Perry the Nail Polish-apus

I’ve been wanting to do this for a while, and finally managed to pull it off… just in time for the birthday of the woman who gave me the idea! I was also inspired by this image on Spektor’s Nails, which was sent to me by another friend.

I present to you, Perry the Nail Polish-apus. I painted them myself, using L’Oreal’s “not a cloud in sight” for the background color. For the thumb nail, I did the ever iconic Perry face you’ve seen everywhere.

For the middle fingers, I did Perry as he appears when he’s a regular ol’ house pet.

And, since everyone asked to see my right hand… you should know that I didn’t even attempt to do this while painting with my left. (Well, after the test run where I determined it wasn’t going to be a good idea.)

Below are the pix of the test run, done with my dominant hand.

Lessons learned:

1. Even teeny, tiny paintbrushes sometimes leave thicker lines than anticipated.
2. It seems a lot easier to paint a simple design than it is, because you cant quite detach your hand from your wrist to put it at the angle you’d like.
3. When you take close up pictures of your hands, everyone will see your cuticles.
4. It’s really hard to take close up pictures of your own hand.

Shades of Perry

Here are two more 8″x10″ acrylic paintings of Perry. The first was a thank-you gift for a coworker, and it’s Perry as his number one fan. This painting was unique in that it’s one of the few where the design wraps around the edges of the painting as well. (As opposed to a solid colored background.) Unfortunately, those pictures were blurry, so I’ll have to sneak into his office to take more. Yes, it’s hanging in his office!

The second is Perry the Practicepus, a gift for another coworker who is endlessly entertained by Dr. Doofenshmirtz having a practice dummy of Perry made from a painted log, tennis racket and tennis balls, rubber gloves, twigs, and an orange cone tied around its head with a piece of string. This, too, is hanging up in the office. Makes me proud

Perry and Meap

I’ve actually done a bit of painting lately, and it seems I found my newest inspiration in the Disney Channel show Phineas & Ferb. It’s a great cartoon, if you’re into wacky adventures, awesome musical numbers, and humor that’s silly for kids but with enough layers for an adult to enjoy as well. I am, on all counts.

Recently, I made these paintings for my cubicle. The first is of Perry, the boys’ pet platypus, after he’s been dressed up by the boys (Phineas and Ferb) to be in their Cirque (circus) act. Perry is also leading a double life as a secret agent, and the boys don’t know about it. He’s been painted in acrylic on an 8×10″ canvas.

The second photo is of the boys’ alien friend Meap. Meap is an intergalactic security agent, and his mustache is actually a translator to help him speak different languages. Without it, he merely says, “meap.” He is precious, barfs rainbows of death, and is also painted with acrylics on an 8×10″ canvas.

And here are the two paintings together, as they hang in my cubicle.

If you aren’t familiar with this show, you should definitely check it out. It’s one of the most popular children’s shows on Disney Channel, if not across networks. It’s not so juvenile that adults can’t enjoy it and, quite frankly, grown-ups will laugh just as hard at the incorporated references and throwbacks between episodes. A friend turned me onto it, and I’ve become somewhat of a fanatic in the past couple of months. I anticipate many more paintings of these fun characters. (At the moment, they’ve even replaced Stitch as my muse… Never thought I’d see the day!)

What characters do you find inspiring?