need help making light rays and glow

[mannyr8]

Hi,
I'm working on a sign for a children's production of the Wizard of Oz.
I'd like to create an effect similar to the glow and rays behind the witch's silhouette in the attached picture which I found on the web.

I'd like to place the same effect behind the City of Oz in my drawing.
I've managed to create similar rays (though not as nice) but am stumped on how to create the glow.
I've tried the glow and shadow tool with feathering and transparency but it just doesn't look the same.
Any help would be deeply appreciated.

[gwpriester]

Use feathering to blur the edges of the rays.

[mannyr8]

Use feathering to blur the edges of the rays.

Thanks! Any thoughts about the glow?

[gwpriester]

Just placing the dark silhouette in front of the background will create the glow. Or you can apply a Glow shadow with the Shadow Tool and edit the settings.

[mannyr8]

Just placing the dark silhouette in front of the background will create the glow. Or you can apply a Glow shadow with the Shadow Tool and edit the settings.

I tried the Glow shadow with the Shadow tool but it didn't feather the transition between bright and dark very well. I think the problem there is that the drawing is very big as it measures 96" wide x 48" tall (it's going to be printed onto vinyl and then attached to a 4' x 8' plywood sheet).

I could create a circle and apply a circular transparency for the background. I was hoping to make an irregular shape and make it glow and fade.
The Glow/Shadow tool would be perfect but it doesn't seem to work at this scale.

[gwpriester]

That is a large banner.

For an irregular shape try the Contour Tool. Then play with the profile settings to get the right effect.

The best way to solve this is play around with it and try things (as you are doing). It is a much better learning experience.