A silhouette is a view of an object or scene consisting of the outline and a featureless interior. Traditionally, a silhouette is a form of artwork.
The term originating in the 18th century and applied to portraits or other pictorial representations cut from thin black card.
From its original graphic meaning, the term "silhouette" has been extended to describe the sight or representation of a person, object or scene that is backlit.
Technically, my definition would best be considered an "Inverse Silhouette" with the darker area (multiple surfaces) being the outline and the interior area being lighter and consisting of a single layer.
Rules:
Fold a representational silhouette of anything recognizable from a single square or rectangle. The inner area(s) must consist of a single layer of material which lies in a single plane. The outline should consist of multiple layers (more than one) or an unfolded edge of the material. The inner are(s) will be two dimensional but can be bounded by an outline that is three-dimensional. No cutting or adhesives. New - original designs only !
This is a lot easier than it sounds and is best illustrated with a very simple example of a silhouette of a house:

All the example shown above fit the rules and were achieved in 6 or less folds. The bottom left example is nearly identical to the top with just a change in the sequence of folds (5 and 6 folded before 3 and 4).
Folds 3 and 4 were left out of the lower right example but this still follows the rules for folding my version of origami silhouettes.
Here is a silhouette made by creating a three-dimensional frame (folded from a rectangle):

Two examples using curved folds (folded from a square):


This challenge should be great for beginning designers yet can offer a substantial challenge for the advanced folder. You can locate a silhouette on almost any subject to use as a model for your design. Just do a search using two words your favorite subject followed by the word "silhouette" for example "animal silhouette" will give you thousands of possibilities.
For the beginning designer:
* Find a silhouette with a few simple straight lines to use as a template
* draw or print it, then cut around the silhouette.
* Place it in the center of the square or rectangle to be folded
* fold the edges over to match the silhouette.
* Remove the template
* Make adjustments for artistic effect and originality ! ! !
For the advanced designer, try curved folds, three dimensional frames, multiple area silhouettes or try making a fold where both the frame and the silhouette are recognizable objects, animals, people, etc.
To see more examples of origami silhouettes, go to my Flickr site:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/firstfold/
or on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suemZT4OTAg



:)it's a bird