help with starburst technique

natashastar · Joined: 24 Feb 2010 Posts: 1

Im trying to finish this painting of a woman who is a chess board with a pawn in the background. The idea or feel of this painting is the woman is staring at you, pissed to say the least, about everyone in the world full of glutton and materialism, and in her mind (which you can see) is a pawn representing mankind. I need help, please! My idea is to paint the pawn in some sort of vortex or use a starburst effect to make it look like it is far away but my skills are limited and im not sure how to get that effect. any help with that technique would be greatly appreciated, or even other ideas to complete my painting. please keep in mind that i have almost no money and the only materials i have are acrylic paint and brushes. also, i am trying to get into art school with this painting so please dont give me childrens craft techniques. I apologize if i offend anyone and also for the bad grammar. THANKS!

thecatsgrin · Joined: 18 Apr 2009 Posts: 2181 Location: Gippsland

It would be helpful if you could post a photo of the painting.

I am not sure what you mean by 'star burst ' effect.
The advice would also depend on your style of painting.
Good luck anyway!

gggraph

Hi natashastar, I must admit I'm having difficulty picturing quite what you've got in mind... however:

When you talk 'starburst', I immediately think 'Airbrush'. If you can't get access to an airbrush, plan B would thin down some paint and see if you can get it to go through an empty pump-action bottle. This would be VERY rough, so it would be a good idea to make a mask out of some stiff paper to control the overspray.

Plan C would be to do the same thing by flicking paint off a toothbrush.

It may be worth posting a rough pencil sketch so we've got a better idea about what you've got in mind.

Cheers

Grant