Tuesday, September 3, 2013

31DC2013 Day 03: Yellow Bee Silhouettes

I've always had a fascination with bees. It's hard to say what it is, really, but I think they are so cool. Maybe it's their diligence? The way they all work so hard towards a common goal? I've always wanted to do a bee manicure but have had trouble coming up with an original and interesting way to do it.

For day three of the challenge, I thought I'd give it a shot.



For the base of my nail art, I started with three coats of Zoya Darcy. I figured that the warm, rich yellow color would contrast nicely with the black accents I had in mind!

I freehanded the bee silhouettes on my middle finger. I used a short, thin nail art brush which allowed me to get fine lines on the legs and have better control over the rest of the body. I also freehanded the honey drips and the dotted fly-lines.

The honeycombs on my ring finger are stamped with Vivid Lacquer plate VL002.

The stripes on my pinky were done using a tape manicure technique.



I loved wearing this manicure so much.
First, I love yellow polish a lot and don't wear it as much as I should!
Second, bees are awesome.
Third, I think the bee silhouettes are some of the best freehanding I've ever done -- I'm so proud of the way they came out.


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62 comments

  1. so cool! I almost did the bumble bee today, but opted out.

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  2. Gillian from PlumeriaPaintedSeptember 3, 2013 at 9:42 AM

    This is beyond cool and edgy, I agree about the bees, they look great!! My favourite nail is the honeycomb weirdly enough :)

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  3. These are incredible :) I love the free handed bees so much!

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  4. Those are some great free hand skills! I was sure this are stamped before I read the post 0.0

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  5. Those freehanded bees are amazing! You better be proud of them! (;

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  6. Wow, these came out so amazing. Bees are fascinating!

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  7. This is fantastic! I thought the bee silhouettes were stamps until you said something. Great job!

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  8. Amber DeMordaunt JohnsonSeptember 3, 2013 at 11:43 AM

    This is so bold! Love it!

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  9. I cannot bee-lieve you did those bees by hand...

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  10. I can't believe the bees aren't stamped! Awesome work! I love this mani and would hate to take it off tomorrow :D

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  11. Wow, incredible! Do you have a picture or link to the brush you used for the bee silhouette by the way?

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  12. Thanks Becky! Here's the brush: http://instagram.com/p/bKBwKWsSUt/

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  13. My first thought when I saw those bees was "please please please tell me that's a stamp". Now I know they're not and I am dying of jealousy. This is ah-mazing and I'm giving you a standing O.

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  14. You should be very proud! I was impressed at first glance, even before I knew you freehanded the bees.

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  15. Perfection. Nothing less!
    I LOVE this mani SOOOOOO much!!!

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  16. Cathy - More Nail PolishSeptember 3, 2013 at 2:53 PM

    Your free hand painting skills really are incredible! The details on the bees legs - wow! I love how vivid the contrast is in this between the yellow and black.

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  17. Your free handing skills make me sick.... I can't even draw stick people! :-p this looks so awesome!

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  18. Came out great - still would like it better with more of a shinny top coat showing.

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  19. These are so perfect!!! Love them.

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  20. These are so cool! And your freehand skills are simply amazing!!

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  21. I'm with you!!

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  22. Wow, this was so cool I don't know how to express myself. Darn amazing free-hand! I also love bees, my parents are bee keepers and I've always had huge amounts of honey available and from time to time I also help my parents with the process involving keeping the bees. :)

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  23. Love this! Pinned it!

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  24. this is beyond stunning (no pun intended?) - some of the best art i've seen you do!

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  25. Wow! This is so bright and funny!))

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  26. I love this, it looks amazing!

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  27. Love these nails! I had to read your post because I was sure you had the talent to do the bees freehand (yep!), but hoped that the honeycomb design was a stamp (it was, whew) - doing that freehand would be unreal! Very fun design. =)

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  28. leidiane nunes barretoSeptember 4, 2013 at 12:52 PM

    io gente pa+r+a

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  29. i'm literally in awe of your freehanded bee silhouette. I can't...

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  30. I can't believe you freehanded the bees, they are amazing! Such a brilliant design.

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  31. holy cow this is AMAZING!

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  32. Reediculous, those bees!! Seriously, I mean no blogger can hold a candle to you on nail art. Nuff said- I still am in shock over that free hand amazingness...

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  33. Thank you so much! <3 You are too kind, really...

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  34. Haha oh god if I had done those honeycombs freehand, we would be looking at a very different (and uglier) manicure.

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  35. Thank you, I'm so proud of it! :)

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  36. Wow, that's so cool! My dad once let a beekeeper use some of his land for hives, and that was so interesting to me, so growing up with beekeepers must have been amazing!

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  37. Hey it's all about practice! Thanks :)

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  38. Thanks Cathy! I agree, this yellow worked perfectly in the manicure.

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  39. great job! These look amazing!

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  40. Aww, love these!! Yellow and black always makes such a great combo! And your nail art is a masterpiece on each nail. I cannot decide which I like best. I love them all! :D

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  41. And so ypu should bee...!!! LOL! xXx

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  42. Yaaay your bees came out so well. Also, I was massively relieved when I read that you stamped your ring finger hahaha.

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  43. I admit that I always scan the photos before I read the text on nail blogs (blush) and I was convinced that this was stamping. The bees and especially the honeycombs have such CLEAN edges. It's incredible! Awesome work!!


    PS. I always read the text, I just like looking at the pretty pictures first. ;)

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  44. I absolutely love this!!! My brother passed away when I was in high school, but he used to keep honey bees and for years after he was gone, when the weather got warm in the spring our garage would smell of honey. I have a very special place in my heart for honey bees, and this is absolutely lovely.

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  45. How neat, what a wonderful tribute to your brother that must have been. :) Thank you about the nails!

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  46. I was in the mood for yellow today and ended up with a bee manicure myself. Mine aren't nearly as pretty as yours though... I just don't know how you do it!

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  47. i wish there was a tutorial on this! love it!

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  48. This is so cool. Awesome work. Came across this looking for pics of bees.

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