Cindi Gay Rug Hooking

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Subway art in NYC is a lot like rughooking

Subway art in NYC is similar to rughooking in that many points of color add up to an image. I was in NYC in early June for a WordPress Wordcamp. Even though I was there to learn more about the software that runs my website, I never stop looking for patterns and designs. New York is a very rich hunting ground.

Marbles

tile art of marbles on NYC subway wall
Marbles
tile art in NYC subway marble closeup
Closeup of marbles. Notice the bright white highlights that make them look shiny.

I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw this. I know it aggravates the natives and I often get bumped, but WOW, look at this. I snapped a photo and had to get closer. Luckily it was early Saturday morning so the foot traffic was light.

Notice the shockingly bright light color used for the reflections. No smooth progression from light to dark. The more abrupt the difference, the shinier or wetter the object looks. Use this method to get animal noses wet. Use a bright highlight.

Tile art NYC subway two people As I walked further down the tunnel more tile people appeared. I was drawn to their faces. Where are the darks and lights? what shape are those areas? A perfect blue and purple plaid would make a good outlining wool.

Notice some of the standard tips I teach when faces are being hooked. The upper lip is the darkest. The lower lip is light but will have a shadow underneath if the lip protrudes.
Tile art NYC subway man's face closeup
Notice where the light areas show on this face, with the lightest at the tip of the nose.
Tile art NYC subway girl playing instrument
This mouth is shaped in such a way I want to go back and verify that it is indeed flat. I don’t remember any 3 dimensional areas.
Tile art NYC subway smiling man
Her teeth are not white but we have no trouble recognizing the teeth.
Tile art NYC subway woman with hat
Getting ready to play
Tile art NYC subway boy playing instrumentThis one was one of my favorites. I like how you can see the contours on the faces. Notice how simply the ear was rendered.
Tile art NYC subway closeup of man holding child

Has this inspired you to create something?

I think I’d like to try hooking my boxer, Jack in one of his quizzical poses. he has a fawn coat, but I can imagine purples, orange, red and blues. Maybe even divided with mosaic lines.

Sauder Village Rug Hooking Workshop 2009

People enjoying the Sauder Village rug hooking exhibit
Rug hooking exhibit

It was another wonderful week at the Sauder Village Rug Hooking Workshop. I spent the week with Diane Phillips. I had taken her class before and I looked forward to the week. Some people in the class hooked human faces, others hooked animals.

Conquest of Queen Anne, hooked by Kristi Roberts, designed by Cindi Gay
Conquest of Queen Anne
hooked by Kristi Roberts

Sauder Village always hangs a beautiful exhibit and this year was no exception.  It was a real treat to see the Celebrations rugs on exhibit even before I received the magazine.

One special surprise was that Conquest of Queen Anne hooked by Kristie Roberts won a Celebrations honorable mention.  What a thrill to see one of my designs on the Celebrations board.  Great job Kristi!

rug hooking demo by Diane Phillips
Diane Phillips demonstrating how to hook a face.

Diane hooked a face as a demonstration right before our eyes.

My Favorite

Over the past few years, I have been concentrating on certain areas of my hooking. Several years ago I took a class with Karen Kahle where I learned to loosen up with straight lines. The result was on of my favorite rugs, Antique Rose Runner. By the time I finished the rug, I was making the rug even more crooked than the pattern.

Hooked portrait General

When I last took a class with Diane, I hooked a face using non-flesh tone colors, The General.

After seeing Diane’s crooked edge pieces and hearing how they developed organically without a pre-conceived plan, I think I have a new direction to explore.

How to Hook a Face Workshop

This entry is part 1 of 7 in the series How to Hook Faces
8-all-hooking-done
Southern Woman

In March, I taught faces at Southern Teachers’ Workshop. The difficulty of the assignment was that I only had one day to teach and whose face was I going to hook? I wanted to hook a portrait of my grandmother, but the students in the class would not be excited about that.

I decided to teach the class as a face structure class. The subject matter would be an imaginary woman who would be assembled by the student.   I drew up several different face shapes, different eye shapes, noses and mouths.   I put my face together and called her “Southern Woman.”

As students made their choices, I began to hear things, like “this looks like my son” or “I think I know this person.” When I studied portraits in art class I remember that the instructor told us that our first portraits would look a lot like us. We are most familar with our own faces and those of our family. One profile that I drew in Jr. High art class looks a lot like my husband. After I had been married for several years, my mother gave me a box of some of my old artwork and there he was.  I drew his profile several years before I met him.

The next task was to determine where the darks and the lights go. This placement varies with lighting and with the shape of each face. I supplied three textures: one light, one medium and one dark. At this point it became hook by number.

As we worked on each facial feature, I gave tips on how to hook them. Many of the students left with a completed face by the end of the day leaving only hair, neck and background to finish.

Hooked by Maddy Fraioli
Hooked by Maddy Fraioli

This piece was finished by Maddy Frioli. It is hooked front and back.

Here is the dollie…She is hooked front and back of the head and neck…Found a great old lace collar and some green velvet drapes a la Scarlette O’Hara, pearl buttons and earrings…had fun, and, thanks, Maddy
Thanks for sending the photo, Maddy.  I always like to see photos of the the pieces students start with me.   I’m there in the beginning and often wonder how a rug turned out.  If you changed direction after the workshop, I still want to see it.  The rugs you hook are yours.  Never feel obligated to follow someone’s direction if it is not working for you.

Rug Hooking a Face: The Background

This entry is part 7 of 7 in the series How to Hook Faces

Hooked face of woman

This portrait of my imaginary woman is now complete.  Notice the lower part of her neck.  I think the uneven edge actually gives the neck more dimension.  I did do a bit of tweaking once all the hooking was done.  About the time I added the sashing, I decided to soften her forehead some more and added hair.  Be sure to add the shadow that the hair casts on the skin.  Her right eyebrow was adjusted also.  I added more light in this area.  I added a dark shadow under this eye also.  The little bit of dark under the lower lip helps to make the lips stand out.  I darkened the nostrils.  These are never circles.  I added a dark line using the same wool that I used to separate the lips.

Notice how her hair and the background tend to blend together in some areas.  When I studied watercolor painting, getting lost edges was an advanced technique.  In rug hooking, lost edges tend to make most people nervous.  When you are hooking in a realistic style, do not fear lost edges.  They enhance the work and make it more interesting.
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Rug Hooking a Face: Added the Neck

This entry is part 6 of 7 in the series How to Hook Faces
Wide cut face - added the neck
Added neck

Wide cut face

Above is a picture showing the neck added. The photo on the right is the picture on the left with a transparent version of an earlier face. Note how the chin line is exactly the same as it was before. I added a neck, ears and hair and she looks completely different. This is a very important lesson. Do not rip out too early. Luckily, adjustments in rug hooking are easy to make. Don’t be too critical in the beginning. If I had adjusted her chin line and then added a neck, ears and hair she would have looked much different.

Pay attention to the lower neck.  In the next post you will see that I ripped out the lower neck in order to sew on the sashing.  I then rehooked the neck through the backing and two layers of the sashing wool.  Not the easiest hooking, but the effect is perfect.  I did not have the heart to chop her neck off straight after I had it hooked a bit lopsided here.

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