Can you feel that chill in the air?

Making spooky art often feels hard when you want your drawings to look just right. Many people try but end up with sketches that look cuter than scary.

But you don’t need fancy skills to make truly spine-tingling art. With some basic tips and the right mood, anyone can create creepy drawings that make friends jump.

This guide offers simple spooky drawing ideas for you to try. We’ll walk you through picking the right colors, using basic methods that work, and fixing common errors that take the scare factor away from your art.

Ready to fill your sketchbook with ghosts, witches, and things that go bump in the night? Let’s begin!

Understanding the Appeal of Spooky Drawings

Creating effective spooky art needs a few key points to make it work well. Spooky art stands out from other types because it plays with our fears and the things we find scary.

When creating spooky drawings, incorporate common themes such as ghosts, monsters, pumpkins, and witches. The mood is created by how you use shadows, light, and dark areas to evoke a scary feeling.

Focus on symbols that people associate with Halloween, such as pumpkins for the season, ghosts for things that haunt us, and bats for spooky vibe. Pay special attention to the faces you draw, how bodies are posed, and the setting around them.

Look at scary movies, books, and old stories for spooky drawing ideas. These sources help you find the right look for your art. Classic horror films and folk tales provide numerous ideas to make your drawings truly frightening.

Creepy Color Palettes: Perfect Palettes for Spooky Art

Choosing the right colors can elevate your spooky drawings to something truly eerie. A well-picked palette adds depth, mood, and atmosphere. Here are some color schemes to try:

• Dark and Moody Tones: Use deep purples, blacks, dark blues, and browns to create a haunting mood in your background and main shapes.
• Accent Colors: Add bright oranges, greens, and reds for key features that pop – perfect for pumpkins, blood drops, or strange glowing lights.
• Complementary Color Schemes: Try black and white for ghostly effects or pair rich colors with their opposites for tension in your art.
• Mood-Based Palettes: Choose pastels for a cute spooky style or mix dark shades with deep reds for more scary scenes.

Spooky Drawing Ideas to Try

Now that you know the basics of creating scary art and picking the right colors, let’s look at some actual spooky drawing ideas you can draw today.

These simple yet striking concepts will help fill your sketchbook with haunting images, perfect for cards, decorations, or just for fun during the spooky season.

1. Jack-o’-Lantern Faces

Create a variety of pumpkin faces with different expressions, ranging from mischievous grins to terrifying glares. These jack-o’-lanterns can be decorated with eerie light glowing from the inside, casting shadows around.

The different facial features like crooked smiles or scary eyes will add a spooky touch to your drawing. Use orange, black, and yellow hues to make it look more lifelike and eerie.

• Level: Easy
• Medium of art: Pencils, markers, or colored pencils.

2. Creepy Haunted House

Draw a spooky, old haunted house set against a dark, eerie sky. The house can have broken windows, crooked doors, and a creaky look to it.

Add ghostly figures floating around the house and bats flying overhead to enhance the spooky atmosphere. Shadows and fog will help give it an even more mysterious vibe.

• Level: Medium
• Medium of art: Pencils, markers, or digital art tools.

3. Spider Webs

A simple yet effective drawing idea. Draw a detailed, intricate spider web with a spider sitting in the center or hanging from the web.

Add shading and texture to make the web appear delicate yet eerie, and use black and gray tones to give it a more gothic feel. You can make the spider look more menacing by adding sharp fangs or glowing eyes.

• Level: Easy
• Medium of art: Pencils, pens, or ink.

4. Full Moon with Bats

Capture a spooky full moon in the sky surrounded by a cloud of bats flying across. The moon should look bright, glowing, and slightly distorted, casting a ghostly light over everything below.

The bats can be scattered or in a group, flapping their wings, creating a dark silhouette against the night sky.

• Level: Easy
• Medium of art: Watercolors, markers, or ink.

5. Witch’s Broomstick

Draw a witch flying across a dark sky on her broomstick, surrounded by a foggy atmosphere. You can add a glowing crescent moon behind her for extra effect.

Her silhouette can be drawn in a dark color to contrast with the glowing background. Don’t forget the pointy hat and broom!

• Level: Medium
• Medium of art: Pencils, watercolors, or markers.

6. Graveyard

Sketch a spooky graveyard scene at dusk, with tombstones covered in moss and shadows creeping through the trees.

The graveyard can have an eerie, foggy atmosphere with a few ghostly apparitions or glowing eyes peeking from behind the gravestones. Adding a crow or two will bring in more spooky vibes.

• Level: Medium
• Medium of art: Watercolors, pencils, or ink.

7. Skeleton Hand

Draw a skeleton hand reaching out from the darkness with its bony fingers extending toward the viewer.

The hand can be drawn with intricate details, such as cracks and shadings that make it appear more realistic and chilling. Add light sources from below to cast spooky shadows on the hand.

