Lack of Attention to Detail - Silhouette Challenge

[HayTay]

This graphic was going to be posted in the Xara Gallery then I thought better of it. I decided that this would make another great, not so challenging, challenge.

When making drawings by hand or with the aid of software we all agonize at one time or another how much detail to put into the final drawing. That's why this Silhouette Challenge is going to emphasize just the opposite and focus our attention on the outline and interaction of various shapes. Additionally, we won't have to worry too much about what color to make our objects as almost all of them will have a uniform, solid color fill.

This challenge is for everyone that can draw objects and give nearly all of them a flat, single color, solid fill. How easy can you get? This should appeal to new users of Xara Xtreme as well as seasoned veterans of the software. It's up to you decide how simple or complex your final composition will be. You'll see that no complex fills, feathering, shadows, or transparencies are needed or necessary to make an effective silhouette drawing.

Here's my Street Silhouette Scene to kick things off and provide an example of what this challenge is all about. I started out with the silhouette of the girl and got carried away with the rest of the objects in the finished drawing. Every object in the drawing has a solid black fill except for the background (a four color fill) and the sidewalk (a flat orange fill). If you're a new user don't let any of this discourage you. I've seen compelling silhouette drawings that are comprised solely of single shapes of varying sizes. So, c'mon, let's see your 'lack of attention to detail' put to good use in a silhouette drawing of your own creation.

See you on the dark (or maybe light) side,
Harry

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[steve.ledger]

I did a series of these 'simplistic' illustrations Harry in August.
A very satisfying exercise it was too.

[HayTay]

Ah, yes Steve, I remember the them well. And a fine job you did with the whole series. Thanks for posting a representative sample and the link to the rest in this thread.

I recall several others that have tried their hand, and succeeded, at this technique: JokeArtist, Albacore (the moderator of this Challenge forum), and TimS to name but a few.

[Albacore]

First quite day for months! When I saw this challenge thought it was worth while to give it a go. I was trying for a gangster comic book style which I think I managed and to get a rough look I drew it out very quickly and then changed all the lines to shapes giving me a chance then to roughen all the lines up. After that is the bit that I got slightly lost on as I started to add shapes to get an overall look and messed the hand up.

[Black Panther]

Hi Harry, here 2 Silhouettes drawed in Xtreme. thank you for the Challenge. Regards BP

[handrawn]

Those are great silhouettes BP - look like book illustrations to me


@HAYTAY:

Harry - are we limited to xtreme for this challange?

[wizard509]

Those are Really nice BP. Very good rhythm in the designs.

[haakoo]

Thought to give it a go,so here it is

Hans

[HayTay]

Y'all are putting my silhouette image to shame. Way to go! That's some seriously nice work Steve, Peter, BP and Hans. I look forward to seeing more submissions to this challenge by everyone.

Next...,
Harry

[HayTay]

Harry - are we limited to xtreme for this challange?

Steve J > Absolutely not. While Xara products are the preferred software for the challenge you're more than welcome to use any software at your disposal to create an appropriate image. This challenge is more about exploring a technique (limited detail, limited colors, limited shading, limited feathering, etc.) than about what software was used.

I'm looking forward to your submission. If you use a different application to create your graphic be sure to let us know what you used.

Less can be more,
Harry