Design a wolf howling at the moon

In this tutorial,I`ll show you the steps I took to create an amazing wallpaper with a wolf howling at a big magic moon.

Along the way,we`ll be using a lot of blending options,lights and shadows,selection techniques,pen tool and brushes.I hope that you`ll find it useful and inspirational.

This is how my final result looks:

For This tutorial,as background I used this image.So…let`s get started:

Load the image into Photoshop.Duplicate the layer and name it “Background clouds”(or whatever you want),deselect the first one and using the selection tool delete the bottom part of the image like in the picture:

Using the crop tool,select the rest of the image to get rid of that space from the bottom of the image.Delete the first layer(the locked one).Duplicate the “Background clouds” layer 2 times.Change the blend mode for the first to “Soft light” and for the second to “Overlay”..Now we have an image with more light and contrast.

In the bottom left of the image,add some mountains.I used a set of mountains brushes,but is just a suggestion.

Make a new layer and in the bottom-right of the image,add a wolf sitting on a rock mountain.You can download the brush from here.

Now we`re gonna make the rock of the wolf to become real.Download this rock image and paste it into Photoshop.

Duplicate the layer of the image,select the “Selection tool”,right click on image and “Load selection”.Ctrl+C to copy and paste it in our project.

Put the layer under the wolf layer.Transform the scale of the image to look like this:

Using the pen tool,make the selection of the exterior rock and delete it,like in the image:

Increase the height of the canvas(Image->Canvas size) to see if you have any rock under the image.If you have,get rid of it.

Now put the layer with the rock above the wolf layer.Now you have a rock mountain.Set the opacity of the layer to 30% and duplicate it.

Set the opacity of the new layer to 100%.

Go to Filter->Render->Lightning effects and apply the next settings for the rock layer:

Now make a mask to this layer(Layer->Layer Mask->Reveal all),set the foreground color to #d2d2d2,and with the Airbrush Soft Round make more light to the rock,like in the image:

Duplicate this layer and set the blending mode for the new layer to Soft light.Merge those 2 layers.You may set the opacity to 70-80% to make the rock a little bit darker.

Now add the next outer glow effect:

Our image looks like this:

Using the pen tool,make the selection to the wolf,copy the selection and paste it into a new layer.

To this layer,add the next blending options:

Outer glow:

Color overlay

We have now a wolf a bit more darken.

In a new layer,with “Airbrush Soft Round 200″ ,hardness 0% make some shadows on the margins of the rock and set the Fill layer to 40-45%.

I`ve found some Planet Brushes and Star Brushes at DeviantArt.Add them to your picture.This is how my picture looks:

Let`s add some lights:

Select Rectangle tool(U) and draw a stripe from top to bottom.Go to Filter->Render and add some Fibers:

Now go to Filter->Blur and add Motion Blur:

Transform it a little bit…

Go to Edit->Transform and add it some perspective like in the image below:

Rotate and put the lights into the top-right corner of the screen.Set the Fill to 60% and give the layer “Soft light” as blending option.

The last step is adjusting a little bit the image.Go to Layer->New adjustment layer->Color Balance and apply the next numbers:

We`ve finished our great wallpaper.

I hope you enjoy it and if you have any questions don`t hesitate to leave a comment…

This is how our image looks: