Art deco inspired teal and gold arches

Nail It! magazine was looking for submissions inspired by the art deco movement for their upcoming fall edition. This mani is the second of two designs I submitted, the other one was a more linear interpretation of art deco, but I was meh about how the colouring translated on my camera (still on a learning curve with the new DSL-R). This mani, however, I like a lot more because of how the photos turned out, but also because it's not the typical interpretation of art deco. I went with a free-hand design in attempt to illustrate the iconic arches of the period rather than bold straight lines which is more often seen.

Credt: The Stencil Library

Here's a pic that very roughly inspired me for this art deco design:

Evidentally the colour scheme was inspired by a beaded necklace that I'd made myself a few years back while in undergrad. I just love the combination of teal and gold. Glamourous!

To do this mani I first painted all my nails with a coat of teal creme (the Quo by Orly one, pictured below). I added one coat of the China Glaze teal-ish shimmer to make it sparkle a little. I then freehanded some black arches mermaid-scale style using black acrylic paint. Next I underlined each arch with an orange-toned shimmery gold polish, and then added one or two lines within each arch to create more of a window effect with acrylic paint.

Polishes used:
- OPI 'OY another polish joke' (orange-toned golden shimmer)
- China Glaze 'Watermelon rind' (cool green/turquoise shimmer)
- Quo by Orly 'Mesmerizing waterfall' (turquoise creme)