Here is a video of a Silk area rug with an animal hunting scene. I find it interesting that the pattern is a mirror imaged on the rug. They used a small pattern 4 times to make this rug. Saves on having to draw some many different animals.
It is not uncommon for a rug artist to only draw a small portion of the rug. If the pattern is being repeated throughout the rug they don't need to draw out the whole rug. Just like in using blue prints for building 30 houses. When the houses are all the same you do not need 30 sets of the same drawings.
To be an area rug designer you must go to school for 18 months and learn everything about rug weaving and the history of what the different patterns and colours mean. Plus you must first be a very good artist to apply for the course.
In India it is mostly women learning rug design to supplement their husbands income. Rug designers do not get paid much. If my memory is correct it is around 3600 a year.
The good thing is if your design is really good it is used many times for years. the down side the designers only get paid once for their design, not every time it is used.
It is amazing the amount of work that goes into a hand knotted area rug. First the design has to be thought up,drawn out and colours identified on graph paper. Then the weaver gets the wool ready, which can include shearing, spinning and dyeing the wool.
Next comes the weaving of the rug which can take a few months to years. After the rug is done it is trimmed even, washed, dried and sent to market.
All to be walked on for years. Quite an amazing process when you think about it.
Thanks for reading, RugloverMary
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