Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Koi Nails inspired by Natasha Wescoat

Let me preface this post by pointing out that I have done nails inspired by Natasha Wescoat before.   I really loved her "Gold Coast" painting and did some very similar nails.   Natasha recently posted a picture called "Koi and Cherry Blossoms" on her Facebook page and I am in love.   Unfortunately, we are about to move and need all the money and less things we can get so no paintings for me:(  Still, I had to tackle this nail art and sometimes, I feel like a freakin' Van Gogh with all my art imitatin'.  

*Side note:  Natasha was the first person to see these nails because I messaged her a picture and she responded "Omg that's awesome!!! Thank you for sharing that!"  so I think I have her blessing!*

Incidentally, I believe the Koi painting is still available for purchase on Etsy here.

So here is Natasha's gorgeous painting:


And here is my attempt at flattery in its sincerest form:


I started with  Orly's Nail Armor and then applied one coat of Sinful Colors Snow Me White.   Next I applied a gradient using Milani 3D Holographics Cyberspace and Hi-Res.  It was a little more subtle than I planned but as you can see it worked out great!   Next I used a ton of oranges, pinks, reds, peaches, WnW Black Creme and Sinful Colors Snow Me White to free-hand on the koi and the cherry blossom details.   Yes, it took a while and I watched about four episodes of X-files before finishing this manicure but it was so worth it!   I topped all nails off with one coat of essence colour and go space queen which is an iridescent glitter.   I finished this manicure with a coat of Seche Vite and went to bed! (but not before posting pics in some of my FB polish groups like a fiend!)





 

I think these turned out wonderful with a little bit of work and patience and a tiny nail art brush:)    If you can't tell, I am trying to get back into nail art because I did get a little swatch happy there for a while.  I still have 100s of unswatched nail polish but nail art is where I started and while I've gone on to buy loads of gorgeous indie and non-indie polishes and have delved into frankening and polish mixing, I think nail art should always be on my blog.   I love all things nail polish and that's not going to change:)

2 comments:

  1. Well done! You really captured the movement of the koi!

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  2. This is quite gorgeous! Love the gradient, love the koi, and it all looks so nice together

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