Nail Art
Oh, readers, this post is a fun one for me to share! You may think that with all the pastel colors around here that I am simply a girly-girl. Not true! Beneath my frilly, lacy outer layer you will find a
See what I did here, channeling the vintage comic book cover style? I'm pretty proud of it... not nearly as proud as I am of these nails, though!! I painted them on May 3rd, in preparation of my my 2nd wedding anniversary day-early dinner & movie celebration. (What a mouthful.) See, I really am a geek - I totally felt this was a sufficient romantic date for an important occasion.
So yes, this was nail art for The Amazing Spider-Man 2 movie - wait 'til you see the other hand! - but promise that I will reveal no spoilers. I hate spoilers!
Look, my left hand, too! It was styled after the movie's villian: Electro. Before I get too far into pictures of my nails I'm going to share the products I used on each hand. Let's start with what my pinky, ring, and middle finger nails had in common on each hand.
- OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls: ring & middle finger nails
- Fing'rs Tattoo Paper in the "Pow! Wow! Bam!" assortment: over MBSW
- Milani Silver Dazzle: pinky nails
- China Glaze Bahamian Escape: thumb & index nails
- Different Dimension Light It Up Blue: over Bahamian Escape (2-3 coats?)
- Zoya Trixie: polished underneath my nail's free edge
- Sally Hansen Cherry Red: thumb & index nails
- Zoya Natty: spider-suit detail on thumb
- Pure Ice Get Low: polished underneath my nail's free edge, eye detail on index finger
My colors for Spider-Man were based off his suit in the first Amazing Spider-Man movie. They changed the eyepieces to a larger and more traditional silver/white for part 2, but I really liked the adapted sunglass lenses from the first suit...
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| Image Credit: heyuguys.co.uk |
Of course the eyes were the hardest part to do. They didn't come out perfectly but they were so tiny in person that the flaws were unnoticeable! =) And considering I free-handed all of this I really can't complain at all!
I drew the spider symbol mostly from memory. Wow, there have been so many variations to this symbol! I used tape to make guides for the blue panels on the suit. I would have loved to work more spiderweb into this but it would have been way too busy and distracted from the really awesome spider.
And of course I used Get Low to polish under my nails, too. I would never reach for this color as a full manicure, but it is perfect for something like this! It's rich and flashy, and gave the metallic punch that I wanted.
Get Low contrasted perfectly with my use of Trixie under the nails on my left hand. To me it these hidden contrasting colors were like the cherry on top of "Spidey vs Electro" hands. (Don't remind me that Peter Parker ditched his golden lenses by now, thanks.)
Electro was a very easy villian to capture. While I definitely could have gone with more black, I'm glad I didn't... because Light It Up Blue is one of the most amazing glow-in-the-dark polishes ever!! And that is exactly what Electro does... glow with a crackling electric energy. (I don't have any pictures of this manicure glowing, but I do have these older swatches to give you an idea.) These two nails gave me the enviable super-power of finding our bag of popcorn in a dark movie theatre, too.
I'm so glad I got to share this manicure and now have the pictures to look back on it and smile. When I get to write posts like this I feel like I'm adding to a little digital memory book. This manicure makes me think of... bonding with friends & family over our favorite super heroes, taking the time to sit and paint at the dining room table while my husband sat across from me, going to dinner with my husband (at the restaurant we visited the day I proposed to him ♥), and then getting to see a movie, too! Isn't it neat how pictures can instantly transport us?
♥ May 5th, 2014 - 2 years strong ♥
I dedicate this post to my Amazing husband.
Happy Anniversary to us!
That's so cool :D
ReplyOh my gosh, those are absolutely amazing! What did you think of The Amazing Spider-Man 2? In my opinion it was good, but not as outstanding as Captain America 2.
