How to Draw a Wolf on GIMP

Use a photo of a wolf as a guideline for digitally recreating the animal.

You can use the free graphics design program GIMP to digitally draw animals. To create a wolf, for example, start by locating a digital photo of the carnivorous animal as a guideline for your illustration. Depending on your skill level, you may wish to closely follow the pre-existing image or take artistic liberties with the process. Save the image to your computer files so you can open it in the free graphics editor.

Instructions

1. Launch GIMP and open your wolf photo as a guideline by clicking "File" and "Open." A GIMP workbook will open with the photo as its background.

2. Click "Layer" and "New Layer." Select from the popout dialog a Fill Type of Transparency and click "OK."

3. Select the "Paintbrush Tool" located in the main toolbox. In the bottom half of the toolbox, click on the "Brush" icon and select a "Circle Fuzzy" brush. Drag the tab of the Scale scrollbar to the right to increase the size of the brush. Click on the "Foreground Color" box to select a black or dark coloring for the outline of the wolf.

4. Double-click and drag your cursor around the perimeter of the wolf. Drag your cursor over the eyes, ears, mouth and any other dark areas of the wolf, outlining the legs and body curves. When finished, select the "Filters" tab and click "Distorts" and "Wind." Adjust the intensity or "Threshold" of the effect while looking at the image preview and click "OK," which will transform the fuzzy lines into hair-like strokes.

5. Click "Layer" and "New Layer" again. Select "Transparency" and "OK." Click "Layer," "Stack" and "Lower Layer" to place the new layer behind the layer containing the outline of the wolf.

6. Click again on the "Brush" icon and this time select "Pencil Sketch." Select in the bottom-half of the toolbox "Use color from gradient" and choose a gray-based gradient such as "Three Bars Sin" for a multi-tonal look. Double-click and drag your cursor inside the outline of the wolf to fill in the body region. When finished, click "Filters," "Distorts" and "Wind" to blend the pencil sketching into a hair-like result.

7. Select "Layer" and "New Layer" if you want to replace the background of the original photo. Select a fill type of "White" and click "OK." Click "Layer," "Stack" and "Lower Layer" until your white layer is behind both of your illustrated wolf layers and in front of the original photo. Fill the white layer with a pattern by clicking the "Bucket Fill Tool" in the toolbox. Select "Pattern fill" in the settings, and click on the "Pattern" icon. Choose a pre-set such as "Sky" or "Lightning" and click within the workbook for the canvas to be filled.

Tips & Warnings

• Save your wolf drawing by clicking "File" and "Save as."

References

• GIMP: Paintbrush
• GIMP: Wind
• GIMP: New Layer

Resources

• GIMP