Elephas beetle — Colored Example

Use short strokes to show the velvety body hair

The best feature of the Elephas beetle is the tiny, soft hairs that cover its whole body.

• Don't just color everything flat with one color! Use ochre, light brown, and yellow. Sharpen your colored pencils a bit, and color with lots of short overlapping lines.

• Color carefully with these fine strokes around the edges of its back and front body. This gives your Elephas beetle that warm, fluffy look!

Show shiny shells where the hair has worn off

Elephas beetles move around a lot! The hair on their backs and horns rubs off easily, showing the dark shell underneath.

• Color these bare spots nice and dark with deep brown or black. Leave some smooth white spots to show light shining on them.

• Putting smooth, shiny shell spots right next to soft, fluffy brown hair makes your coloring look super realistic!

Make the thick horns and strong legs stand out

The thick horns curve gently like an elephant's trunk! Color the hard legs and horns to make them look solid.

• Blend your colors smoothly along the curve of the horns. Keep the top light where the sun hits, and make the bottom dark black to show how big and round they are.

• Color the lines on the leg joints and sharp spikes clearly. This shows how strong they are as they hold onto big trees!

Mix colors for the tree bark and moss

Don't color the big tree trunk just one shade of brown. Mix a few colors together to make it look real!

• Use brown and dark brown to draw straight lines and bumpy grooves. Then, gently add green and yellow-green in the gaps to show green moss!

• You don't have to fill in every spot smoothly. Let the rough texture of your colored pencils show to make real, dry tree bark.

Add dark shadows underneath to show its heavy body

The Elephas beetle has a big, heavy body! Adding shadows on the tree makes a big difference.

• Add dark, clear shadows with dark brown or black right under its tummy and where its legs touch the tree.

• These dark shadows make the big, round body of your Elephas beetle pop out, making it look super strong!

Layering Base Colors for a Deep Jet-Black Look

If an Elephas beetle loses its hair, just coloring its body plain black will make it look flat.

• First, put down a light layer of deep dark brown, dark purple, or indigo blue as your base color.

• Then, press down nicely as you layer black over it. This creates a rich, deep black that shows off the thick shell and body fluids of a real insect!

Using Strong Highlights to Show a Hard, Shiny Gloss

To make it look hard and shiny like shiny plastic, you need a strong contrast between light and dark!

• Leave big, clear white spots uncolored on the highest parts of its chest and back where the light reflects.

• Use your darkest black right along the edge of the white spots, then blend it out smoothly. This makes it look as shiny as a mirror!

Adding Tiny Bits of Hair as a Fun Accent

Don't make it totally smooth! Leaving a tiny hint of hair is the secret trick to making your Elephas beetle look real.

• Gently tap a tiny bit of ocher or orange around its neck and the bottom edge of its chest.

• These bright colors pop against the dark body. It adds a cool, realistic detail that shows your beetle has been on many adventures!

Layering Strokes to Create Deep Grooves and 3D Bark

The tree bark that the beetle holds onto has lots of bumpy spots and deep cracks.

• Use a sharp dark brown or black colored pencil to draw strong lines along the wood fibers and cracks.

• On the bumpy parts, layer reddish-brown, ocher, and gray unevenly. Keep the scratchy pencil texture to show the rough bark of a huge old tree!

Adding Mossy Green for a Realistic Old Tree Texture

Gently rub layers of green and yellow-green over parts of your brown colors.

• Adding green makes the wood look like it has moss growing on it, bringing your picture to life!

• The natural green background also helps the beetle's dark body stand out even more!

Using Dark Cast Shadows to Show Heavy Weight

Since the Elephas beetle has a jet-black body, you need strong shadows underneath it, too!

• Draw clear, dark shadows using your darkest brown or black right under its tummy and where its legs touch the tree.

• These strong shadows make your giant Elephas beetle look super heavy and solid on the wood!

The best part of this coloring page is watching the contrast come together between the shiny black body and the dry, rough tree bark. Have fun coloring!