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2 DIY Silhouette Art Techniques

by on Jan 12, 2011

I’ve had the desire to make some silhouette art for a while now, I just wasn’t sure I could achieve the effects I had in mind, but after seeing these two how-tos, I’m thinking success may be within reach.     

First up is a simple tracing technique (pictured below). It involved a using a picture of the desired silhouette image–in this case an Ikea silhouette of Audrey Hepburn–that was enlarged, divided into 4 and printed out. They were taped to a 16″ x 20″ canvas and then a fine-point marker was used to trace all the details. Larger markers were then used to fill in the outlines. For the entire tute, go to Circles and Dots and Other Distractions.

created at: 01/12/2011

The second silhouette option (primary pic) is a bit more involved, however it’s limitless in image selection. This one involves finding the picture of your choosing and using your photo editor to recolor the picture to grayscale. After that, it’s just a matter of printing the image out onto card stock and cutting out the details with an Xacto knife to create a stencil. To see this technique, head on over to 8cpassport.com.

A third option, combining the two techniques would work best for the image I have in mind. I’d find the image (already a silhouette, in my case), divide it (because of the size), print the parts and then create the stencil.