Thursday, October 3, 2013

Before & After: A Very Pollack Halloween

Hello!

Today is the penultimate installment of the 'Inspired By An Artist' challenge in my Llama Nails group. And this week we have the interesting and controversial Jackson Pollack.

Pollack, as you may know, brought a new dimension to art by bringing a new dimension to art--he took the painting off of the easel and made the act of painting the artwork itself. He tried to capture motion, gravity, all of the sorts of forces working on the substances in time and space in the final product of his artwork.

That's great, but dangit, it's October, and that means Halloween!!!

I did find one of Pollack's works that has a Halloween feel to it:


Yeah, that's nice. But it ain't near Halloween-y enough for this blog.

So what do I think Pollack would create to do my kind of Halloween justice? Well, let's have ourselves a look.

I started with a base of LeChat (Dare To Wear) Last Leaf, a frosty olive shimmer with a touch of gold shine to it:

LeChat Last Leaf, 3 coats, artificial light



And then I went completely insane all over it.

I stamped over the base with Cheeky jumbo plate D first using Sally Hansen's Lickety-Split Lime and then Orange Impulse; then I used the splatter technique to throw on some Lively Lilac and Going Grape...and since no Halloween splatter is complete without some blood, so I finished up with some Pure Ice Siren. Oh yeah, that's better:








I've discovered that my relationship with splatter manicures is very like my relationship with oatmeal and marshmallow peeps. You see, every so often, I think how awesome it would be to have some oatmeal, or how yummy it would be to have a marshmallow peep. I think to myself 'wow, I haven't had oatmeal/marshmallow peeps in forever! I need to get me some!'. And then, I diligently seek out said oatmeal/peep, and once I have it in my hot little hands, I settle in to savor it. I take a bite, and then instantly realize--I haven't had this for ages because I FLIPPING HATE IT! It's horrendously disgusting!!! To me, oatmeal tastes like cardboard, and marshmallow peeps taste like you accidentally breathed in sugar and it got stuck to your tongue. And I smack myself repeatedly in the head, and promise myself I'll never make this mistake again. But then, in about another year or two...

Yeah, same thing with splatter manis. After a few months, I say to myself 'Hey, you know what would be perfect for this? A splatter mani!'. And then I start to do it, and I /facedesk when I remember exactly why I haven't done one in so long. Because they are horrible, horrible messes that take forever to do and even longer to clean up! Aaaarrrrrgggghhhhhh.

(which I guess means you can expect to see another one in about 6 months.)

But, you gotta admit...it came out kinda cool, didn't it??

Thanks for taking a look! Hugs and love,
M.



11 comments:

  1. Maybe if you tried applying cuticle oil first, the polish would be easier to clean off your fingers? I do this first and then use plain vinegar to wipe the oils off my nail before painting rather than alcohol.

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    1. That definitely helps. My big issue this time was that the splotches bled down under the cuticles, so it was hard for me to get my clean-up brush in there without destroying the mani itself. But yes, this time was definitely an improvement over the last one!

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  2. It came out better than you think! You definitely captured the idea of the Pollack's depth and energy on your nails. Hopefully you had a little bit of fun with it before 'Oatmeal Syndrome' set in :), and your readers can all smile at your relationship with certain foods. Thank you for sharing.

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  3. Awesome paint puke!

    That's what we called Pollack's work in art school. LOL Ah to be young & foolish again...ok, I'm still foolish. I'll settle for young again. <3

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  4. ROFL! That's exactly what I thought when I looked at the final effect--it looks like Halloween threw up on my nails! And for me, that's a good thing. :) Be careful with that young thing...How young would you want to go? You couldn't pay me to go through my teen years again, and I'll also pass on those early 20s, lol...

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  5. I think I could deal with having the figure I had at 21 again. LOL Young peeps don't like the saying 'youth is wasted on the young' but I so get it now!

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    1. Fair enough--my current mind and my body from then...no, wait, make that 25. I was a bit chubbers at 21...>.<

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    2. I was post baby chubbers by 25. lol

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    3. Sounds like you put on what I lost, lol...but now I've gained it back myownself...sigh...

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  6. This looks great -- very Halloween-y and unique! Haha, I'm with you about oatmeal and splatter manis. But I like Peeps for some weird reason!

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    1. I think I'm the only one one the planet that doesn't like peeps. But I make up for it by adoring candy corn!

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