lonita.net - Idealog - Silhouettes

Silhouettes

You will need:

Do:

Choose a subject or theme for your piece.
Plan what you want in your piece and how you want it to look.
Trace the shapes you want to use on the pieces of coloured paper you have.
Cut your pieces.
If you're using pieces that have various levels of detail, consider putting the most detailed ones in front, working backwards in successive levels of detail.
Starting with the most background layer, lay out your pieces. Do this before you glue anything down permanently.
Once you've chosen what goes where and in what layer, start with the most background layer and glue everything down.
If you want to create more depth between the layers, use small pieces of foam on the back of your silhouette pieces. Dollar store craft foam will do, or the Styrofoam from food packaging.
When done, trim any edges that might need trimming and make sure everything is attached securely.

Notes:

It is up to you how many layers you want to create, but three to five is a good general option to offer enough depth.
If your piece is completely flat, consider framing it. You can do this with more 3D-like pieces as well, but you’ll likely need to use a shadow box instead of a regular frame.
Create gradients in your work by using shades of the same colour to do subsequent layers.
Add to the piece by using fabric, metallic papers, decorative or scrapbooking paper, wallpaper, or other items to create pieces and layers.
When you using single-coloured papers, like doing your whole piece in green for example, you might outline each silhouette in white marker or pen - or some other colour - to offer more visibility.

index home top