Monday, April 6, 2015

Miniature Silhouettes

Figure 1
These images are examples of a technique that I plan to explore further. As you can see in figure 1, they're photos of the shadows cast by miniature figures on tracing paper. Once I have them, the silhouettes can be mixed and matched, and the backgrounds can be stylized independently of the figures. The last image in the series is an example to show how the photos can be combined to make new scenes (it's also one option under consideration as a header right here on A Sword for Hire).

If I can find the time, I'd like to make a ridiculously large composite image with 100's and 100's of figures—something you could scroll for a long time up and down (below ground), left and right, discovering areas as you go. I always loved the cut-away aspect of the cover art on the original AD&D Monster Manual, so that's part of my inspiration for such a project.


gargoyle, werewolf, watch officer, giant caveweaver spider

wyvern, watch officer

ogre brute, watch officer

giant frilled lizard, watch officer

large green dragon, watch officer

forest drake, watch officer

wyvern, watch officer

large green dragon, watch officer

ogre brute, watch officer

giant caveweaver spider, watch officer, id stalker

gargoyles, watch officer

example of a composite, Osirian style


2 comments :

  1. Cool. Last one's very neat, with the pyramids. Done in front of a post card or something?

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  2. Thanks Jacob. The last one is a composite of several of the others, including one that has no figures (just for rough ground). Then, I simply colored (digitally) the already-textured tracing paper background(s). I expect I'll be producing a ton like that one.

    I did a couple of high-resolution images like this before, except I used plastic knights from my childhood (see here).

    Once I have the silhouettes on hand, I can imagine them combined in all sorts of scenes with different colorful backgrounds.

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