15 April 2010

Rug Hooking Diary...Part III Challenges with Values

Little Miss Pig has had me fretting a bit.... she's quite lively but seems to be fading into the background and no self-respecting pig wants to do that!
I'm sure most of you know all about this useful technique for taking a critical (& I mean that in the most positive way) look at the values in your work but here it is anyway....






When I question how the values are relating to each other, I like to photograph the section that I'm concerned about and transform it into a black & white image. (Aren't we fortunate to live in the digital age?). In the top photo we see the pig in color.......
And the lower image is the same image transformed into black & white. So where did that pig go??? Because the values of the pinks in the pig and the values of the neutrals in the background are so similar, she pretty much disappears.

So, I could pull out the pinks & rehook the pig in darker values, but I really like the current pinks. And, lucky for me, my friend Julie was working on a wonderful rug of farm animals for her new granddaughter's room at our last Wine Country Rug Hookers guild meeting.
She has a delightful pig in the rug, hooked in a #3 cut, that she had outlined in a darker rose.....thank you for the inspiration & a perfect solution Julie! (And congratulations on that lovely little addition to your family xoxo)

And the result.....no more disappearing pig!

4 comments:

dee said...

Marita, thank you for the great tip. I like the way the pig is more obvious without screaming at you that it is OUTLINED.... Very subtle - very nice.... Blessings, Dee

Mouse Droppings Folk Art said...

Very useful post...will try this in future...& lovely little pig to. Susan

Anonymous said...

Marita, This piece is turning out very nice. Like it. Good info for me to remember when hooking:)Thanks for sharing. Jeannette

HomeSpunPrims said...

Wonderful to see this Marita! Thank you for the great lesson. The outlining sure does make a difference. I like the pinks you used in your pig too so I'm glad you solved the problem with the outlining.A rug with farm animals would be fun!