Sketch the bee. Keep this very simple and don’t be heavy handed. It’s important that you don’t dent the paper with your pencil strokes, as this could show through later as we layer up the colour.

Once you’re happy with the outline, rub it back with an eraser so that it won’t be seen underneath your coloured pencils.

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1. Begin by lightly filling in the basic colours of the bee using cream, black, medium flesh and light chrome yellow.

2. Use the darker yellow around the edges of the yellow stripes and the lighter yellow down the centre of the stripes.

3. Use the flesh colour, very lightly, across the wings.

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1. Once you’re happy that you have the rough colours blocked in, begin to add more detail. Use black with raw umber to fill in the antenna and apply small strokes to edge the left-hand side of the head.

2. Work from the inside of the head to the outside with short, sharp strokes so that each stroke looks like hair.

3. Mark in the outlines around the eyes and shade a little in the middle.

1. Once happy with the shading, start layering the black of the head in circular motions. Use your strokes to elevate the shapes on the head. Work round and round on the circular eyes and follow the direction of the hairs between the eyes and towards the antenna. As you build up the layers of black, the colours will now start to burnish. You will no longer be able to see the individual strokes and a lovely bright sheen will appear on the paper, which will make the drawing really stand out from the blank paper.

2 Next, use raw umber along with dark cadmium orange and light cadmium red to begin colouring the first yellow stripe. Using soft circular movements, begin building the colour around the edge of the stripe, still leaving the centre of it clear.

3. Around the very edges, return to using the short sharp strokes to give the fluffy appearance using mainly light cadmium red.

1. Next use cream to run along the very centre of the stripe then apply light chrome yellow across the whole stripe in circular motions, softening all the shading whilst building up lots of layers of bright yellow. As the yellow merges all the shaded strokes, it will start to hide the pencil marks and, again, you will create that lovely smooth and polished sheen.

2. Finish this stripe by making short sharp strokes of the bright yellow along the edges.

3. Begin working on the black centre of the bee – again, it’s important to make sure you leave the light areas clear as it’s hard with coloured pencil to add a solid white over a dark colour. Start in the centre using nougat, working round and round with short strokes and moving the paper so that the strokes start in the centre and move out to all edges of the circular body.

4. Begin layering the black, using heavy strokes across the middle and particularly concentrating on the top edge of this section, adjacent to the yellow stripe. Finish this edge with short sharp black marks.

5. Look at the structure of the wings and mark in the darker definition of the veins.

1. Next use cream to run along the very centre of the stripe then apply light chrome yellow across the whole stripe in circular motions, softening all the shading whilst building up lots of layers of bright yellow. As the yellow merges all the shaded strokes, it will start to hide the pencil marks and, again, you will create that lovely smooth and polished sheen.

2. Finish this stripe by making short sharp strokes of the bright yellow along the edges.

3. Begin working on the black centre of the bee – again, it’s important to make sure you leave the light areas clear as it’s hard with coloured pencil to add a solid white over a dark colour. Start in the centre using nougat, working round and round with short strokes and moving the paper so that the strokes start in the centre and move out to all edges of the circular body.

4. Begin layering the black, using heavy strokes across the middle and particularly concentrating on the top edge of this section, adjacent to the yellow stripe. Finish this edge with short sharp black marks.

5. Look at the structure of the wings and mark in the darker definition of the veins.

Move onto the next yellow stripe; this one is a little more orange so use dark cadmium orange along the bottom edge. It also has a little texture so, before applying yellow, add black strokes across the bottom edge and tiny black marks across the middle.

1. As before, use cream and yellow to smooth the shading and start layering the colours.

2. When you’re happy with the yellow, return to the upper edge with black to sharpen up the strokes.

1. Add the next black layer using the same technique as before. There is not much space here for burnishing, but once you have layered black across the middle, add the sharp strokes along the edges.

2. For the next yellow stripe, use raw umber to add patches of shading.

3. Use orange along the edges and shade in with a little black around each side; this will create a rounded-looking body. Use black to make the marks on the left-hand side then start layering and burnishing with cream and yellow.

4. Take notice again to leave the light mark white then use cream around the edge of it then gradually add the darker yellow.

1. Add a line of short strokes of raw umber along the bottom edge then start layering black in circular motions. The raw umber underneath will add depth to the shading.

2. Continue with this technique as you work down the body of the bee. Pay attention to the rounded shape of the body, where there is shading and light and where there is more orange.

3. As you finish each stripe, sharpen the edges with black to maintain the look of hair.

If your surface is becoming a little dusty from the pencil crayons, use an eraser to tidy up the smudge marks.

The legs

Once you are happy with the body, start to work on the legs of the bee. Use quite sharp, heavy strokes in black to mark in the edges of the legs. Where there is space, colour the centre of the legs with raw umber.

The wings

1. Orientate the paper so that your pencil lines can follow the length of the wing. The trick here is not only to give them colour, but also make them look transparent. I used warm grey 1, ivory, white, medium flesh and light flesh here.

2. Begin by using warm grey, ivory and white to start layering the colours. Use a mixture of long strokes along the vein lines – this will also make your pencil lines underneath more subtle – and shading into the edges and where the wings meet the body.

3. Use warm grey at the ends of the wings; use a little cross-hatching here to add texture. This will later be softened when we burnish with white.

1. Start working the light flesh around in a half oval shape, shading towards the end of the wing and leaving a light area in the middle where the light catches it.

2. Once you’re happy with the shapes you’ve created and the layers of subtle colours, use white gently across the top of all the layers, softening the shades. Gradually burnish the colours together to create a smooth and very softly coloured sheen on the wing.

1. Use white to brighten the light area that you have left on the wing and to highlight the areas where the wing meets the body.

2. Use warm grey and black to layer the streaks gradually here, whilst softening them with white.

1. You could choose to complete both wings alongside each other; alternatively, do one at a time. I completed the right-hand wing first then used this as a guide on the left-hand wing.

2. Once both wings are complete, use black gently to draw a soft outline around the rings and to highlight a few of the veins.

3. Use firm strokes to join the wings to the body, working from the centre of the black body out onto the wing.

Finishing touches

1. Your bee should have a lovely smooth sheen to it, because of all the burnishing. To lift it slightly and give a little texture, you will need very sharp black and white pencils, and a tiny amount of water.

2. Carefully look over the drawing and, with the sharp black pencil, neaten up and sharpen all the edges. Make sure that there are tiny sharp black lines dividing all the stripes. Follow the outline, all around the body and head, and sharpen it.

3. Check that you’re happy with the shape of the bee and adjust accordingly.

4. Make sure that you’re happy with the legs then highlight small parts of the edges of the wings. Sharpen the edge of the white area on the middle of the body where the wings meet. Orientate the paper so that all your lines are drawn from the middle, outwards.

5. Next, sharpen the white pencil and dip the end in a tiny amount of water. Use it across the drawing to pick out tiny flecks of white, highlighting where the light would be catching the hairs. Use the white also to accentuate the larger highlights running down the right-hand side of the body and on the eyes.

6. Keep holding the drawing at arm’s length and you should reach a point where you feel the bee has come to life!

The finished study

Bee, Faber-Castell Albrecht Dürer watercolour pencils on St Cuthberts Botanical Smooth 300gsm paper, (14x19.5cm)

Find out more about Milly and her work by visiting www.millyengland.co.uk

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