Magdalena Menagerie Rug Progress - First Dog's Face

I'm home from two weeks away in lovely Arizona!  I am so happy to be home!  I love AZ and we've seriously considered it as a retirement option from expensive and crazy California.  But, as our plane was landing in Sacramento at dusk last night, I could see the San Francisco Bay Delta to the west (lots of water!) and the beautiful snowcapped Sierra Mountains to the east.  I got a little teary eyed and whispered to my husband "I'm a California girl!"  He would love to relocate, but I don't think I can leave my home state, even with the cost of living here!  So did I tell you?  I am so happy to be home!

I have a lot to share via blogging, so please stay posted over the next few days.  First, let me update you a bit on my Magdalena Menagerie (MM) rug.   

Prototype rug



Please don't laugh at my doggie!  He's looking sort of strange right now!


Here are some pictures of the first dog's face to demonstrate the use of multiple wools.

First dog's face; he's cuter in person!

I'm using 5 wools for the dogs that vary from deep gray/brown to black in color.  The wools are a combination of upcycled, texture and texture over-dyed.  All of the wools have been selected because they look old and worn, to help make the rug appear old.
 
I am generally using 8.5 - 9.5 cuts of wool, and mixing the sizes together.

To give the dog's face some definition, I used a 5 cut of beige wool (thanks to my husband, the fine cut hooker). 

Note the simplicity of the outlining detail; it's just enough to define the dog's face, but still quite primitive.  This close-up is over exposed due to camera flash, but it shows the various wools in use.

Black and white to review the values; they are blending nicely.

Also included here is a study in black and white.  You can see the wools are blending well to give just a small bit of lighter to darker value difference, but still with little contrast in values. 

The slight contrast in values will help make the rug appear faded in areas, adding to the old look that I want to achieve.  Using multiple wools will mimic an old rug because hookers' used whatever fabric supplies they had on-hand.

This is only the beginning of the dog and there is more to share because I made quite a bit of progress on him while on vacation.  As the week progresses, I will share more of my MM rug progress and the Karen Kahle workshop I took.