How to Draw a Bee

We are buzzing with excitement for this step-by-step tutorial on how to draw a bee. Bees not only give us honey, but they also play a very important role in the ecosystem. They support the growth of flowers, trees, and other plants through pollination.

Before you begin, gather your supplies together for the tutorial. Our drawing tutorials can be used with any medium you have on hand. These can be markers, pencils, or digital programs like Procreate and Photoshop.

We are using Procreate for our drawing tutorial. If you want to follow with Procreate, we have a great selection of Procreate texture brushes for you to choose from.

Step 1 - Roughly Sketch the Bee Base Shape

We are going to start our bee drawing by making rough sketches for the base shape. For your rough sketches, use a medium that is easy to remove or hide, like a pencil.

Sketch the Base of the Bee's Body

Start with the bee’s body shape by sketching three rough ovals. The three ovals are stacked, with the first top oval being the smallest for the head. The middle oval will be the bee’s thorax and slightly larger. The last bottom oval will be a bit more circular and the largest shape for the abdomen.

Base Sketch of Legs and Antenna

Next, using simple lines, sketch where the legs and antenna go on the bee. For the head shape at the top, sketch a slightly curved line on either side for the antenna. For the bee’s legs, we are sketching the forelegs and hind legs.

The forelegs are placed on both sides of the thorax, close to the head. Sketch one line angled away from the head, then the second line angled towards the head. See our example image below.

Next, on the abdomen close to the thorax, sketch a short line angled away, then sketch a longer line angled along the abdomen. At the end of the hind legs, make a short line at the end.

Base Sketch of the Wings

For the last base sketch, we are sketching the wings. On both sides of the thorax below the forelegs, sketch a wing that is narrow close to the thorax and wider by the end.

Step 2 - Defining the Rough Sketches of Your Bee

In this step, we are going to define our base sketch for our bee by filling out the shapes and adding details. Continue using the same sketch medium for this step.

Define the Bee's Body and Wings

For the bee’s body, we need to combine the stacked ovals to make a single shape. Looking at our example below, starting at the head of the bee, follow the top curve of the oval. But, instead of closing it off at the bottom, bring the curved line down to the thorax oval.

At the thorax oval, follow the side curves and make the segment stop in the middle of the gap between the thorax and abdomen. Join the abdomen and thorax by following the base shape's curve at the bottom.

Next, for the bee’s wings, roughly sketch a line at the center point at the tip of the wing. The line indicates where we will sketch an indent in the wing and slightly curve it at the bottom half.

Fill Out the Bee Legs and Antenna

Next, we need to fill out the bee’s legs and antenna to give them shape. Starting with the antenna, follow the curve of the sketch line. Make the base of the antenna narrow at the head and a little wider and rounded at the end, as we did in our example below.

For the forelegs and hind legs, the general shape is the same. Using the baselines as your guide, sketch a line on either side. At the ends of the legs, round off your sketch for the bee’s foot.

Add Detail Sketches to the Bee's Body

For the final sketches of our how to draw a bee tutorial, we are going to add details to the body. We’re adding the eyes on the sides of the head and stripes on the body.

Starting at the head, sketch a bump on both sides for the eyes. On the inside of the head, about one-third from the bottom, sketch a curved line as we did in our example below.

Next, following the curves of the thorax midsection, completely close it off. On the abdomen, near the thorax, sketch another curved line. You can make the curve wavy like we did if you want, and right at the bottom, sketch the last curve.

Step 3 - Outline Your Bee Sketch

We have completed our rough sketches for the bee, and we can now move on to outlining and adding details like hair. You can switch to a dark or defining medium like a pen to draw the outlines of your bee.

We are using the clean edge ink brush from a pack of ink Procreate brushes for this step.

Outline the Main Body of Your Bee

For the outlining, we are going to outline the main body shape of the bee. Pay close attention to which lines you want to outline, as there are some overlapping sketch lines that you would not want to include.

We went ahead and filled in our antennas to be solid black. We also made sure that the one wing that’s overlapping the leg didn’t have the upper part of the leg outlined as it is hidden by the wing.

Adding Hair Texture to Your Bee

Next, we are going to add a hair texture to the bee’s body. For an example of how we drew the hair texture, look at our image below. All we did was draw short overlapping lines, making it look like a cluster of hair.

See how you can make Procreate brushes with our in-depth tutorial and turn the hair texture into a brush to save on time.

The hair texture on the body will only go on the three largest sections, the top part of the head, the thorax, and the midsection of the abdomen.

Final Texture Details on Your Bee

Continue adding the hair texture on your bee’s forelegs and hind legs. Next, for the wings, you can make any texture on them. We went with a stipple texture using the same brush we used for the outline and hair texture.

Bee-autiful drawing! You are all done! Why not create a hive with color and all kinds of different styled bees? We hope you had a buzz-tastic time following along and drawing a bee with us.