[OL - CH IV - CAT B] Silhouette's Umbran Cameos

[Ross Fisher]

"What does this have to do with the Order?" Canon François asked. 
"Not a damn thing," replied his secretary. "But it is popular."
"And you think popularity should be our goal?" the priest challenged.
"Not at all," Monsieur Gallo responded. "But a degree of diversification might help to support the Knights Treasurer somewhat. And this outlet seems blessedly innocent."
"Hmmm," came the reply. "Tell me again what it is."
"Monsieur Silhouette holds a patent for what he calls 'Umbran Cameos'; portraits of profiles in shadow. The setup is simple enough, and requires no more artistic skill than the ability to trace a line." The notary paused, to appreciate the interest on his master's face.

"Because of this, they are relatively quick and cheap to produce, putting them within the reach of the common man. Suddenly sweethearts have something to put in lockets besides hair; imagine it!"

"And you want to export them out here to fleece the commoners of Nola Mar?" the Canon asked.
"For the good of the mission, yes?" Gallo responded, hoping that he had chosen his investment opportunity well. 
"Very well," came the response. "Take the money from our petty cash. I will be expecting to see returns before the year is out."

I've wanted to do a silhouette build for a while, since they're both era- and nationality appropriate. This challenge seemed like an appropriate place for it. I'm sure most people anticipated a religious build from me, but I wanted to spread my ideas just a little. 

Surprisingly, Lego has very few silhouette images, and none at the small scale that I wanted were available to me. As such, I had to upscale just a little. In reality, this is a pretty ridiculous size for a silhouette, but it was the only way I could get the amount of detail I wanted. This is why I wanted the artist to have such a silly reaction. A more realistic version is here:

I also tweaked the history a little bit to improve the association with Silhouette himself. IRL he was a government minister who didn't have more than a knock-on association with the portraits.

[Wellesley]

Super cool idea and great build!

Thanks for the little history lesson and the etymology of Silhouette. I had no clue:)

[caiman0637]

Nice build!

[evancelt]

Awesome idea and execution, @Ross Fisher!

[Khorne]

An excellent build! I love the puzzle work you did to achieve the silhouette. It's really recognizable as the face of a soldier. The extra info is also appreciated. I always like learning stuff via BoBS.

I hope for mr. Gallo and the Padre they will see som ROI, though. The artist looks kind of shady, with his disheveled outfit and unkempt beard . Hippy!

[Ross Fisher]

@Wellesley @caiman0637 @evancelt @Khorne Thanks guys! I'm glad it came together so well. Gonna have to rush my Cat D before all these bricks go into storage. 

[Capt Wolf]

Great concept, and a very cool effect!

[Bregir]

Excellent concept and execution - I like the details you have been able to show in your silhouette, it is very well done.

One question I have is how these things were then scaled down for a locket or similar?

[Ross Fisher]

@Capt Wolf @Bregir Thanks!

Just now, Bregir said:

One question I have is how these things were then scaled down for a locket

Honestly, I have no idea. With a bigger light source and lenses you could probably project light onto it to reduce the size, but I can't see how you'd get it small enough. 

[Khorne]

2 hours ago, Bregir said:

Excellent concept and execution - I like the details you have been able to show in your silhouette, it is very well done.

One question I have is how these things were then scaled down for a locket or similar?

2 hours ago, Ross Fisher said:

@Capt Wolf @Bregir Thanks!

Honestly, I have no idea. With a bigger light source and lenses you could probably project light onto it to reduce the size, but I can't see how you'd get it small enough. 

Can't you just scale it by using a raster? I used to do it that way for a mural for example. Say the original drawing the artist makes is A4, then you just draw a raster over it with squares and scale the squares for a new version. E.g; if your squares are 1x1cm, but you want it half the size you just make new squares of 0,5x0,5cm and copy the content. I think these silhouette drawings can easily be copied and scaled this way, since it's only an outline.

 

[Ross Fisher]

@Bregir @Khorne Not sure thats the solution, but it did make me think. Maybe a pantograph?

That way you don't even have to cut out the original silhouette. You can just erase it and reuse the page. 

[Maxim I]

Indeed awesome idea! Like it very much :)

[blackdeathgr]

An excellent idea and I was amazed that this was actually a real thing back then. Yet again, having seen those drawings in some of this era's lockets as you've said, makes me wonder a bit less. Anyhow, it's moments and posts like that that really spice up BOBS for me and makes us a truly international pack of LEGO/history lovers!

Now off to buy my wife a locket? (Who am I kidding; she and me both will appreciate it more if I "buy" two hours of babysitting instead 😃 )

Edited June 23, 2021 by blackdeathgr

[Kai NRG]

Great job shaping the silhouette!  A really cool idea for a BoBS build. 

[Ross Fisher]

@Maxim I @blackdeathgr @Kai NRG Thanks guys. Glad you like it. 

9 hours ago, blackdeathgr said:

Now off to buy my wife a locket

That would've been really cute if my build had inspired you to do that. These days we don't really need them because we have all the photos we could need on phones. Still, doesn't mean it isn't romantic.

[Garmadon]

I know I'm a bit late, but I can't say how much I love builds like this!  Brilliant idea for a build and great execution - that silhouette is fantastic (the white filling in the canvas is just as impressive as the silhouette itself too), and it's so amazing to get a glimpse into some of the almost totally forgotten details of life in the age of sail in BoBS here.  The vignette presentation is a great move too, haha!  

[Ross Fisher]

@Garmadon Thanks! Glad you like it.