Customer Reviews

Silhouettes: A Pictorial Archive of Varied Illustrations (Dover Pictorial Archives)

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While trying to understand the subtleties of shadowing in the art world, I ran into a dilemma. As a novice in many styles and in the use of producing certain textures, I found myself a bit baffled by the silhouette designwork associated with hairstyles, the addition of hats, outfitting, movement, and so on. It seemed difficult to get everything just right and I found myself needing some type of guide to help me across this pen and paper "speedbumb." That's where this somewhat obscure but very helpful guide, a find I accidentally stumbled across, came into play.

By providing well over 600 silhouettes ranging throughout the 18th to the 20th centuries, all struck in a variety of poses and in a variety of even obscure outfitting, this book allowed me to understand a few fundamentals that were, for some reason, devils to grasp. This, in turn, showed me the errors of my ways and, by providing a variety of poses and angles, made me feel like I was actually learning something. The book, organized into categories, ranges its material into the following sections:
1) Men's profiles
2) Men in full figure
3) Women's Profiles
4) Women in Full Figure
5) Children
6) Groups and Scenes
7) An alphabet in Silhouettes
8) Birds and animals
9) Other subjects from nature
10) Ships

If you are simply an appreciator of designwork, an artist in need of some help, a bored individual with a need for something a bit odd, a craftsmen looking for designs to add to their works, or just an art consumer looking for a less pretentious avenue to keep your interest, then this might be worth checking out. While it isn't useful for everyone, it does have its unique place in the land of bookshelves and art tables.