The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou

I am a HUGE fan of Wes Anderson. His films are wonderfully weird, and characters so earnest and flawed. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou came out in 2004. It features Bill Murray as a bumbling Jacques Cousteau-type character, intent on seeking revenge on a shark. The sea creatures in this film are fantastical and mostly not-real. There are fluorescent pink schools of fish who appear on screen right before Steve Zissou's best friend Esteban is eaten by the above-mentioned Jaguar Shark. And Steve gets a Crayon Ponyfish from a fan during the screening of one of his films. I've combined these creatures in a tribute manicure to Wes Anderson's fourth feature length film.

I started by painting a base of  Sally Hanson Complete Salon Manicure in Fairy Teal. Then I sponged on a gradient of Color Club Age of Aquarius, Ulta The Jungle Book, and Ulta Dance Teal Dawn. After that I stamped on a mixture of Konad White and Ulta The Jungle Book using Konad plate M16 for the bubbles. Finally, I hand painted the school of fluorescent pink fish and the Crayon Ponyfish using acrylic paints. I topped everything with Seche Vite topcoat.

Here's Esteban about to be eaten by the Jaguar Shark:

And here is Steve Zissou getting a Crayon Ponyfish from a fan:

Besides my love for Wes Anderson movies, this manicure was also inspired by a stamping group challenge. Our choices for the week were to either 1) stamp on a green background, 2) stamp wildlife images, or 3) stamp an homage to a favorite movie. I did 'em all. 

One Fish Two Fish

... Red Fish, Blue Fish! Dr. Seuss would have turned 109 years old this coming Sunday, March 2nd. He was a brilliant artist and children's author. His impact is evident around the world. Many of us learned to read with the help of Dr. Seuss. He is so inspiring to me personally as an artist, I really can't put it into words. Here are my nails celebrating one of my heroes:

One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish

I started with a base of Lime Crime Once In A Blue Mousse, then applied acrylic craft paint in red, white, blue and black. 

After I added the rad body and white eyeball, I completed the details using black paint. This was not easy!! The lines are so tiny, but I am really happy with how the red fish turned out.

Next I added the blue fish. This little guy is very Seuss-ian, in that he doesn't look like any real fish, but has sort of a fishy quality. 

Finally I added some little white bubble on my pinkie fingernail and topped everything with Seche Vite. Side note: one of my German professors in college was named Dr. Suess. Ha ha!!