Silhouette Portraits

"Sophie has the amazing ability to bring life to shadows"

How Sophie paints silhouettes

Each painted portrait is unique and original, never a print!

You can choose a single, double or triple portrait, of the subject of your choice. They can be traditional profiles, facing each other, overlapping in the same direction or action shots

Simply send Sophie the photo/s - detailed instructions below on how to take the best shot - and she will recreate your beloved with meticulous precision.

Sophie adopts the same technique and tools used by silhouette artists 250 years ago. It is a time-consuming process but essential to achieve a true likeness. She starts with a firm pencil outline, then she applies a layer of black ink with miniaturist precision. The final stage uses gouache, a highly pigmented media which gives the silhouettes their characteristic depth, opacity and texture and makes them so special. This is a trial and error process and a single brushstroke the thickness of a hair can create enormous distance between the subject and his true likeness.

Contact Sophie to enquire about your own

How to take the photo for a Silhouette

Sophie paints her silhouettes of subjects as young as two years old. Part of the preliminary process which enables Sophie to paint accurate silhouette profiles, involves the taking of reference photographs. These photographs must conform to the following requirements:

The subject should be standing against a plain light or dark background.
The subject must be facing at PRECISELY right angles to the camera and the image taken at horizontal level with the subject's head. I find catching toddlers whilst they are focused on the TV helps
Consider the subject's hairstyle and collar.
Ensure that the head and shoulders almost fill the viewfinder.
The subject should not be smiling.
Make several photographs, with the subject facing both left and right.
If taking an 'action' shot, please ensure the side profile/s are clear.