In this tutorial I'm going to show you the basic start of "space paintings" the concept of taking spray paint and manipulating it.

I did this project at TechShop! ( http://www.techshop.ws/ )

Step 1: Step 1

Gather your spray paint. I tend to like Krylon brand as it doesn't dry too fast and has a broad choice of colors.

Step 2: Step 2

Gather some old wax paper magazines and separate into individual pages. They are used to create the texture of your planets.
Also grab some old pan tops from your old cookware. Pan lids have great seals to protect the paint from colliding with your galaxy.

(I forgot the old magazines so I used one of the Inventables catalogs from the front desk at TechShop instead of going back home or getting a $6 magazine from next door at Lowe's)

Step 3: Step 3

Get the object you want to paint. I usually use the 97 cent poster board from Walmart or you can find something else with the same texture of poster board (slick & waxy). For my saltwater tank background I used some old compressed board with a similar texture and cut it to size to fit behind my aquarium.

Place the pan lids in the desired locations of your planets, then use your black paint to spray around to create an outline.

Step 4: Step 4

Spray your first layer of color down on the surface and let it dry for maybe 5-10 seconds (depending on how much you want to stay on your material) then take a sheet of your magazine paper, lay it on your planet, and pull off right away. At this point you should have some paint stay and some pull off.

Step 5: Step 5

Add as many layers as you would like! This is 3 layers (in order) green, red, and white

Step 6: Step 6

Now, cover your planets with your pan lids and paint your background your desired color. (black would be realistic)

Step 7: Step 7

After the black dries completely, feel free to add a background. When you would like to get more advanced you can learn to do mountains but for this project i just did some color stripes lightly and far away from the board. To get the star splatter, I sprayed some white paint on my fingers then flicked it at the painting

When you're done with the background let it dry. (about 10 mins for me in the paint booth)

Step 8: Step 8

After letting it dry, pull the pan lids off.

Step 9: Step 9

This is what mine looked like when i was done.

Step 10: Step 10 Final Product!

I then went home from techshop to apply my painting to the back of my saltwater aquarium (also a project in progress)

Pardon the dirty glass. the black really makes the water spots on the back show up.