• Level: Easy
• Medium of art: Pencils, charcoal, or markers.

8. Ghost in the Mist

Draw a soft, almost transparent ghost figure floating through a misty landscape. The ghost can be barely visible with glowing eyes or a faint outline, adding to its eerie, mysterious nature.

The mist should swirl around the ghost, creating an ethereal effect. This drawing works great with light shading and soft lines.

• Level: Medium
• Medium of art: Pencils, digital art tools, or watercolors.

9. Creepy Tree

A twisted, gnarled tree with bare branches reaching out like long, spindly fingers. Add some fog around the base and creepy shadows under the tree.

The tree can be drawn with deep dark shades to make it appear menacing and mysterious, with a few ghostly figures peeking through the branches.

• Level: Easy
• Medium of art: Pencils, charcoal, or ink.

10. Black Cat

Draw a sleek, black cat with glowing eyes, crouching in a menacing pose. The cat can be shaded with a glossy coat, and its eyes should stand out with a bright color like white, yellow, or green.

You can add a moon in the background to enhance the spookiness.

• Level: Easy
• Medium of art: Pencils, charcoal, or markers.

11. Mummy Wraps

Draw a half-wrapped mummy stumbling out of a tomb. The mummy should have exposed bones and a ghostly face peeking through the bandages.

To add extra spookiness, add shadows and highlights to the wrappings for a more detailed look.

• Level: Medium
• Medium of art: Pencils, charcoal, or markers.

12. Potion Bottle

Description: Draw a bubbling potion inside a mysterious bottle. The potion can emit glowing smoke or sparkles, adding an eerie and magical effect.

Use dark, rich colors for the potion, and include small details like labels or runes on the bottle for more interest.

• Level: Medium
• Medium of art: Pencils, watercolor, or ink.

13. Creepy Clown Face

Create a creepy clown with exaggerated features like sharp teeth and wide eyes. The clown’s expression should be unsettling, with smeared makeup and a wild hairdo.

Add shadows around the face to emphasize its eerie, sinister nature.

• Level: Medium
• Medium of art: Pencils, markers, or digital art tools.

14. Witch’s Hat

Focus on a spooky witch’s hat, placed on a crooked broomstick. The hat should have a pointed tip, and you can draw a spider sitting on the brim for a spooky effect. Dark shading can create a mysterious aura around the hat.

• Level: Easy
• Medium of art: Pencils, markers, or watercolors.

15. Eyeball in a Jar

Draw a creepy eyeball floating inside a glass jar. The jar should be cracked, with glowing liquid spilling out. The eye inside should appear detailed and unsettling, with veins and an eerie gaze.

• Level: Medium
• Medium of art: Markers, ink, or digital tools.

16. Full Moon with Clouds

Draw a glowing full moon covered by wispy clouds, creating an eerie, ghostly light. You can add bats flying around or a silhouette of a spooky tree in the foreground to enhance the spooky mood.

• Level: Easy
• Medium of art: Watercolors, markers, or digital tools.

17. Bloody Handprint

Draw a bloody handprint on a wall or door. The handprint can look fresh with dripping blood or appear as if it’s been there for a while, with dark, dried stains. The dark background can make the handprint pop out more.

• Level: Easy
• Medium of art: Pencils, markers, or digital tools.

18. Candle with Ghost Flames

A candle flickering with ghostly flames instead of normal fire. The flames can swirl up and take the shape of a ghost or a spooky face. The candle itself should look old and melted, adding to the eerie effect.

• Level: Medium
• Medium of art: Pencils, markers, or acrylic colors.

19. Creepy Eyes in the Dark

Draw two dark black eyes peering. These eyes should look menacing and mysterious, set against a white background. The eyes should be the focal point, drawing attention with bright contrasts.

• Level: Easy
• Medium of art: Pencils, charcoal, or digital art tools.

20. Frightening Scarecrow

A frightening scarecrow with torn clothes and an unsettling face. The scarecrow can be placed in the middle of a dark field, with crows perched around it. Shadows and a dark sky will help add to its eerie atmosphere.

• Level: Medium
• Medium of art: Pencils, charcoal, or watercolor.

21. Coffin with Skull

Draw a wooden coffin with a skull peeking out from inside. You can add cracks to the coffin or cobwebs around it to enhance the spooky element. The skull can have glowing eyes or an eerie expression.

• Level: Medium
• Medium of art: Pencils, markers, or ink.

22. Witch’s Cauldron

Draw a bubbling cauldron sitting over a fire, with green smoke rising from it. Mysterious objects like bones, herbs, or potions can surround the cauldron. The smoke should be twisting and curling into ghostly shapes.

• Level: Medium
• Medium of art: Markers, watercolor or digital art tools.

23. Skull with Flowers

Create a spooky skull surrounded by dark, gothic flowers like roses or lilies. The skull should look decayed, with cracks and details to make it eerie. Dark petals and twisting vines can enhance the creepy vibe.

