A modern-day silhouettist tells his story. Charles Burns writes about his explorations into the art and history of silhouette. His mission is to bring this often-overlooked art to a wider, appreciative audience.
22.06.2020 by Charles Burns
The time-travelling silhouettist sounds like a character from a steam-punk extravaganza. I'd love to imagine I could be that man! Sadly, none of us can really travel in time. Yet curiously, the quirky craft I practice is beginning to make me feel like I'm doing just that. (more…)
01.04.2020 by Charles Burns
I've been asking myself whether I could work from home. As Coronavirus spreads its way around the world it seems everybody is doing it. Could a silhouettist work this way too? (more…)
28.02.2020 by Charles Burns
As an artist interested in science I’ve always been fascinated by symmetry. As a silhouettist I rely completely on symmetry, my art would literally not exist without ti. I’d like to share some of that fascination by exploring a certain weird symmetry which infuses our lives. . (more…)
16.02.2020 by Charles Burns
Cutting a silhouette of the bride (or brides) live on her wedding day is always a heart-stopping moment. There she is, on her big day, surrounded by her closest family and friends. What could possibly go wrong? (more…)
15.02.2020 by Charles Burns
I heard about Inger Eidem long before I knew her name. Whilst cutting silhouettes at events I'd occasionally meet people who'd tell me about silhouettes they had done in their childhood. Apparently the artist cut through two pieces of paper at the same time, one of which became a portrait and the other a caricature. Wait, what?! Is that even possible?
14.02.2020 by Charles Burns
Is it possible to make a caricature likeness in silhouette? This question vexed me for many years. (more…)
16.01.2020 by Charles Burns
A short post to announce that my studio catalogue for 2020 has now been launched. Click here to download your free copy! (more…)
11.12.2019 by Charles Burns
As an artist interested in science I'm aways fascinated by weird pseudo-scientific ideas of the past, especially if they involve silhouettes. Once which caught my eye recently is the Prosopographus. In this post I'm going to take you back in time to see if it can be brought back to life. I’m looking for ideas to help me design a silhouette machine. A 200 year anniversary. I’m going to take you back exactly 200 years.
03.09.2019 by Charles Burns
For the last few weeks I’ve been toying with an idea for a new book. I'm thinking about a picture book, a “guess the silhouette” collection of cuttings. It's the kind of book I hope somebody would love to receive in a Christmas stocking. (more…)
08.05.2019 by Charles Burns
May is here, so I’m opening Mays Barn (my own creative space) to exhibit a new series of silhouette paintings and prints. Do you think I should invite Theresa May? (more…)
17.03.2019 by Charles Burns
I began playing with an en grisaille portrait many years ago. At the time, I was experimenting with traditional techniques for adding gold details (known as embellishing) and began scribbling pencil notes on my white copies. I began to find these white copies more interesting than the finished silhouettes! (more…)
15.02.2019 by Charles Burns
Yesterday I spent the whole day recycling art…...or at least preparing to. There’s an awful lot of it! So I’m writing to ask for help. Can you give a painting a new home? Could you take delivery of a drawing or two?
26.01.2019 by Charles Burns
I'm happy to announce that my studio catalogue for 2019 has now been launched. Click here to download your free copy! (more…)
21.10.2018 by Charles Burns
After watching Silhouette Secrets, recently launched on Amazon, people often ask: what sparked my interest in silhouettes? It isn't such an easy question to answer. However, my mind often returns to this silhouette, which has been in my family for years. It may well be the first silhouette I ever saw. (more…)
09.10.2018 by Charles Burns
Our film Silhouette Secrets includes a cameo appearance by Paul Daniels. This interview - our Paul Daniels cameo - was a late addition. We were looking for a magician to talk about Dai Vernon, the celebrated father of close-up magic, who earned a living as a street silhouettist during the Great American Depression. (more…)
09.08.2018 by Charles Burns
What should a silhouettist's approach to data protection be? This question has been much on my mind recently. I'm not alone; the launch of GDPR in Europe – and the subsequent wave of reply-or-unsubscribe emails – has got everybody thinking. What kind of data do I use? For me, the question has caused me to reexamine some of my most fundamental ideas about the role of silhouettes in society. (more…)
