Freehand Cut Silhouettes

One day near the end of 10th grade, my art teacher asked me to try cutting silhouettes since there was to be a fair at the school  2 days later and she thought that such a booth would be interesting. She gave me some silhouette paper and I cut out some silhouettes of my fellow art classmates that day. Never having seen one cut, I decided that it would be best to start at the chest and cut upwards to the face; it turned out that is how professionals cut them. I practiced some more that evening, cutting silhouettes of my parents. The next day, I cut a few more of my classmates and then cut them the following day for pay at the fair. If you are interested in seeing they very first silhouettes I cut of my art classmates, follow this link.

At that time, I had never seen anyone cutting silhouettes and the only ones I had seen were 2 cut of my  mother at Tivoli in Copenhagen but I didn't have access to those at first. I didn't know what size to aim for so I guessed and my first silhouettes were smaller than normal. Years later I had the Tivoli card's printed oval copied onto 5" x 7" cards for my own use. I cut silhouettes at a few fairs and at my booth at the Old Wagon Farm in Holmdel, NJ. Although my patrons really liked my work, I never really pursued it as a business and I basically stopped by 1985. I picked up my scissors again in 2013 and was amazed that I still "have it". Cutting the basic silhouette only takes 1 or 2 minutes with another minute for eyeglasses, many curls or other embellishments but I need a moment or 2 before cutting to make the subject comfortable and for my observation. An additional minute is needed for mounting and regrouping so I can only finish about 10-12 per hour. Since there are not many silhouette artists pursuing the art actively today, I've decided to try to restart cutting in public once more.

The silhouettes below are the actual sizes in 72 ppi and the printed cards are 5" x 7".

I was once commissioned to cut silhouettes of Girl Scouts during one of their meetings. It was a lot of pressure since I usually did not have so many customers in quick succession. I completed all 12 in 1 hour and they came out quite well. Below are the images of some of the Xerox copies I made of them that day.

Below are some practice cuts- imaginary people.

getting small again for doll houses

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These are the very first silhouettes I ever cut; they are of members of my 10th grade art class and were quite accurate except that some needed a wider head. They are about 1" from chin to top of head.