• Level: Medium
• Medium of art: Pencils, markers, or digital tools.

24. Hanging Bat

A bat hanging upside down from a branch, its wings wrapped around its body.

The bat can have glowing eyes and sharp claws, adding a sinister touch. Surround it with shadows or a dark sky to emphasize its eerie presence.

• Level: Easy
• Medium of art: Pencils, markers, or digital art tools.

25. Creepy Tree with a Face

Draw a twisted tree with an eerie, gnarled face in the bark. The face can have hollow eyes. Dark shadows can highlight the face, giving it an unsettling feeling as if the tree is alive.

• Level: Medium
• Medium of art: Pencils, ink, or markers.

26. Zombie Hand Rising

A zombie hand clawing its way out of the grave. The hand should look decayed with exposed bones and rotting flesh.

Dark soil and broken gravestones can be seen in the background, making it look like the zombie is emerging from the earth.

• Level: Medium
• Medium of art: Pencils, markers, or digital art tools.

27. Dark Forest

A dense, dark forest with tall, twisted trees that seem to close in around you. The forest should be shadowy, with only a little moonlight peeking through the branches.

You can add eerie creatures or glowing eyes hidden among the trees to make the scene feel more unsettling.

• Level: Medium
• Medium of art: Watercolors, pencils, or ink.

28. Skull Candleholder

A candle flickering from a skull candleholder. The skull can have dark, hollow eyes and a twisted grin.

The candle’s flame should appear ghostly or spooky, with small wisps of smoke curling upwards. Shadows will make the skull and candle appear even more menacing.

• Level: Medium
• Medium of art: Pencils, ink, or markers.

29. Grim Reaper

Draw the Grim Reaper in its dark cloak, holding a large scythe. The Reaper should have a skeletal face with empty eye sockets.

The cloak can be flowing and billowing with the wind, and dark shadows can be cast across the Reaper’s figure to enhance the ominous vibe.

• Level: Medium
• Medium of art: Pencils, markers, or ink.

30. Witch’s Potion Ingredients

Description: Draw a collection of spooky ingredients for a witch’s potion, like bat wings, toadstools, and snake venom.

You can display them in jars or cauldrons, with glowing labels or symbols etched on the bottles. This drawing can be detailed with magical sparkles or smoke.

• Level: Medium
• Medium of art: Pencils, ink, or digital art tools.

31. Monster’s Eye

A giant, glowing monster’s eye peering out from the darkness. The eye should have intricate details, with veins and a sinister glow.

The surrounding darkness should be heavy with shadows to emphasize the eye’s intensity.

• Level: Easy
• Medium of art: Pencils, markers, or digital tools.

32. Raven Perched on a Branch

A dark raven perched on a branch, silhouetted against the full moon. Its glossy black feathers should shine in the moonlight, and you can add a few scattered leaves or a foggy background to enhance the eerie atmosphere.

• Level: Easy
• Medium of art: Pencils, ink, or watercolor.

33. Haunted Mirror

Draw a haunted mirror with a reflective surface that shows a ghostly figure or a distorted reflection.

The mirror frame should look old and worn, with dark, intricate designs. The reflection can appear eerie, with faint glowing eyes or a spooky silhouette staring back at the viewer.

• Level: Medium
• Medium of art: Pencils, markers, or digital tools.

Avoid These Art Horrors in Your Spooky Creations

Even the most skilled artists make mistakes when creating Halloween-themed art. Here are some common issues to watch out for:

• Overcomplicating the Design: Keep your drawing clean and focused. Too many details can make your scary idea hard to see.
• Using Too Much Bright Color: Mix dark, moody colors with small touches of bright colors for best results.
• Flat Lighting: Add depth with shading and highlights to make your spooky scene feel real and three-dimensional.
• Not Creating a Strong Focal Point: Make one part of your drawing stand out, like glowing eyes or a lit pumpkin.
• Lack of Contrast or Depth: Use strong differences between light and dark areas to create drama in your spooky art.
• Rushing the Process: Take your time to build layers and refine your work for the scariest impact.

Wicked Wrap-Up

Creating spooky drawings for the scary season lets everyone tap into their darker, creative side. The ideas we’ve shared today work for both beginners and more skilled artists.

When making spooky art, remember to focus on strong shapes, careful color choices, and eye-catching focal points. These small steps make a big difference in the final look of the art.

The process matters more than perfect results. Each drawing teaches something new about making scary art that stands out.

Now, what will be the first spooky drawing to try? A skull, a haunted house, or perhaps a ghostly figure? The night is young, and the blank page waits.

What’s Next? Try one of these spooky drawing ideas today and share your work in the comments below! Others might find fresh ideas in your creation.

And let us know which idea sparked your interest the most? We’d love to know!