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Wednesday 31 March 2010

I've Been Pasting: Silhouettes

By Julie

When I decided to change the header on my
notes on paper blog last month I knew that, if I were to replace all of the much-loved kitschy, colourful, patterned bits and pieces which made up my original design, I'd have to make sure that the new one was something I could love just as much.

And I knew exactly what that thing should be.

A silhouetted bird:



I love bird designs in general and had been noticing how many bird silhouettes there seem to be around the place all of a sudden, there's even a Twitter profile page background featuring them. Perhaps I even subliminally shared the Johnny Flynn video with you on here last month because, as I've realised since, that too features bird silhouettes.
But mostly ideas of small, black, winged things have been on my mind due to this:

Ever since I came across that photo via Amanda Johnson's blog I haven't been able to get it out of my head. To say I'm tempted is an understatement! Seriously.

As if I needed any external nudge that maybe this could be the tattoo for me, when I logged on to Flickr to get you the link for the above image, I saw that a friend of mine had just that moment uploaded this photo to his gallery:


Come on now... that must be a sign? Musn't it?

Well, while I consider my options you can feast your eyes on a flavour of some of the other silhouette designs which have been grabbing my attention lately.

This is one of my favourite works from Wilhelm Staehle's Silhouette Masterpiece Theatre

[you should check out the other designs too, they're a a great mix of comedy... and silhouettes, so what's not to love?]:


Or how about resting your head on one of his pillow cases? Then there are these pretties made by the fair hand of our very own Kirsty as part of our 12 Days online class last November:
And finally there's the following, hand-cut, 'Birds on Paper Wires' from mr.Yen's etsy shop:

How lovely?

I think I've surprised myself at how much I've become drawn to clean simple designs lately. I think they compliment the other half of my 'lots-of-pattern-throw-more-stuff-on-there' character quite nicely.

I think 'balance' is a good word for what these silhoutted designs can bring to the walls of my rooms, the pillows on my bed .... and maybe even the skin of my back?????

What design styles have you been surprised to find yourself day-dreaming about? Have you got any secret plans to adorn your body with them? We always like a bit of crafty gossip here at C+P ....do tell ...

Julie :D

8 comments:

the green gal said...

Silhouettes are just so clean and simple and classic looking, I love them. I like to take a silhouette and fill it with pattern, so it's a patterned silhouette if you can have such a thing. So far I've upcycled cardiganswith them cardigans but I have more patterned silhouette patterns plans to come!
PS Love the bird tattoo but it makes me feel a bit itchy, not sure why!

the green gal said...

Sorry, I wrote that far too quickly and it's gibberish! What I mean to say was:

Silhouettes are just so clean and simple and classic looking, I love them. I like to take a silhouette and fill it with pattern, so it's a patterned silhouette if you can have such a thing. So far I've upcycled cardigans with them but I have more patterned silhouette plans to come!
PS Love the bird tattoo but it makes me feel a bit itchy, not sure why!

Clair said...

I could easily lust after that tattoo design if I didn't already have a design that's much loved. It's so delicate!

Love Kirsty's paper-cuts too - the stag rocks!

Curlywiggles said...

i have a tattoo very similar to this in around the same place, but the birds are slightly bigger and they are all flying in the same direction because i wanted a tattoo that represents forward movement. i currently have 4 tattoo's and i love each one because they have deep meaning to me about the time in my life when i got them done. They are like little memories etched on my skin. My advice to you, if you are seriously considering getting a tattoo is to get something that means something to you. Otherwise you will look at it in years to come and it will just be a tattoo of some birds, or whatever. Just my 2 pence worth.

Julie Kirk said...

@thegreengal I knew what you meant. ;)

@Clair It's nice to hear you've got a design you love :)

@Curlywiggles Thanks for your input, yes, the tattoo would mean more to me than just a pretty design. Just not something I'd probably blog about ... but I won't say never ... :)

sarah said...

Hello, It is great to see so many different applications for silhouettes. I am a silhouette artist and you can check out some of my examples at: www.silhouettecutting.com

HannahBanana said...

I'm dreaming about minimalism... something is very wrong with that and I think I might need help!
x

Carmen said...

I always wanted a tattoo of Alice Cooper looming out of the shadows just done in black and purple... would that count as a silhouette I wonder. It's only the look of horor on my OH's face everytime I mention it that has deterred me. (King of beige he is, we are such opposites!) I love the idea of the birdy tattoo - for the longest time I had a sillouhette of a raven as my bloggy background. When I changed over to 3 column you couldn't see him anymore so I changed the background but I still miss him *g* The ONLY thing that would put me off it is the same reason I have resisted a tattoo thus far (and I REALLY want one) I'm in the process of losing weight, my skin isn't nice and tight and I would worry where it is so delicate about feathering (Ha! Feathering!) But you know what I mean? I'm not even an expert on tattoos so it probably wouldn't even be an issue... me shutting up now.

Loving all the links you posted especially the Wilhelm Staehle one. Bookmarking that!

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