Silhouette Drawings Tutorial
>> Wednesday, March 4, 2009 –
projects,
Silhouette,
Tip Junkie
Do you want to know the hard way, or the easy way? I'll start with the hard way since that is how I first did it, and took pics for every step. :) The first thing is to take a profile pic. All you need is a blank background. If you are doing more than one, make sure you are the same distance apart from each subject. About 4 feet away is what I did. Then print out the pic. You can use fast draft to save on ink, but I would use card stock paper.
Macey's profil.
I cropped each photo to a 5x7 crop so they would all be the same size. I think if I was to do this again I will use an 8x10 b/c the actual silhouette is smaller than a 5x7.
Now just cut around the person with a craft knife.
Trace the pic. onto black cardstock. If you want your finished silhouette to be facing the right, then trace it facing the left. This way you won't see any stray pencil lines and the cut is much cleaner on the opposite side. When this one is finished she will be facing the right side.
Cut out one more time. Pay close attention to details, especially around mouth and nose. Make sure things are rounded and not pointy.
Choose a contrasting background. I used scrapbook paper and cut it to an 8x10. Then I printed their names on it and my signature.
I used a glue stick to apply the silhouette to the background and framed it. That's it. I think they look pretty good. Now do you want to know an easier way? This idea didn't even hit me until after I had done all 4 of them the other way. Oh, well.
If you have photoshop or something similar. Then you can just take your profile pic. and use the lasso tool to trace around the person. Now I'm not great with the lasso tool and I didn't get the exact cut I was wanting, but with some practice, I bet it can be done a lot smoother.
After you have traced the image, go up to edit and select fill layer with black. Then cut and paste onto a solid colored layer. That was much easier huh? I did a real quick one on the computer to just see if it can be done. Like I said there are some rough edges, but this could totally be done. Here are the ones I did on the pc.
Very cool - thanks for the tutorial, I can't wait to try it!
wow this is so neat! Looks like you have to have a meticulous hand to cut around the sillouhette, was it difficult?
It was really much easier than it may look. I used a craft knife. I couldn't have done it with scissors. It was a lot of fun, and even though doing it on the computer was easier, I think there is something a little more rewarding by doing it by hand.
Way cute, Awdrey!
Awesome...I can't wait to try this. I have been wanting to do this for awhile but was too scared to attempt. Thianks for some courage :)
Very cute! Even the hard way isn't too hard to do. :)
Those look great! Good idea to try the lasso in Photoshop, I just need to learn how to use it.
Thank you, thank you, thank you! Kyle has one from kindergarten but Makena and Gage didn't get to make one! Now I can use their pictures and have all 3! =)
This is great!! I have been wanting to do these for my boys but was still looking for the most efficient way! Thanks!
BTW. Cute kiddos & blog!
Thanks for the tute! Either way works for me, I'm not that great with PS either.
This was a PIECE OF CAKE using Photoshop!! Thanks so much for the tip! It only took me about 30 minutes to totally complete silhouettes of all three of my kids using that method. I decided to print them out and then cut around them with scissors to smooth out the rough edges from the lasso tool--super easy!!
darling. thanks for the tip.
Wow, thanks so much for the tutorial. I am going to do these with my children soon!
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