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:)

Cherry Blossom Nails & Operation Nail It's Recent Giveaway

Checking the mail was extra fun today because I learned the day after Christmas that I was one of Operation Nail It's winners for her recent giveaway!  Take a look at what I scored:)

Nicel, it was my pleasure, girl!  And thank you for some excellent prizes.

With the arrival of the e.l.f. polishes, I admit I kept eyeing the Metallic Blue.  The other colors are Metallic Orange and Metallic Magenta.  So, I cleaned off my Pink Lace French Tip nails and prepped them with some Julep Nail Therapy and polished my nails with two coats of Metallic Blue.

Have I mentioned that, second only to glitter polish, blue polish is one of my few addictions?  I think I have more blue and teal polishes than any other color!  This color turned out so vibrant that I decided to try out some cherry blossom branches to to showcase the blue base color.

So with these nails after painted a near perfect swatch with the Metallic Blue, I first took a small nail art brush and drew in branches starting at random points on my nails with Gold Coin.  I then used a dotting tool to place small center dots in Snow Me White as a center point for the blossoms.  Next, I applied petals to each dot using a small nail art brush dipped in Snow Me White again.  I used a dotting tool again to place a small center of dark pink in the center of each blossom with Metallic Magenta.  Last, I used Julep's Fast Drying Top Coat to set the polish and protect the nail art. 

In order to see how far I've come in my nail art the past several months, I have to post my first attempt at Cherry Blossom nails.  Talk about a fail!

I think I did these with a toothpick and they look more like something from a horror film, instead of cherry blossoms.   A small nail art brush and practice has made a world of difference!