Modern DIY Silhouette Tutorial

I have always loved silhouettes because of the imagination they spark. When you see vintage silhouettes, it’s hard not to fill in the blanks with your mind and try to imagine what the subject’s features were. The story of how silhouettes got their name is just as fun and interesting as silhouettes themselves. In eighteenth century France, Étienne de Silhouette, a finance minister, took action after the Seven Years’ War by imposing strict economic policies on the French people {in particular, the wealthy}. People found themselves with less money to spend, and this artistic technique of capturing a subject’s likeness was a cost-effective way to get a portrait of sorts created. At the time, Silhouette’s name was attached to anything made cheaply, but for some reason, it stuck with the popular portraits — and thus Silhouette’s legacy lives on {in a way that would surprise him if only he knew}!

Today, of course, it is more time-effective {and probably cheaper} to snap a photo than to create a silhouette. However, silhouettes are still quick, and the modern twist of filling them in with doodles adds a nice dose of playfulness. Today, I’m going to show you how to create a fun, visually-compelling modern DIY silhouette.

First, you’ll want to create or print off the silhouette you want to use. I found a silhouette of a woman sitting via Google Image Search, but you can use whatever you want! Make a portrait silhouette of a friend or pet; or a recognizable object. Art is all about making something your own, so go for it!

After I printed my photo, I put a piece of drawing paper over it. Because the silhouette is so dark, I could see it through the paper, and was able to trace over it with a pencil.

After tracing, I decided to go over my pencil lines with a dip pen and ink. If you don’t have a dip pen, it’s really no problem; any pen works, really. {If you’re going to use watercolors to fill it in, though, make sure it’s waterproof. A fine-tipped Sharpie or Micron pen should work great.}

After you trace over your pencil lines, go over the outline with an eraser to ensure all the pencil is gone. When the ink is dry, you can start watercoloring. Alternately, you can use crayons, colored pencils, whatever … but in this tutorial, I’ll focus on watercolor.

I started by creating a washed-out yellow background. I didn’t want it to distract from the doodles that I planned on putting inside!

Next, I used my dip pen and ink to start drawing a few random elements inside. Again, a Sharpie or Micron pen would work for this, too.

I decided it was time to add color, so I put a burst of red and orange at the top of the silhouette’s head.

I used a water-saturated brush to tease the color outward and blend.

Next, I filled in some of the black outlines I had made.

And I added more random color burst. First, I started with a deep red:

Then I added some orange to blend with the red:

And, again, I used a brush saturated with water to get it to all blend together and naturally fade into the rest of the design.

I decided that the design needed some stark white for contrast, so I took some white acrylic paint and brushed it in strategic spots.

I was impatient for the paint to dry … so I used my hairdryer to get it dry ASAP. After I was certain it was done, I drew over it with my dip pen and India ink.

Next, it was time to draw on the silhouette with watercolor using my dip pen. You might remember from my watercolor calligraphy post how to load a dip pen with watercolors; here’s a refresher photo of how to brush watercolor onto the back of the nib:

After I drew on the watercolor swirls and leaves, it was time to evaluate the piece.

I decided there wasn’t quite enough contrast … so I added some dramatic black elements.

And voilà! A modern DIY silhouette!

I think something like this would look great framed, especially if it were the silhouette of a family member — perhaps a bust. Imagine it on a minimalistic shelf paired with a little succulent plant or a couple of books {okay, you got me, I’ve been getting IKEA catalogs}. Or, use this technique to make a postcard design to send as part of the TPK Challenge! The possibilities of what you can make and how you can use a modern DIY silhouette are limitless!

If you do use this tutorial to make snail mail, don’t forget that you can learn calligraphy for a latté to step your snail mail up {yet another!} notch. If you have any questions, feel free to comment — and if you create something using this tutorial, I’d love to see it on Instagram!

I hope you have a great weekend … and that you make a DIY silhouette with a healthy dose of calligraphy on the side.

XO,