Tag: watercolour

A silhouette is the image of a person, animal, object or scene represented as a solid shape of a single colour, usually black, with its edges matching the outline of the subject. The interior of a silhouette is featureless, and the silhouette is usually presented on a light background, usually white, or none at all.

The name Silhouette traces back to the mid-18th century French finance minister, Etienne de Silhouette. Because his name was synonymous with doing things cheaply and because he was fond of making these images himself, this art form was named after him. In America, Silhouettes were highly popular from about 1790 to 1840.

Silhouette (profile) portraiture was the popular way to recreate an image of oneself or loved one before the invention of photography in the mid 1800’s. During the years of 1500-1860, professional and amateur artists would either paint or cut profiles, using paints or scissors.
A. Late 18th century-Early 19th century: Since the late 18th century, silhouette artists have also made small scenes cut from card and mounted on a contrasting background like the portraits. These pictures, were often, but not necessarily, silhouette images. Among 19th century artists to work in this way, was the author Hans Christian Andersen. The modern artist Robert Ryan creates intricate images by this technique, sometimes using them to produce silk-screen prints.

B. Late 19th century-Early 20th century: In the late 19th and early 20th century several illustrators employed designs of similar appearance for making book illustrations. Silhouette pictures could easily be printed by blocks that were cheaper to produce and longer lasting than detailed black and white illustrations. Illustrators who produced silhouette pictures at this time include Arthur Rackham and William Heath Robinson.
C. Late 20th century-Present: Illustrators of the late 20th century to work in silhouette include Jan Pienkowski and Jan Ormerod. In early 1970s, Phillippe Derome uses the black cut silhouette in his portraits of black people. In the 21st century, American artist Kara Walker develops this use of silhouette to present racial issues in confronting images.