Silhouettes or Shadowgraph Projects
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Shademakers were peddlers who traveled the backroads
of early America creating pictures called silhouettes or
shadowgraphs, for families. These were actually a cheap
alternative to oil portraits, which were very expensive. They
were traditionally drawn in black and white, though some
artists did use colored ink. They came in all sizes, though the
majority of the silhouettes were less than 3 inches high!
You can make old fashioned silhouettes at home with a few simple items:
masking tape This is a family project since you will need several people! Set a chair in front of a blank wall. Set one of your children on the chair in front of the wall. Someone will need to stand with the flashlight on the opposite side of the chair facing the wall. You will need to tape your piece of paper to the wall where the shadow of your child is centered on the paper. Turn off all the lights and trace the details of their face as they look to the side-so you are tracing their profile. Have everyone take turns so you can trace each family member. With a scissors cut out the tracing, and glue it onto a dark piece of paper. This is your silhouette! You can frame it, or cut the edge of the dark paper with fancy edged craft scissors and give them as gifts to grandparents. You can even play a guessing game and let everyone guess which shadowgraph belongs to each person! This is an easy, old fashioned project for everyone in the family.
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