Black and White Op Art Mani

I recently started school and I thought it would be fun to do something special for the first day. Here is the design I wanted to try:

Op art! It kind of reminds me of one of those Escher poster you see in every dorm room (including mine back in the day). I've wanted to do this one for a while now and it's not as hard as it looks! If you look closely, basically every nail is painted in three sections. To get started, I did one coat of base coat and then taped off the first sections:

Next, I painted them either white or black:

I then added the stripes, pulled off the tape, then taped off the second sections:

Again, I painted a white base and then added stripes. For the second section, you have to be careful not to paint over the first section too much, as the tape only protects the tips of the nails, not the part that has already been painted.

Peel off the tape:

No need to tape off the third section, just be careful not to paint over the second sections:

Add stripes:

This is what is looks like after some clean-up:

I don't have any pyramid studs so I finished it off with clear and black square rhinestones instead. They're unnecessary though, I think I'll skip them next time. Add some top coat and you're done! Here's the finished product:

I used American Apparel Hassid for the big black sections and MAC Vestral White and Sinful Colors Time Off (their black striper polish) for the stripes. I wouldn't recommend either of these. If you can, choose a one-coat white (I've heard Sally Hansen Whirlwind White from the Insta-Dri line is good) and my own striper brush. I found that the one that came with the Sinful Colors polish was really messy. The polish itself was also a bit thick, it might have been easier to use acrylic paint instead. I know better for the next time I do it but I still think it's pretty cool!