A silhouette is an art that has gained popularity over the years. Initially, artists painted profile portraits in a silhouette and now it is part of photography, the fashion industry, videos, and animation. Most of the people take silhouette as a shadow. No doubt it is a shadow, but it is more than a simple shadow.
Origin
A silhouette is basically an image or design in a single color (mostly black on white or vice versa) highlighting the outline of an object. This idea came into existence by a French finance minister who used to cut paper shadow portraits as a pastime. Little did he know that down the lane. it will become a major art form.
Like every other discovery, the origin of Silhouettes is from Europe in the 18th century. It became prominent in that era and lasted until the 19th century when photography became popular. Artists could draw a person’s silhouette in no time, so it was a more workable way to preserve the portraits of loved ones than going through the time-taking and expensive form of formal painted portraits.
Use of Silhouette Art Back In the Days
Using silhouettes can also be found as early as the stone age. The people of the caves traced out an outline of the object’s shadow and then filled it with a plain color. Later on, it continued in the form of tomb paintings, relief sculptures, and pottery decorations of the ancient Egyptians, Mesopotamians, Minoans, Greeks, and Etruscans. The ancient Greeks and Romans incorporated the use of sunlight in making a silhouette. They drew the outline of the person’s shadow cast by sunlight. Over the years, the concept of light also included candlelight and lamplight. There are several paintings of the Victorian era drawn in the shadows of candlelight.
Evolution and Development
The Renaissance period brought a viable improvement for the silhouettes. The invention of mechanical devices such as the Physionotrace facilitated the accurate outline of a drawing. Later, when paper became widely popular, Silhouettes were often cut out. In the mid-19th-century, after the development of the daguerreotype and photography, silhouettes became an integral part of art, which was largely followed by wandering artists in cafes, on street corners, and at art fairs. By the 20th century, the silhouettes took a huge leap and were included in animated cartoons by Walt Disney.
Year by year, the silhouettes have been used not only by artists but people from all walks of life in different forms of work. The famous American artist, Kara Walker supported her theoretical work on race and gender relations with a Silhouette. As the Silhouette emphasizes an outline, they are also common in the fields of fashion and fitness. Fashion stylists describe the shape of the person’s body or the shape created by wearing a specific dress as a silhouette.
Silhouette Today
Because silhouettes give a very clear image, they are used on a common basis. For example, traffic signs, identification of countries on maps, natural objects such as trees, insects in forensic science, and cat silhouettes, and other animals in cartoons. Similarly, computer engineers use silhouettes to build computational models. There is a long list of areas where silhouettes are of prime significance. Originated as art now it is a part of everything.