re-coloring your wolf (ps)

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RE-COLORING YOUR WOLF WITH PHOTOSHOP
this is a guide to help you re-color your wolf realistically (at least...make it less obvious...) on photoshop. just in case you were wondering how to do it. so...read on!
(it comes with visuals, so you don't get confused)

After you have found your image and opened it up in photoshop click on the brush tool. We will just be coloring a simple grey wolf blue with green paws.

Choose your desired color.

Now, this next part is just all about choosing your brush. After you have clicked your brush, change the brush size smaller (this all depends on the size of the space you are re-coloring of course). I am going to use a 35px brush and go smaller or larger as I get to different parts of the wolf. I advise you to use a "fuzzy" brush, so that when you get to the edges it doesn't look so...how do I describe it? Solid, I guess. It just makes it look more like natural fur and less like you colored it. I have made an image so you understand if you're a bit confused.

Now, this is the trickier part, the part that trips everybody up. If you aren't familiar with photoshop and making brushes transparent, this part is mostly for you. You know the bar where you picked your brush at the top? Make sure that you have the brush tool and go along the bar at the top, you should come across something that says: Opacity: 100%. Click that. Lowering the percentage will make your brush more transparent and increasing the percentage will make your brush more solid (I guess you could say). This is where you may need to experiment a little bit. For this picture I'm going to use 26% Opacity. (you may also want to see if the flow is up to 100%, it's in the included image)

Now color away my child! Color away! Just, be sure not to go over somewhere that you already colored after you let go of the mouse. This makes that part look thicker than the rest. To make it look more natural, you may also want to mess with the brightness/contrast (Image > Adjustments > Brightness/Contrast) or use a thicker brush.

After you have finished coloring the first part of the wolf, he should look something like this:

Now, onto the paws. Remember? We said we were going to color his paws green as well. This isn't any different than making the fur blue. Again, depending on your personal picture, you may want to mess around with the Opacity (don't you ever forget the undo button! it will become your best friend!).

You may also find it easier to make multiple layers with different colors on them, however you can think of to make it look the most natural. You can also edit the color balance (Image > Adjustments > Color Balance). If you have multiple layers, you should copy/paste to combine layers and then you can edit the brightnes/contrast easier. I find that all markings look more natural and less slapped on there when you make the image darker and more contrasted. However, tiny mistakes can become visible, so just be aware.

My final product: (I also added a green stripe down his back x3)

It takes a while and a lot of messing around to get this to look perfectly natural, but keep trying and don't get discouraged! I promise, you can do it!

Feel free to post any finished products used with this tutorial here. ^^ I'd love to see what you've done.

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