Pandapple Nail Art
I was never a big fan of Hello Kitty, but I do like a few of Sanrio’s other creations such as Pandapple. He’s like a half-fruit, half-animal abomination of nature or something. I love him. :)
This isn’t just a tutorial about Pandapple. This is also a post about stamping, or using stamps to create nail art on your nails. You can freehand if you like, but having a guideline or outline to work with can make the process much easier.
You can use this post to freehand your own Pandapple, or you can see how stamping works and create something using any rubber stamps you have.
Here is my Pandapple stamp. I bought it at the Sanrio store and I’ll be using it to give myself a light guideline. Pandapple is a very simple character though, so if you’re confident with a brush you can freehand this character or Hello Kitty, as she is very similar. If you want to make a regular panda just replace the red apple top with white.
Paint your full nail with any color of nail polish. I think light blues look nice with Pandapple. I’m using China Glaze’s “For Audrey.” This is two coats.
Do not continue until your nail is about 90% dry. I waited about 15 minutes before moving on to the next step.
(Waiting for nail polish to dry is boring, so I always watch a movie or a show while I do my manicures. Pause the show while you paint and watch while it dries. You’ll be much less likely to smudge your polish from continuing on too soon if you have something to do that doesn’t involve your hands.)
After your nail polish is about 90% dry, (do not try this on a freshly painted nail, it will be a squishy mess) roll your stamp against your nail. This will work with any stamp, just push against your nail to create a light imprint. What we’re left with is a very faint partial outline. It’s not exactly coloring-book-easy to fill in, but it will definitely help keep things in proportion.
Using regular white acrylic paint and a small rounded paintbrush, outline the lower half of Pandapple’s face.
Then fill it in. I avoided the eye area, to make it easier to see where they will be placed later. Again, you can freehand this, I just find the guideline very helpful.
Always rinse out your paintbrush in between colors or when the paint becomes gloppy on the brush.
Using the same paintbrush, pick up some red acrylic paint and fill in the upper half of the circle that is Pandapple’s bizzare head.
Again, same paintbrush. I just rinsed it out. Dip into some green acrylic paint to create an almond-shaped leaf.
Now comes the most difficult part: outlining with black. For outlining anything you need a paintbrush that comes to a very sharp point, like pictured. Any decent rounded paintbrush should do this. If you lightly dip into your black paint and your bristles don’t taper to a point, your brush is horrible. (Pictured is a size one paintbrush.)
Pick up a small amount of black paint. We’re going to “draw” with our paintbrush, just like it’s a pen.
No matter the manicure design, it’s always easier to have a visual reference. When I did the Pink Leopard Tips tutorial I looked up pictures of leopards to see examples of spots, and when I did the Candy Corn Nails post I bought real candy corn. Your mind thinks it knows what something looks like, but it makes a huge difference to visually see it. What you draw when thinking “sailboat” and what you draw when looking at a sailboat are worlds apart. :)
It takes two seconds to do a Google-search. I’m using the sticker on top of my Pandapple stamp as my reference.
Fill in the gaps we previously left for Pandapple’s eyes, leaving small white pupils. If you accidentally fill in the pupils while drawing your black circles, it’s okay! That’s what’s so great about acrylic paint. Wait for the black to dry and you can dot your white acrylic paint right over it. The same goes for if you accidentally make the black eyes too large. Just wait for it to dry and use your white acrylic paint like “Wite-Out.”
Add a little nose and a smile.
Drag out a line between your white and red.
Outline and add ears.
Add a clear topcoat to protect your nail art and add shine. You can never skip this step because acrylic paint is water soluable.
There he is! A creepy Pandapple friend for your thumb or big toe. :)







































