Silhouette or shade portraits are a profile image of a person normally cut out in black paper and mounted on a lighter background. Later portraits were painted in black, sometimes directly onto a piece of glass. The traditional silhouette artist will cut the paper portrait freehand very quickly without drawing anything on the paper first. Some artists would sketch the portrait and then cut it out in separate stages. Not only silhouette portraits but also silhouette scenes are popular. The latter is a favourite of publishers as a silhouette image is very easy to print using silk screen or block printing. Silhouettes have become part of our daily lives. We see them every day on our roads as easily recognisable silhouette images are used on traffic signs

The history of this art style in unclear. Several countries claim to be the first to have used it. It is believed by many that it can be traced back to humankind's cave dwelling days when people would trace around shadows of people or objects to create pictures on the walls of their caves." />

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