How to Use the HTML <canvas> Element to Draw Shapes, Text, and Animations

The tag is a powerful yet misunderstood part of HTML.It’s not a container — it’s a pixel-based drawing surface that lets you render shapes, images, animations, and even games directly in the browser. In this article: You’ll learn what makes special and why it can’t have child elements Understand how it operates purely in pixels (not DOM nodes) Discover how to make it responsive using resize listeners And finally, draw your first interactive line with just a few lines of JavaScript Whether you’re building a data visualization, a drawing app, or just exploring creative coding - is your blank digital playground.