Whether you’re doing altered books, decos, artist trading cards, or any other type of swapable artwork, sooner or later, you need theme ideas. I’ve been collecting these from the various groups I moderate and projects I host for about two years. Last time I checked, there were 138 themes listed—surely you’ll find something here to break your creative block!
(Updated March, 2004 – now over 240 themes!)
(Updated August, 2008 – now over 350 themes!)
(Updated October, 2014 – now, over 400 themes!)
| 60’s 70’s 80’s Abstract Advertising Africa All about me Alphabet or dictionary Altered photos American fifties ads Anatomy Ancient civilizations Ancient cultures Ancient history Ancient spirits Andy Warhol (or any other artist) Angels Animals Antique maps Anything antique Archetypes Around the world Art Nouveau Asian Astrology Astronomy At the beach Au Naturel Autumn Babies Bad art Bad things Bats Bears Beeswax Best inventions in the world Bingo Birds Black and white (or any color combination) Board books Boats Body parts Books Bronze Butterflies Camelot Carnival Cartoon characters Carve your own stamps Cats Celebration of the body Celestial Celtic Cemeteries Censorship Chakras Childhood Childhood memories Children Children’s literature Chocolate Christmas Circles Circus Cityscapes Classical composers Clowns Cocktails Coffee Collage Colors Comics Compassion Conflict Consumerism Consumption Costumes Cowboys Cowgirls Crazy weather Create your own goddess Creative Life Creepy Crime Culture Cultures Cupcakes Cyberpunk Dance Dark and strange Darkness Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos) Desire Desire Digital Disguise/masquerade Distortions Dolls Doors Doors & windows Dragonflies Dragons Dream landscapes Dreams Ecology Eggs Egyptian Elegance Elements Elephants Emotional self-portrait Emotions Endangered occupations Environment Experiments Eyeglasses Eyes Fabric Faces Fairies Fairy tales and folklore Family Tree Famous landmarks Famous poets Famous women Fantasy Fashion Faux postage Favorite films Favorite things Felines Feminine mystique Fibers Figments of your imagination Film Flowers Fonts and Lettering Food/cooking/edible stuff Footprints Foreign text Fortune cookie sayings Found objects Found poetry Four seasons Freedom Fruits & vegetables Full Circle Fun Gadgets Game pieces Games people play Garden tools Gardens Genealogy/ancestors Geometric shapes Ghosts Girlfriends Gnomes Goddess in every woman Goddesses Graffiti Graphic Novels Grasses Great Outdoors Growing Up Growth Gypsy Halloween Hand-drawn Hands Handwritten Happiness is… Harvest Hats Haunted houses Head in the Clouds Hearts Herbs Heroines Historical costumes Hobbies Holidays House & home House of blues Houses Imaginary maps Imaginary places India Insects Inside Out Inspiration Instruction booklets Italy Jazz Jesters and jokers Joy King Arthur Kings and Queens Labels Lace Landscapes Languages Lavender Leaves Leonardo da Vinci (or any famous artist) Life’s lessons Lighthouses Literature Loss Lost Lost things Love |
Macabre Made up countries or lands Magic garden Magic of the ordinary Magical creatures Magical recipes Maps Marie Antoinette Masks Medicine and/or Anatomy Men Mermaids Merry-go-round Messy & Sloppy Metal Middle East Mimes Mirrors Mixed media Money Monochromatic Monsters Motherhood Motorcycles Motown Movie Posters Moving parts Murder Music Music of the spheres My favorite things My life Mythological creatures Mythology Native American Nature Nature spirits Newspaper clippings Night Nightmare before Christmas Numbers Ocean Odd objects Ode to famous artists Office supplies Old-timer cars One image Optical illusions Out of Place Owls Oxymorons Paradise Paradox Paris Past times Patchwork Pattern Pets Photography Photos from the attic Pictures Pin ups Pirates Play Play on words Poetry Politics Portraits Postal Postcard Power Pre-Raphaelites (or any artistic movement) Printmaking Protest Puppets Puzzles Queen of hearts Questions Quotations Race Rain Rainbow Recycled materials Recycling Reflections Resolutions Robin Hood Robots & spaceships Roosters Rubber stamping Rubbings Sacred spaces Santas Scary movies School days Sea Seascapes Seasonal celebrations Seasons Second chance Self-portrait Serengeti Seven wonders Sewing Shattered Images Shrines Snap shots Snowmen Solar System Solitude Spells and magic Spice Spirituality Sports Spring Steampunk Stenciled motifs Still life Stories Story lines Storybook Structures Summer Super heroes Superheroes Surrealist Swirls Symbolism Symbols Tags Talking trees Tarot cards Tea Tea Time Teddy bears Telephones Textures Theater Things with wings Through a Window Throw away collage Tim Burton (or any modern film artist) Time Time and Space Time travel Torture Toys Traditional costumes Transformation Transparencies Travel Treasure decos Treasure maps Tree of life Trees Trucks T-shirt sayings Typewriter Underwater Unicorns Unreal cities Un-themed Urban Art Urban moments Urban vs. Rural Use acrylics only Use pencils only Use the computer only Use watercolor only Using lace Vampires and creatures of the night Venice Vintage Vintage fashion Vintage men Vintage nudes Vintage photos Vintage voyage Vintage wallpaper Wall art Water Weather Weird Weird science Weirdness Where I live Whimsical Wild animals Wild west Wild women Windows Wine Wine, women and song Wings Winter Witches Witch queens Wizard of Oz Women Women heroines Wonderful women Words of wisdom World Holidays World Religons World Within a World Zen Zetti Zodiac Zoom In |
