Ponyo Nails

I am a HUGE Hayao Miyazaki fan. Whenever I am feeling down or uninspired, I watch one of his movies and feel instantly rejuvenated.

I am also hugely (weirdly?) infatuated with mermaids -- I have been since I was 4 years old and saw 'The Little Mermaid' in theaters. Seeing that movie is also what seriously started me wanting to become an animator.

'Ponyo' is the culmination of these interests for me. Ponyo doesn't have a 'traditional' mermaid form with a scaly tail and fins, but the difference between her human and mermaid form is still very apparent. Ponyo is not my favorite Studio Ghibli movie (that is reserved for Princess Mononoke!), but it is so incredibly sweet and endearing. The energy of the animation and the vibrancy of the colors is breathtaking to watch!!

But enough of my spiel -- On to the nails!

I had a lot of fun doing these. I did a lot of prepping and deciding on what would go on each and every nail -- the result hopefully maintains a little of the movie's energy!  This was also the second manicure where I used a pen to make detailed outlines (see my Astronaut nails). I figured out that putting a matte coat on the nail before I use the pen helps to prevent the ink from bleeding into other parts of the design -- kind of like watercolor. Very interesting phenomenon, but incredibly annoying for precision line work!

Right hand: Each nail features some of my favorite moments from the movie.

The pointer finger turned out a little derpy, but the rest came out exactly how I'd hoped! You can't tell from this angle, but I put matte top coat on each Ponyo where she is out of water -- even on the pinky to show Ponyo's head sticking out of the water! Oh well.

Left Hand: Ponyo's school of sisters!

I am left-handed; I am in no way ambidextrous (though I can write my name with my right hand without it looking horrid). So how did I do my non-dominant hand with so few mistakes? Homemade nail decals.

I took one of those plastic sheet protectors and put a layer of clear nail polish on it and waited for it to dry. I did my design from there; I painted the sisters, waiting for each layer of color to dry, before going on to the next color detail. To do the line work, I painted on a fast drying top coat (Seche Vite) so I had a hard surface to work from. When that was dry, I put on a layer of matte top coat. I used my pen to make the lines, using little strokes, in case the ink still wanted to bleed. When the ink dried, I put on another layer of clear, and let that dry completely. When they are done drying, I peeled them from the plastic sheet protector and trimmed the excess clear polish from the edges.

I told you it was a long process! Hopefully that explanation was clear.

This manicure took forever to do, and had a lot of prep, but the results were sooooo worth it!. The left hand glittered so beautifully, and I couldn't stop staring at the details in the right hand!

After I completed these, I decided that I am going to do a Studio Ghibli / Hayao Miyazaki themed manicure series. This was first of that series. Next up: Princess Mononoke!!