The use of Silhouettes in Concept Design. Silhouette thumbnails are among the most helpful and productive methods of design when it's necessary to produce a large quantity of variations of concepts within a short period of time.
It's not a method used by all concept artist and it's certainly not a necessity to design a creature or a character purely based off of a silhouette shape. That doesn't go to say that all designers don't subconsciously focus on shapes and designs that make a strong impact on the viewer. We often refer to a silhouette as a black outlined shape, much like a shadow. This doesn't always need to be the case, as a simple line sketch or simple shades of value can still provide the same effect and are just as efficient. Leonel Castellani. Gelatometti. Chris Wahl Illustration Blog.