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How to Draw on a Background: 36 Cartoon Scenes Begging to Be Defaced

No photo handy? Pick one of DrawDick's 36 cartoon scenes, from an awkward office to a haunted laboratory, and draw on it. How to do it, and why they work.

By Picasso Peen · · Updated · 4 min read

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The quick answer: in the editor, open Import (on a phone, it is Import image, under More), pick one of the 36 scenes under "Deface one of ours.", and draw. That is all there is to it. The rest of this page is the scenes themselves, a few tips, and why a moon landing makes such a good place for a doodle.

Why draw on a background at all

A drawing on a blank page is a drawing. The same drawing standing in a boxing ring, or presiding over a medieval throne room, is a scene, and a scene is funnier. The cartoon guide lists a setting as one of the four things that turn a shape into a character; a background is the setting done for you.

You could always draw on a photo of your own. Plenty of people do not have the right photo to hand, and photos with faces in them are refused anyway. So DrawDick now has its own: 36 cartoon scenes, made with AI image tools like the rest of the site's art, ready to be ruined. Twelve of them are a Halloween & Fall set, from a pumpkin patch to a haunted laboratory, and through October they come first.

How to draw on one

  1. Open the import panel

    On a computer, press Import (its joke name is Photo Bomb) in the editor's toolbar. On a phone, press More, then Import image.

  2. Pick a scene

    Under Deface one of ours. are 36 small pictures (in October, the Halloween & Fall ones first). Press one and it goes under your drawing. The one you picked gets a tick, and Picasso Peen tells you to get on with it.

  3. Draw on it

    Draw as you normally would, with any tool. The scene sits underneath everything you draw.

  4. Change your mind as often as you like

    Press a different scene to swap it, or Remove background to go back to a blank page. Undo puts the last scene back, too.

When it is done, finish it the way you finish any drawing: export it, or press Review drawing (Done on a phone) to submit it. A drawing on a background is reviewed with its background, just as a drawing on a photo is.

Your own photos still work exactly as before: Pick a photo in the same panel puts one of yours under the drawing instead. It is shrunk and checked for faces on your device first, and one with a face in it is refused.

The 36 scenes

Here is every one, each with the same test drawing on it, which is the fairest way to judge a background built to be drawn on. The last twelve are the Halloween & Fall set.

An empty office with a spilled coffee, overflowing papers and a tiny trophy. A cartoon dick is drawn in black outline in the open middle.
Awkward office
An oversized empty gold picture frame in a fancy gallery. A cartoon dick is drawn in black outline in the open middle.
Fancy portrait gallery
A blank moon landing scene with a tiny rocket and flag at the edges. A cartoon dick is drawn in black outline in the open middle.
Moon mission
An open golf green with playful golfing props at the edges. A cartoon dick is drawn in black outline in the open middle.
Golf green
An empty fishing dock scene with fishing props at the edges. A cartoon dick is drawn in black outline in the open middle.
Fishing dock
A forest camping scene with an open central clearing. A cartoon dick is drawn in black outline in the open middle.
Camping forest
A backyard barbecue scene with space for a character in the center. A cartoon dick is drawn in black outline in the open middle.
Backyard BBQ
A cartoon bowling alley with an open central drawing area. A cartoon dick is drawn in black outline in the open middle.
Bowling alley
An empty baseball field with props around the edges. A cartoon dick is drawn in black outline in the open middle.
Baseball field
An open beach scene with lifeguard props at the edges. A cartoon dick is drawn in black outline in the open middle.
Beach lifeguard
A pale open shoreline with surfing props around the edges. A cartoon dick is drawn in black outline in the open middle.
Surfing shoreline
An empty ski lodge interior with skis, a fireplace and winter gear at the edges. A cartoon dick is drawn in black outline in the open middle.
Ski lodge
An empty cartoon basketball court with plenty of drawing space. A cartoon dick is drawn in black outline in the open middle.
Basketball court
An empty cartoon boxing ring with an open center. A cartoon dick is drawn in black outline in the open middle.
Boxing ring
An empty music stage with instruments and equipment at the edges. A cartoon dick is drawn in black outline in the open middle.
Music stage
An empty cartoon gym with equipment around the edges. A cartoon dick is drawn in black outline in the open middle.
Gym
A racing celebration scene with a podium and open drawing space. A cartoon dick is drawn in black outline in the open middle.
Race podium
An open greenhouse scene with plants around the edges. A cartoon dick is drawn in black outline in the open middle.
Garden greenhouse
An empty western street with buildings and props at the edges. A cartoon dick is drawn in black outline in the open middle.
Western town
A pale underwater scene with coral framing an open center. A cartoon dick is drawn in black outline in the open middle.
Underwater reef
An empty royal hall with a throne and medieval props at the edges. A cartoon dick is drawn in black outline in the open middle.
Medieval throne room
An empty fancy restaurant scene with tables and dining props at the edges. A cartoon dick is drawn in black outline in the open middle.
Fancy restaurant
An empty pirate ship deck framed by nautical props. A cartoon dick is drawn in black outline in the open middle.
Pirate deck
An empty game-show stage with playful props framing the drawing area. A cartoon dick is drawn in black outline in the open middle.
Game-show stage
A haunted living room with a crackling fireplace, a nervous jack-o’-lantern, a black cat, ghostly portraits and a patched armchair at the edges. A cartoon dick is drawn in black outline in the open middle.
Haunted Living Room
A pumpkin patch under an autumn sky, a worried pumpkin and a smug one in the vines, with a red barn on the far hill. A cartoon dick is drawn in black outline in the open middle.
Pumpkin Patch
A misty cemetery under a sleepy full moon, with mossy gravestones, iron gates, a goggle-eyed gargoyle and a bat at the edges. A cartoon dick is drawn in black outline in the open middle.
Moonlit Cemetery
A witch’s kitchen with a bubbling cauldron on the stove, hanging pots, a broom and shelves of jars with eyes in them. A cartoon dick is drawn in black outline in the open middle.
Witch Kitchen
A foggy forest trail between gnarled autumn trees, with eyes peering from the trunks, a hanging bat, toadstools and a startled pumpkin. A cartoon dick is drawn in black outline in the open middle.
Spooky Forest Trail
A wooden porch framed by autumn leaves, with grinning jack-o’-lanterns, a pumpkin in a witch hat and a pair of striped witch boots. A cartoon dick is drawn in black outline in the open middle.
Halloween Porch
The entrance to a corn maze under a rustic wooden arch, with tall corn stalks, hay bales and a cheerful pumpkin in a bucket hat. A cartoon dick is drawn in black outline in the open middle.
Corn Maze Entrance
An autumn park with blazing orange trees, a park bench, a leaf-stuffed bin and eyes peeking out of a pile of leaves. A cartoon dick is drawn in black outline in the open middle.
Autumn Park
Inside a harvest barn with hay bales, dried corn, a horseshoe, a pitchfork and wary pumpkins on the straw. A cartoon dick is drawn in black outline in the open middle.
Harvest Barn
A cozy fall cafe with a pumpkin spice latte and a cinnamon roll on a little table, a pumpkin teapot and a stack of teacups on the counter. A cartoon dick is drawn in black outline in the open middle.
Cozy Fall Cafe
A haunted laboratory with bubbling flasks that have faces, a skull on a shelf, copper pipes, potion bottles and a dropped green glove. A cartoon dick is drawn in black outline in the open middle.
Haunted Laboratory
An empty stage between purple curtains hung with paper bats, with a witch hat on a stool, a jack-o’-lantern and a box of costumes with googly eyes. A cartoon dick is drawn in black outline in the open middle.
Costume Party Stage

