s all there.

After seeing others share raw, vulnerable art about mental health, they decide to post one illustration
that sums up how they feel: a small figure trapped in a tangled forest of scribbled lines, reaching
toward a distant light. They add a caption explaining that drawing helps them put words to feelings
they can’t explain out loud.

In the comments, strangers respond: “I feel this,” “Thank you for sharing,” “This made me cry (in a good way).”
The artist realizes that their “best drawing” isn’t the prettiest one; it’s the one that made someone else
feel seen.

The Hyper-Realistic Detail Lover

Then there’s the detail-obsessed artist the one who spends 20 hours on a single eye, zoomed in at 600%.
Their best drawing might be a realistic portrait where every pore, eyelash, and reflection in the iris
has been carefully rendered with pencil or charcoal.

For weeks, they lurk on art pages, thinking, “My work isn’t ready yet.” But eventually, they post a close-up
of their favorite section: maybe just the eye and cheekbone. People zoom in, stunned by the realism. The
comments pile up, from “How is this not a photo?” to “I thought this was digital!” Their follower count
nudges up, sure but what really sticks is the realization that the hundreds of hours spent practicing
shading and proportions actually show.

A year later, that same artist looks back at the portrait and winces a little. They see mistakes they missed
before: a slightly off angle, a shadow that could be deeper. But instead of feeling ashamed, they catch
themselves thinking, “Wow, I’ve gotten even better since then.” Their old “best drawing” becomes a favorite
milestone instead of a final destination.

Your Turn: So… What’s YOUR Best Drawing?

Maybe it’s a hyper-detailed piece you polished for weeks. Maybe it’s a quick sketch that accidentally
turned out perfect. Maybe it’s something intensely personal you’ve never shown to anyone. Whatever it is,
your “best drawing” is a snapshot of who you are as an artist right now and that alone makes it worth
honoring.

So flip through your sketchbooks, scroll through your camera roll, or dig into that dusty portfolio under
your bed. Pick one drawing that feels special, for whatever reason. Then, if you’re feeling brave, share
it with the world. Add your story. Tag a challenge. Join a thread or a Bored Panda–style community post
and say, “Here’s my best drawing so far.”

You don’t have to be the best artist on the internet. You just have to be the one who decided to show up.