What are Silhouettes?

Silhouettes are the miniature profile portraits of a living person. They are cut or painted by hand, capturing the likeness as closely as possible. They are almost entirely rendered as dark image: thus, a shadow or silhouette.

The profiles shown on this website were done by artist/entertainer/historical enthusiast Lauren Muney, are cut freehand with scissors – without drawing first, or creating by machine, or tracing any shadow. She looks at the face, hair, and sometimes clothing features of a person, then uses the scissors to “draw” the shape – thus creating the silhouette.

Silhouette profile cutting has a long history which has unfolded over 400 years, across European, Asian, and American continents. The image-capturing technique was popular with all types of people, from average people to royalty, until the common use of photography in the 1880′s. Read more in the Silhouettes History page, and in these blog posts that feature historical people, images, and time periods. Silhouettes By Hand especially works at museums and other historically-educational facilities to help people understand, enjoy, and savor their history.

Silhouettes are a fascinating artform which has been mostly lost in the modern 21st century. There are just few people who cut silhouettes in the United States today, and even fewer who cut silhouettes freehand in the historic method.

Each silhouette takes about 2 minutes to complete for an average portrait. The process only requires the guest to sit still, think pleasant thoughts, and wait excitedly for the likeness to emerge. These silhouette portraits can be given as valuable gifts to loved ones and family, and savored as heirlooms for generations to come – wither you come to (or create your own) a live event or create a mail-order heirloom.