Art silhouettes have hung on family walls for hundreds of years. Silhouettes are usually small, blackened profiles of family members at various ages framed in gilded oval frames. Today's art silhouettes are bolder and more complicated than a simple paper cut-out. However, regardless of the material they're made of, art silhouettes are all basically made the same way. Metal art silhouettes are often made from thick metal that requires special tools to cut, such as a torch cutter or arch welder. An easier and safer way to make silhouettes of metal is to use an unrolled tin can and simple, hand-held metal sheers you may already have in your tool box.
Instructions
1. Choose a picture of a single person or object to use as a pattern for the metal art silhouette. Look for an interesting or distinctive shape, as the outline is all you'll have of the picture.
2. Cut the picture out. Enlarge or reduce the picture on a copier if necessary until it is the right size to fit within the dimensions of an unrolled tin can, which is approximately six inches by eight inches. If reducing or enlarging is necessary, cut the final size of the picture/pattern out.
3. Cut the round top and bottom out of an empty tin can with metal sheers, then cut the remaining cylinder from top to bottom and unroll the metal into a single, flat sheet. Wash the metal carefully to remove all residue of its former contents.
4. Trace the outline of the pattern onto the blank side of the metal with a black marker and cut the outline out with the metal sheers.
5. Paint the cut out shape, or silhouette, with black spray paint specially made for metal.
6. Mount the metal art silhouette to a board with black tacks and a hammer. Touch up the paint if necessary.
