60 ideas
Cute things to draw for your boyfriend or girlfriend
The drawings people keep are almost never good drawings. They are a wonky heart, a cat with five legs, a stick figure holding an umbrella, and they are kept because they were obviously made by one specific person for one other. That is the whole appeal, and it is why not being able to draw is no obstacle at all.
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It also means the usual advice is backwards. You do not need a tutorial on shading a rose. You need an idea that takes under a minute, survives being drawn with a finger, and still reads when it is the size of a postage stamp, since most drawings sent between phones are seen small.
The list runs from doodles you can finish in thirty seconds to ones that need a detail only the two of you would know. The second kind is where the good ones are.
Thirty-second doodles
For when you have no time and no talent. Every one of these reads at thumbnail size, which is the size it will be seen at.
- 1A heart with their initial inside it.
- 2Two stick figures holding hands, one clearly taller than the other.
- 3A cup of coffee with steam shaped like a heart.
- 4A sun wearing sunglasses.
- 5A speech bubble that just says hi.
- 6A cat face with whiskers and nothing else.
- 7A paper aeroplane on a dotted line.
- 8A single flower with five round petals.
- 9A crescent moon and three stars.
- 10A balloon with its string trailing off the edge.
- 11An envelope with a heart for a seal.
- 12A smiley face that is winking, badly.
Drawings that say something
A drawing with a few words on it does the work of a text and lands better. Big letters, and not many of them.
- 1The words good morning, with a rising sun underneath.
- 2A battery icon at one bar, labelled me without you.
- 3A map pin and the words wish you were here.
- 4A calendar page with the day you next meet circled.
- 5A clock showing the time you finish work, with a heart on it.
- 6An umbrella and the words take one, it will rain.
- 7A trophy labelled best person.
- 8A plaster on a heart, for a day that went badly.
- 9A thumbs up and the words you have got this.
- 10A bed with a row of Zs, for goodnight.
- 11A knife and fork and a question mark, for what is for dinner.
- 12The number of sleeps until you see them, as large as it will go.
Inside jokes and shared things
The ones only the two of you will understand, which are the ones that get kept. Swap in your own details.
- 1The pet, drawn as badly as you can manage.
- 2Their favourite snack wearing a crown.
- 3The place you first met, as a three-line sketch.
- 4The thing they always lose, with a search party looking for it.
- 5Their car, or their bike, with speed lines.
- 6The film you have both seen too many times, in one frame.
- 7The way they look when they have just woken up.
- 8Their coffee order, drawn as a diagram.
- 9The song you both know, as a line of musical notes.
- 10The view from the window of somewhere you stayed together.
- 11A scoreboard for whatever you keep competing over.
- 12The thing they said that you have never let them forget, in a speech bubble.
Little scenes
A step up in effort and still no skill required. Two simple figures and one prop is a scene.
- 1Two stick figures under one umbrella.
- 2Two mugs side by side with the steam mingling.
- 3A tiny house with a light on in one window.
- 4Two figures on a bench looking at the moon.
- 5A tent under stars.
- 6Two kites with their strings crossed.
- 7A rowing boat with two people in it.
- 8Two cats on a wall with their tails making a heart.
- 9A picnic blanket and two glasses.
- 10Two snowmen, one wearing your hat.
- 11Footprints in two sizes along a beach.
- 12A table set for two with a candle.
For when you are apart
Drawings for long distance, a work trip, or a week that has kept you from each other.
- 1Two houses joined by a dotted line.
- 2An aeroplane heading towards a heart.
- 3Two clocks showing your two time zones.
- 4A telephone with hearts coming out of it.
- 5A globe with two pins and a line between them.
- 6A window with rain on it and the words missing you.
- 7A parcel labelled a hug, fragile.
- 8A train ticket with their city on it.
- 9Two phones with a heart between them.
- 10A bridge between two cliffs.
- 11A paper chain with one link coloured in for each day apart.
- 12The moon, with a note that you are both looking at the same one.
Where to send them
A drawing on paper gets seen once. A drawing sent to a widget sits on the other person’s home screen until the next one replaces it, which is most of the reason drawing widgets exist.
HeartTap has two ways to do it. You can finish a drawing and send it to your partner’s widget, or open a shared canvas and draw at the same time, each watching the other’s strokes appear.
More ideas
Short love notes for your boyfriend or girlfriend
Sixty one-line notes sorted by moment: mornings, bad days, thank yous and time apart.
Couple widget ideas: what to send to your partner’s home screen
Fifty things to post, sorted by effort, for when the widget has gone quiet.
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Frequently asked questions
What are easy things to draw for your boyfriend or girlfriend?
Anything made of three or four simple shapes: a heart with an initial, two stick figures, a cup with heart-shaped steam, a moon and stars. Easy drawings are the better choice even if you can draw, because they are usually seen small and detail gets lost.
What if I cannot draw?
That is close to an advantage. Nobody receiving a doodle from their partner is judging the line work. A badly drawn cat from a specific person beats a perfect one from the internet, and the wonkiness is part of what makes it yours.
How do I draw something for a small widget?
Use thick strokes, few of them, and a lot of empty space. Choose the background colour first and then a stroke colour that contrasts strongly with it. Letters need to be large, and three or four words is about the limit.
How often should I send a drawing?
Often enough that it is not an event. One every day or two keeps a widget alive without turning it into a task. The ones that land best tend to be about something that happened that day.
Put them on your home screen tonight
Free to download on iPhone and Android. Link with your partner in under a minute, then send your first photo, drawing or check-in.