A penguin drawn front on, with the beak coming off the side of a slightly turned head, both flippers swelling out of the body line, and two feet at the bottom. There is no hole anywhere in it. Cut round the outside and the shape is finished. Two to a sheet at about 91 by 120mm.
Nothing to cut out of the middle
The only gap in the whole outline is the one between the feet, and it opens downwards, so it is a notch cut in from the edge rather than an island sitting in the centre. That is the difference between a shape a six year old can finish and one an adult has to rescue halfway through.
It also means the sheet works as a pattern. Hold it down on felt or coloured card, draw round the outside, and you have the full penguin without anything to transfer from inside it.
Front on, because a profile loses half the bird
Two flippers and two feet are what say penguin. A side view shows one of each, and at this size that reads as almost any bird on a beach. The head is turned slightly instead, which is what gives the beak somewhere to go.
The beak is a blunt wedge about five units deep at the tip rather than a point. A point would be under five units of paper for most of its length, which is the width at which card tears instead of cutting.
The flippers are the body line itself
A flipper drawn as a separate limb laid against the body leaves a slit between the two that nobody can cut. Here the outline swells out below the neck and closes back into the flank at a notch that opens to about eighty degrees.
The lower edge of each flipper comes back in almost level for the same reason. A steeper return would close that corner to roughly twenty degrees, which is where a small pair of scissors jams.
Sizes, and the quickest thing to make
Medium, where the page opens, is two penguins at about 91 by 120mm. Large is one at roughly 150 by 198mm, which goes on a window. Small is six at about 61 by 80mm, the size for card fronts, peg labels or a row of penguins along a shelf edge.
Cut one from black card, cut a second from white, trim the white down to a belly and glue it on. That is five minutes and it looks like a penguin rather than like a shape somebody cut out.
Questions
- Is there anything to cut out of the middle of the penguin?
- No. The body, the head and both flippers are one mass, and the only gap is between the feet, which opens downwards as a notch in the edge rather than a hole.
- Why is the penguin drawn facing forwards?
- Because two flippers and two feet are what make a silhouette read as a penguin, and a side view shows only one of each. The head is turned a little so the beak has somewhere to sit.
- What sizes can I print?
- One penguin at about 150 by 198mm, two at roughly 91 by 120mm, or six at about 61 by 80mm. Two to a sheet is where the page opens.
- Does it work on felt?
- Yes. It is a single closed line with nothing inside it, so you can hold it down and draw round the outside on felt, foam or coloured card and lose no detail in the process.