Ticklette 7

Many nights, as I’m dozing off to sleep, color images flash in my mind. Vibrant compositions, usually abstracts, one after the other, each lasting only a few seconds. Some I remember distinctly. The rest evaporate — like dreams. This one, “Kinetic Rectangles,” was so compelling that I created a Ticklette of it immediately the next day as a reference for a full-size painting in the future (either watercolor or acrylic).

(6″ x 6″ watercolor and india ink)
Displayed artwork © 2012 Kim Reading. All rights reserved.

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Ticklette 6

“Ruined Take Off” (aka: “Ionic Lift”) unfolded with the help of Tombo mono adhesive applied using a little hand-held applicator. It resists the subsequent paint layers. When the paper dries, it easily rubs off (like thin rubber cement). Interpreting the white areas it leaves is the best part. I saw architectural ruins and a floating figure which are outlined in black. Had I rotated the paper I’d have seen something else and you would be looking at an entirely different composition! I find this process great fun.

(6″ x 6″ watercolor and Pigma micron pen)
Displayed artwork © 2012 Kim Reading. All rights reserved.

Ticklette 5

Bones. Two bleached vertebrae washed-up on a beach—probably once belonging to a deer. Beautiful soft curves. Perfect bilateral symmetry. They’ve been tiny sculptures on my shelf. Here’s one of them…

(6″ x 6″ watercolor)
Displayed artwork © 2012 Kim Reading. All rights reserved.

Ticklette 4

More play with masking fluid and washes of whatever leftover pigments remain on my palette (I hate wasting paint). I rotate the paper while working because, as you see here, this Ticklette sadly resembles a macabre Darth Vader-esque Santa Claus (creepy)…

Upon rotation it better resembles a wild landscape of red hills, blue water and sky and a central area of agricultural fields (okay, so my imagination is a bit optimistic, but there you have it). So, which orientation do you prefer?

(5″ x 5″ watercolor)
Displayed artwork © 2012 Kim Reading. All rights reserved.

Ticklette 3

Bleached urchin skeleton. All arms amputated. Concentric circles survived. Pentagonal patterns please. And roundness relaxes.

(5″ x 5″ watercolor and pen & ink)
Displayed artwork © 2012 Kim Reading. All rights reserved.

Ticklette 2

More masking fluid play with a nod to Rothko (visited the Portland Art Museum’s impressive retrospective of Mark Rothko a couple of weeks ago). The corpuscular orange center seems hostile to its cool surroundings. Ouch.

(5″ x 5″ watercolor)
Displayed artwork © 2012 Kim Reading. All rights reserved.

Ticklette 1

Armed with two new tools:  a tiny 6″ x 6″ spiral bound sketchbook of multi-use paper and a new brand of masking fluid, I look forward to producing “little minnies” or “ticklettes.” Here is my first. Purpose: to get some of the many visions in my head down on paper quickly for reference. And simply to get my hand on paper more often for practice and confidence building.

Anyone else see a toothbrush in here?

(4″ x 4.5″ watercolor)
Displayed artwork © 2012 Kim Reading. All rights reserved.