At a local high-end department store they feature a silhouette portrait artist a few days a week who will create a silhouette of your child while you shop. These darling portraits are outrageously expensive, but really cool. I decided to create one for our living of the Bear back when he was about a year old. I started it, then it sat in my craft closet for TWO YEARS while I had another baby, forgot about it, etc. I finally finished it and I love it. It was easy, though a bit intimidating. I’ll walk you through the process I used so you can make one of your own. I think it would be fun to do the whole family, pets included. It only cost about $5 to make, and would be cheaper if you made more.
Materials needed: acrylic paint, profile photo of your child, blank canvas, paint brushes
Instructions:
1) Take a profile photo of you child and print it out in the size you want it to be. If your canvas is an 8×10, print the photo 8×10 so it will be appropriately sized.
2) Cut out the head shape from the photo.
3) Using a pencil, trace the outline of the head on to your canvas.
4) Paint around your traced outline using a fine bristle brush and acrylic paint.
5) Paint the rest of the canvas (using a thicker brush if you want it to go faster).
6) Once the paint dries, erase your pencil marks with the pencil’s eraser.
That’s it! Hang your masterpiece up on the wall and make another one.
Everyone warned me that yellow walls were very difficult to photograph and ignored them. You can see how hard it is above. It just makes the lighting look funky no matter what I do. Oh well. Trust me when I say it looks great in person. Now it is time to create a silhouette portrait of the Pearl Girl. Should I do it facing the same direction or turned opposite Bear? I can’t decide on the color. What do you think about red?