Commedia dell'Arte (OMD challenge day 4: black and white)

 

Hi all,

Today's theme for the OMD Rather Awesome challenge is Black & White. For some reason that made me think of masks, so I went to look for Commedia dell'Arte masks (as you do) and found this great picture. Commedia dell'Arte is essentially an old Italian form of theatre with stock characters characterised by masks - here's a Wikipedia article and a description of the two characters on the pointer (Pulcinella) and the pinkie (Scaramuccia, also known as Scaramouche - sing it with me now: Scaramouche, scaramouche, will you do the fandango?). 

 

The comedy (Ride) and tragedy (Piangi) masks in the middle aren't Commedia dell'Arte as much as Venetian masks (think Venetian carneval), but they're the quintessential theatre masks so of course I had to include them.

I used my stock black and white polishes for this, s-he and LOOK - not because they're particularly good (they aren't) but because they're what I have. I really need some good nail art-worthy basics! At first I attempted to show the plasticity of the masks, but it ended up looking a bit sloppy, even with the matte coat on, so I made them fully black and matted them again.

I did my nails last night so these are my 'safety' pictures taken indoors in artificial light, because a lot can happen to a mani before morning. Than sounds more sinister (or risqué) than it is, I'm just someone who forgets to be careful with her nails. And so, not half an hour later, I had inexplicable dents in my masks from making supper (not pictured). What's a girl to do?

Well, I was itching to try my new polishes anyway, so I dabbed some Digital Nails Timey Wimey on them, instantly transforming the mani from serious and artsy to HEY, CARNEVAL! Seriously, look at the party going on on my nails. The Doctor would approve (and bring a banana).

Timey Wimey has tiny glitters in purple, turquoise and probably something else, red squares, lime green hexagons, and large turquoise metallic circles that shine green when the light hits them just right. It's easy to apply, I just need to work on my dabbing technique and placement of the larger glitters.

So yeah, not strictly black and white anymore, but it was intended as b&w, so that counts, right? ;)

Check out the other black and white nail art by clicking on the linky!

4. Black & White :

The all-too-colourful nail newbie

 

 

Note: Any links to external blogs or stores are pure link love - no advertising or affiliate linking going on here. I paid for everything, but I can't bring myself to care because my nails are busy partying like it's 1999.