The full list, for anyone looking for something in particular: Awkward office, Fancy portrait gallery, Moon mission, Golf green, Fishing dock, Camping forest, Backyard BBQ, Bowling alley, Baseball field, Beach lifeguard, Surfing shoreline, Ski lodge, Basketball court, Boxing ring, Music stage, Gym, Race podium, Garden greenhouse, Western town, Underwater reef, Medieval throne room, Fancy restaurant, Pirate deck and Game-show stage. And for Halloween and the rest of the fall: Haunted Living Room, Pumpkin Patch, Moonlit Cemetery, Witch Kitchen, Spooky Forest Trail, Halloween Porch, Corn Maze Entrance, Autumn Park, Harvest Barn, Cozy Fall Cafe, Haunted Laboratory and Costume Party Stage. They stay all year, so a drawing on one keeps its scene for good.

Why they work

Look at any of them and you will notice something: the middle is nearly empty. That is not laziness. It is the whole design.

Every scene pushes its detail out to the edges, the office's filing cabinet and stack of papers, the throne room's banners and torch, the pirate deck's ladder and ship's wheel, the witch kitchen's cauldron and jars, and leaves a pale, open space in the center. That space is where your drawing goes (in the pumpkin patch it sits higher, above the pumpkins), and it matters for two reasons.

  • There is room to draw. You never have to squeeze a doodle between a lamp and a potted plant. The scene frames the drawing instead of competing with it.
  • The drawing stays readable. A black line on a pale ground is about as easy to see as a line gets. On a busy or dark background the same line disappears into the clutter, and then it is not a joke, it is a puzzle.

The edges do the storytelling and the center stays out of the way. The scene tells you where you are; the drawing tells you what is happening there.

Tips for a better scene

  • Use the setting. The best drawings react to where they are: a lifeguard whistle on the beach, a crown in the throne room, a terrible golf swing on the green, a costume in the haunted living room.
  • Keep lines bold. A medium or thick brush in black or a dark color reads best over the pale middle.
  • Try a few. Swapping is one press, so put the same drawing in three scenes and keep the funniest.
  • Want shapes to start from? The cartoon starter builds a cartoon from sliders and hands it to the editor as shapes you can move and draw over.

What about stickers?

The next thing to dress a doodle up with is the Tramp Stamps, 24 stickers from googly eyes to a stink cloud. They are in the editor behind the Stickers button, so put your doodle in a scene, then give it a hat to match.

Your turn.

Draw a better one.

Start drawing →

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