Today, I tried a different approach, I needle felted and wet felted (in that order) a mushroom and a piece of cloth. And then I dyed them with a paintbrush. The dye was uncontrollable on the mushroom and on the piece of cloth, the shading was quite decent, although I could have done it better:
The mushroom, although interesting, was not what I wanted to achieve, so I put it aside in order to work with the cloth. The cloth was not totally felted so I could assemble it and give it the shape of a dome. I added a foot and this is what I got:
This is the kind of shading I want, I like that very much. I enhanced it with a bit of silk here and there, a few suspicious red dots and some sparkling angelina fibers and tada!
Now, my faith in felt is restored, I can perhaps spend the rest of the day painting. I think from now on, I will make lots of little pre-felted pieces and dye them with beautiful shadings, ready to be incorporated into my 3D felting or into goblin clothing..
I wish I had enough space to make a little felted garden. Maybe I’ll make one on a little shelf. I just have to find a space on my walls!.