Silhouette task

Silhouettes are usually seen as a black filled shape, outlining a subject whether thar is an object person animal or scene. Most of the time when thinking of silhouettes in terms of life drawing it is simply just the black figure as seen as the ones below. However in our online session for drawing for illustration we looked at how silhouettes could be changed and adapted.

The first two silhouettes aboves has interesting shapes however felt they need to be further developed to show more character and shape.Therefore by capturing the negative space between the form helps shows definition in key areas whilst looking more effective and interesting to the eye. I was happy with the two silhouettes, for these I used my sister for the model as I felt both pictures feature interesting poses and therefore capturing these was exciting and allowed me to add more character to the drawing of the silhouette.

For the second set of illustration that we were requested to complete in the brief, we were suppose to think about mark making, colour and pattern. For these I kept to a simple monochrome colour palette using lighter grey to contrast against the black of the garments. In both of these silhouettes my aim was to focus on the garments and use the digital rubber tool to act as negative space to bring in further details such as buttons, belts and even stitches. For both I used a range of different textured digital brushes as with both these it wast important to fill in sharp crisp edges but instead create character and style within the silhouettes. Overall I was happy with both of these illustrations as felt they showed the true style of the clothes and therefore reflects the model in which i am capturing. 

The third set showed the final stage and style of silhouettes and involved me beginning to include other elements such as scenes and colours. By adding the leaves in the background I’m creating a frame for the silhouette making it look more interesting and eye catching to the viewer. As well as adding the the scenes I also included the pattern effect to the clothes similar to the silhouettes above. This helps bring more style to the image whilst also adding the character.

Overall I enjoyed this brief and felt i captured the idea of silhouettes and how they can be developed to add more detail and information to the drawing. However I do feel there are certain elements which i must be careful with, for example in the third set of drawing it was difficult to find the balance of creating a detailed silhouette and not an overall illustration. I will defo be interested in using these styles in the future as feel they add simplistic style whilst still being effective elements which can help create a message/narrative.