Silhouette, the Queen & St Annes

A silhouette is the image of a person, animal, object or scene represented as a solid shape of a single colour with its edges matching the outline of the subject.  The interior of a silhouette is featureless and the whole is usually presented on a light background.  

Silhouette images were first used to describe pieces of cut paper, which were then stuck to a backing in a contrasting colour, and often framed.

Cutting portraits in profile from black card became popular in the mid-18th century, though the term silhouette was seldom used until the early decades of the 19th century:  this tradition has continued under this name into the 21st century.  

Silhouettes represented a cheap but effective alternative to the portrait miniature.  Skilled specialist artists could cut a high-quality bust portrait, the most common style, in a matter of minutes, working purely by eye.  Other artists, especially from about 1790, drew an outline on paper, then painted it in, which could be equally quick.

The name comes from Étienne de Silhouette, a French finance minister who made austere economies in 1759 because of the Seven Year War.  His name became synonymous with anything done or made cheaply including silhouettes as we know them today.

[from Wikipedia]

Contemporary silhouettes made by manipulating origami paper...

Kumi y Amashta

Kumi y Amashta

Our task...

Draw the profile of the Queen onto coloured paper / card.

Make the image into a silhouette or something else.

Example:  
using a straight edge, a grid was drawn over an image of the Queen
another grid was made on paper
Marking where the Queen and grid intersected assisted in drawing a copy of the first image

Pencil, then white marker were used, then I added white coloured pencil.

The fab results are below...

Angie

Mabel

Patricia

Stuart

Monica

Mike

Mike

Dorothy who experimented with "torn" outs too

Roland

In the afternoon Art Circle reconvened at the Water's Edge Cafe near St Annes Lifeboat Station where fab drawings were made of the station, the pier, the beach & the promenade.  Next time I'll make sure I move my camera from my morning bag into my afternoon bag!

Next Thursday, 30 March  

St Annes Library 11 - 12.30 & RNLI Lifeboat Station, St Annes 1.30 - 3pm.

If you join us in the afternoon, and you're very welcome, bring a chair.