I was trying to get an old/painted look with it. Can anybody give me any tips as to how to give the image a "cracked" look, like what you see in old paintings?

 

 

 

(yes, im a scrub in this board, so help me out a bit.)

Firstly, old paintings are normally not so white, seeing as they're old and faded so I'd give the background a slight sepia tone. I'm not exactly sure what cracked texture you're looking for but if you can post an example I could see if I can help.