Advice

"Tis and Taint"

I'm finding that there are as many bits of advice for hooking a landscape rug as there are sources to read.  I've read that I should start with the sky and work down, and I've read that I should start with  the foreground and work up across the rug.  I did neither.  I started with the trees because they were the most fun.  So, I am going back to hook a sky behind my trees.

Sky colors

The sky colors are very light, but I don't think this will be a problem, because I'm going to next take the advice of Jane Halliwell Green in "Pictorial Hooked Rugs".......though I probably should have done so first. "Hook the center of interest first, which is often in the foreground or toward the midground and less frequently in the background. This hooked area sets the stage for the entire piece." (page 21)
The center of interest in a composition is what attracts the viewer, the attention getter.  In this landscape it could be a man-made object (or the boy fishing).  The center of interest has more detail, more value contrast, sharp edges, and a larger shape, but shouldn't be so strong that your eye doesn't travel throughout the piece.  I'm hoping the road will help lead the eye when the rug is hooked.
How does this help the light sky, you ask?  In this pattern, I think I'll use the New England church in the left midground as my center of interest.  (The church will be redrawn to look more like the Congregational church in the center of my hometown.)  It's large shape and light color will help to balance my light sky........"The best laid schemes o' mice an' men....".