31DC2012: Day 13, Animal Print

Today's theme... animal print! Last year, I was so proud of myself for thinking outside the box and doing a poison dart frog print instead of a more traditional leopard/zebra. This year, I decided to continue that tradition and show a manicure inspired by one of my favorite animals -- the ray! This mani was based on a photo of an eagle ray, in particular.

Here is the photo that I was inspired by. I loved the contrast of the white rings on the black, and the subtle transition from the black outside the rings to a lighter gray on the rest of the ray.

source

The rings are spread pretty consistently over the ray, but then there are more concentrated white spots towards the edges. I followed suit on my nails...

The base is OPI Nein! Nein! Nein! Ok Fine! and then the rings were just made with white and black. I used a sponge to apply some splotches of black on top of the Nein! Nein! base, and then took the small end of a dotting tool to add white sections over the splotches. Then, I used a pinpoint dotting tool to add black on the inside of the white, giving the appearance of rings.

I like these nails a lot. They are abstract and a little funky, and even if you don't know what they are based on, they are still interesting.

Do you think I got it down?

Here's a little collage photo to aid in pinning, if anyone is interested in using it! I know just showing this manicure alone might be a little confusing to people. :)