Silhouette Shadowbox
Studio Art / 3D (9th-12th)
Students will look at the work of Hari and Deepti and use their intricate cut paper illustrations as inspiration for their own cut paper shadowboxes. They will practice making thumbnails and ideation sketches, creating a final blueprint before being able to work on the finished piece. To get a better idea of how to create space with flat layers, they will be introduced to Lotti Reiniger, who was one of the first pioneers of a multi-plane camera for silhouette animations. They will also look at some of the curated works of Kara Walker. With these different artists in mind, they will create a shadowbox illustration based on a fairytale or song lyric of their choice. Students will also learn the importance of using other people's work, especially if they trace photos, and how they should always make their own ideas instead of purely copying another work.
Objectives
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Observe and compare the works of Hari & Deepti alongside Kara Walker and Lotti Reineger to see how silhouette images tell a story. (Cn)
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Sketch thumbnails to make multiple versions of an image and discuss which versions are successful before constructing the bigger, more involved illustration. (Cr)
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Create a layered illustration using cut paper silhouettes. (Cr)
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Explain their artwork, the choices they made, and how they represented their story in the image they created. (Re, Cn)
Resources
Steps:
Students will first do an exercise where they find the layers in a photograph (foreground, middleground, background, etc) and cut them out separately using tracing paper and different colored construction paper. They will re-glue the layers together, overlapping to see how layering the paper can create depth.
Exercise in Cutting and Layering
Thumbnails
Students will take song lyrics, a poem, or a written story and develop thumbnails based on the imagery they think of when hearing/reading their choice. Students will need to develop at least four thumbnails but are encouraged to do as many as they need.
Students will use their thumbnails to develop a final sketch, labelling each layer of cut paper with a method they find best (numbers, marks, or colors). Students will be required to make the sketch at a 1:1 ratio so they practice measurements and scale.
Final Sketch
Students will use the sketch to create a list of elements they need to cut out for each layer. They will design the layers with sketches (or for classes with less drawing experience, they will be able to choose photographs to trace as long as they collage them to create their own silhouette images)
Collecting reference
Students will cut out each layer separately and make sure they have all layers before creating the actual shadowbox. Having all the layers in advance allows them to preview the finished illustration and see where they could add or change objects before gluing.
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Cutting Layers
Creating the Box
Students will start creating the shadowbox, gluing the frame and then gluing each layer inside to create more depth. They will be encouraged to light the background periodically to check how their image looks lit versus unlit.
Student Work
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