Hi Goddesses
Ever since I wrote this challenge, I knew what my tulips mani would be - big, bold and red, with a splashed black heart, and maybe a little bit of yellow pollen. Yeh, this isn't that mani.
I've learnt that my inability to draw / paint comes from an inability to recreate what's in my mind. Although I'm a visual person, I can only draw if I'm looking at the shape / pattern I need. If I just wing it and go, it doesn't work. So usually I load up Google images and click away, and this time something unusual caught my eye - this.
This isn't at all what I planned to do, but I liked that it was different, and there was a chance no-one else would do it. It's been quite amusing how some days, all of us in the challenge have essentially done the same mani - well, maybe not today.
This mani has 2 levels to it, and I have kicked myself for not taking a photo at the half way point. The first level was this - 2 coats of OPI Stranger Tides, then top coat. Then a water colour mani in vertical strokes using Barielle Polished Princess - a metallic medium green. Unfortunately, this was too light on its own, so to better get the colour of the stalks I also added vertical washing with Essie School of Hard Rocks. (Watercolour mani is when you add drops of the colour to your nail, then smear it around using an acetone-dipped art brush; it's VERY effective).
Once dry, I added my tulips. To be honest, the shape of them kind of sucks. They're not very bulb shaped, and I'm going to blame that on my left hand. I used SH Right Said Red, CG Its Poppin', CG Papaya Punch, and a purple spectraflair franken I made.
Overall, I LOVE the effect. Can you tell they're tulips ? No, not really, but I still love it. I also love that you can just about see some of the green wash between the flashes of colour.
There's something really bright and happy about this mani. It's practically effortless, and it falls into my favourite category - artfully disguised mess.
Enjoy xx :)