02 October 2013

31 Day Challenge: Day Twenty-Four, Inspired By a Book: The Art History Survey Text

Hello everyone! First off, I wanted to let you know that I'm blown away by the overwhelming positive response to my Beginner Blogger's Boot Camp that I introduced yesterday. Thank you everyone for your comments so far. Also, if you're a new (or new-ish) blogger and you are hoping that I cover a certain topic, please let me know sooner rather than later. There's no guarantee that I can cover something, for example if I don't have much experience on the subject, but if I can and it fits in, I will.



About this design: For tonight's prompt I went with a book that I'm very familiar with. There are several different art history survey texts by different authors, but they generally all cover the same works and periods. An art history survey text is what you would read if you were taking "introduction to art history" or other similar course. It covers the history of art from prehistory to the present.

Art history nail art

As an art student, I was required to take this course in my undergrad. And now as a PhD student working on my doctorate in art history, I teach this course (or related courses). So I have several of these books floating around. But I love this book because it is big and has lots of pretty pictures in it. Lol! :)

Art history nail art

So essentially I reproduced five works of art throughout history, one on each nail. For copyright reasons I haven't included the images, but they are all pretty common and can be looked up online. So the works reproduced were as follows:

  • Thumb: The Woman of Willendorf, c. 28,000 - 25,000 BCE (prehistoric)
  • Index: Geometric Krater, Dipylon cemetery, Athens, Greece, c. 740 BCE (ancient Greece)
  • Middle: Botticelli, Birth of Venus, c. 1484-1486 (Italian Renaissance)
  • Ring: Monet, Impression Sunrise, 1872 (Impressionism)
  • Pinky: Basquiat, Horn Players, 1983 (contemporary)

Detail: Woman of Willendorf

To get this look: Everything was painted freehand with my trusty detail brush, and finished with a coat of clear top coat followed by matte top coat. It's hard to tell you what polishes I used where, so here's a list of what I used for all five nails:
  • Orly Liquid Vinyl
  • OPI My Vampire Is Buff
  • OPI You Don't Know Jacques!
  • OPI Can't Find My Czechbook
  • Essie Sand Tropez
  • Essie Midnight Cami
  • Essie Boom Boom Room
  • China Glaze Pelican Grey
  • Nubar Forbidden Fruit
  • Nubar My New Obsession
  • Sally Hansen Lightening

Art history nail art

Sounds like a lot, but I needed to mix a fair range of colours. Overall, I'm really happy with how this turned out, and I like having little works of art on my nails! I wish the Basquiat on my pinky was a bit better, I probably should have gone with something more recognizable. But oh well, live and learn! :)

What do you think of this? Have you ever done nail art inspired by a book?

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10 comments:

  1. I love love love these! I love ancient history so I'm obsessed with the index and thumb <3

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    1. Well that's something you don't hear everyday! ;) Thanks again Lindsey!

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  2. I love these nails, they're amazing! I'm shocked with myself that I could still remember the pieces you painted on your thumb, middle, and ring finger haha! I had to take art history last year, the class was interesting but I wasn't a fan of the professor. Great work on these! (:

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    1. I'm happy to hear that you had an interest in art history, sorry that the professor was not so great, that's always a drag. I chose pretty well known works, which is probably why you still remember them. :)

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  3. Wow! I especially love the Botticelli and Monet :)

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    1. Thanks Painted Fingertips, those are my favourites as well. :)

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  4. Incredible!!!!!!! History of Art was my favorite subject in highschool!

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    1. Yeah! Glad to see someone else likes art history! My high school had one art history course and it was one of my favourites as well. :)

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  5. Fantastic mani. I love it when every nail is different. It's so much more interesting and fun that way. Your index finger and ring finger are my favorites, but I love the abstract on you pinkie too. I loved art growing up and used to draw and color all the time. Those giant boxes of 64 crayons were my all time favorite thing to get and I would ask for them for Christmas too and every birthday. There is nothing like the smell of a box of crayolas and the way a brand new one has that pointy tip. Nail polish is just my grown up way of coloring.

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    1. Thanks so much for your feedback. :) I also grew up drawing and painting, so I feel the same way about nail polish and nail art! It's funny how some interests stay constant, they just show up in different ways!

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