ReplyFirst off, thank-you! ♥
ReplyWe actually missed CA2 while it was in theatres! It got great reviews, though. So we're looking forward to renting it when it comes out on Blu-Ray. =)
As for ASM2... ***spoiler alert!!!*** STOP reading now if you didn't watch it yet! =P
It was good but nowhere near as good as the first. I really liked that almost straight away they solved the mystery of what happened with Peter's parents. I really like the direction that they took with this story and the "family history" in explaining why Spider-Man was even possible. So I was happy that they tied up those loose ends.
But I had honestly thought that they would have learned their lesson with how badly Spider-Man 3 went. SM3 suffered from a crowded plot and too many villains. I really thought that Electro was enough for this movie and when I saw Harry Osbourne my first reaction was "ooo, setting up for part 3". They needed to give his story & transformation more time. I was shocked when they almost straight away turned him into a villian, too... and crammed his surprise battle in at the end.
As for the death of GS, I knew the comic's storyline so I went into the movie knowing it *might* happen, but I honestly hoped that they would either go a different route with this (same as they have a fresh spin on Oscorp & such), or... would wait. When I walked out of the theatre I was _honestly_ questioning if they weren't making a part 3, and that's why everything happened so fast in 2. I mean, 3 villain fights, plus kill another main char that (I think it's safe to say) we all loved... it was too much. They'd better have something big up their sleeve for me to get excited about part 3... (And no, producers, I don't mean MOAR villains...)
My husband made a really good point of noting how needless the
planes/air traffic control scenes were. They was a whole mini-storyline
during the big battle that had *nothing* to do with any characters we
knew. Yes, the city was in chaos, but that was shown with Aunt May's
scenes in the hospital.
Basically... it wasn't awful but I sure wouldn't have done it that way. I have no idea who sat down for the test screenings and said "yep, that's our movie. It's a wrap", but I think they were insane. The movie would have been MUCH better if they had ended it with Electro defeated, Harry not yet evil but on the path, and Peter with Gwen, HAPPY. (It's safe to say that Gwen had missed her flight so the England thing could have been postponed or entirely cancelled. I think she just needed to be there still for part 3.) I could have done with less rushed action and more getting to know the characters. =)
Thanks for commenting, Alicea - sorry for writing you a book!
Ahhh, I totally get how you feel. My main issue with the plot was that both of the villains had a complete about face with their views on Spider-Man and for me it turned out to feel very fake and almost comical. I did think it was very crowded as well, especially with the Green Goblin coming in in the last 10 minutes or so and then randomly splicing Rhino into the end. I did know about Gwen, thanks to some passing comments on tumblr when set photos came out months ago.
ReplyI haven't read the comics and haven't actually seen the original Spider-Man movies, but I definitely loved seeing the Peter/Harry friendship in TASM2 (until it all went to crap, sadly) and I wish we could have explored more of their dynamic.
In conclusion; all my conflicting emotions. -collapses-
And congrats!!!
ReplyBoth the hands are just staggering gorgeousness!
I am not really into comics and superheroes but the whole mani reminds me of comics ^^
I love the under-nails colour! :D
Oh, I love so much you've used My boyfriend scales walls (out of the The Amazing Spiderman collection) for this Spiderman mani :D
Yes, exactly what you are saying! Also, the fact that Harry finds out from his dying father that he is going to come down with an inescapable disease, and then 3 days later he looks like he should be in the hospital... come on. He got sick way too fast! =P
ReplyAnd while they did show a hint of Max's instability (imagines attacking his boss guy, shocked when someone remembers his name), I agree that he turned on Spidey way too fast. Oh well.
I do recommend seeing the original movies! Especially parts 1 & 2 are a lot of fun. Peter & Harry are friends in them, as well... haha. 3 is where it all goes to crap but definitely worth watching because then you'll see how they repeated all the past mistakes with this franchise, ha! =D
Thank-you so much!
ReplyAww, that is sweet of you. I was trying to strike the right balance between Spider-man fan art and a classy, modern nail art manicure. I think it worked! Finding those comic book water decals/tattoos was a HUGE help, too! =)
And of course I had to use OPI's My Boyfriend Scales Walls! It was too perfect not to. ;D