Nail Art: Techniques, Trends, and Design

Since ancient times, women decorate their nails. Already in Ancient Egypt, the technique of extracting vegetable dyes for coloring them in various colors was well known. Fortunately, today there are many art painting techniques that each time create a unique nail design.

Drawing on the nail plate is one way to express your feelings and share them with others. Bright color patterns slightly diversify the image. Masterpieces on nails are a variety of techniques using tools such as needles, toothpicks, brushes, they are easy to learn and accessible to every modern lady.

They are painted on nail plates with simple watercolors, gels, varnishes, and acrylic paint. Masters of their craft are able to create complex three-dimensional or convex ornaments, to depict entire paintings, portraits on a small surface.

There are several basic tools that are necessary for nail art:

• needle;
• toothpick;
• dots;
• sponge;
• brushes.

The needle can be used to create a simple and straightforward design. Masters advise to work carefully, as with such a tool you can easily scratch the surface of the nail, thereby damaging it. From a safety point of view, a toothpick looks more attractive, but the wood quickly soaks and becomes unusable.

Dots are ideal for creating ornaments and similar patterns - a tool that in its appearance is very similar to a ballpoint pen.At the tip is a special metal ball, thanks to which at a certain angle you can create lines of various thicknesses. Dots of various diameters are on sale, it is easiest to buy a set right away. To learn how to use such a tool correctly, it will take a lot of time.

Sponge allows you to create smooth transitions and fascinating patterns. It can be bought ready-made, in the desired shape, or you can just cut the tool yourself the right size.

Real professionals use brushes. Flat ones are used to work with glitter or to perform oriental painting. Those with a beveled edge allow you to draw small elements. Fan-shaped designs help you quickly create a smooth transition between multiple colors. There is also a tool with a short and thin pile, which is prescribed hieroglyphs.

The technique of painting with a brush requires experience and skills from a person. For self-study, you can purchase special stencils. In the arsenal of a professional nail master, there are always several tools that differ in length and width. These are not ordinary soft brushes, which are often used for watercolor painting, but hard and dense, perfectly keeping their shape.

One of the most convenient is considered to be a thin liner, which is easiest to draw borders, create straight lines, neat shapes. An elongated brush allows you to simplify the process of creating a clear picture in a small area. You can draw small elements well, turning a simple pattern into an exquisite composition. The liner is easy to perform geometric shapes and create abstract designs.

After the wide brush was used, with the help of which it is easiest to create abstract or floral compositions, a thin instrument is enough to even out the edges and add aesthetics to the picture.

An ideal brush for painting helps to create not only an elegant design, but also emphasize some minor elements on the nails without fear of damaging the created ornament. The brush, which tapers towards the end, has a thickness of only 1.3 mm, which allows you to apply the smallest pattern. Neat lines and graceful contours help create a light and unobtrusive manicure.

If the master observes the rules according to which the painting is applied, such a work of art will delight a woman for a long time. Do not forget to use the base and topcoat to create the design. They will increase the life of the manicure, making it resistant to moisture and other negative factors.

Of the shortcomings of the brushes can be noted the presence of experience. Of course, most women want their nails to be decorated with incredible figures, but this is not so simple. To begin with, nail service experts advise you to master simple compositions and drawings, including points, circles, twigs, geometric shapes. Improve your skills so that the composition can be traced clear edges, straight lines and neat contours. Only after this can one begin to master more complex paintings, images. Patience and time are spent, but the result is excellent composition, despite the fact that the area of ​​the nail plate is limited.

There are other tools through which you can make an amazing design. The main thing is to observe the proportions, make sure that the pattern on the surface of the nail plate is combined with the chosen style and is in harmony with the image of the owner. They give preference to the shade of nail painting, which suits the girl as well as possible and corresponds to her individual preferences, not forgetting the importance of combining different colors and shades in manicure.

A nail brush of this form is indispensable when drawing smile lines during a French or moon manicure.

There are dozens of courses that promise to teach you how to create beautiful painting on nail plates, numerous videos are posted on the Web, but it is impossible to learn how to professionally create complex compositions without constant practice. At the beginning of training, nail art masters are recommended to devote two to three hours to this every day so that the hand gets used to hold the instrument correctly.

If a woman only comprehends this science and just wants to learn how to create pictures on her own nails, and not delve into all the complexities of nail art, it will be quite enough to study the technique of painting with dry varnishes. This method is based on the use of colored coatings, which could contrast well with each other. Through mixing get fancy flower arrangements. You can use snow motifs, drops.

A similar drawing technique does not imply drawings. The main tool is a simple needle or a toothpick, but it is not so convenient to work with it, since the edge of a wooden product quickly thickens.

To work with the needle, first the main (base) layer is applied, it is not allowed to dry, the next layer is applied - a varnish of contrasting color to create dots that then quickly connect the needle into a pattern. It is important to work quickly here: if the varnish dries before they begin to make the pattern, the picture will seem sloppy.

Several options for working with this technique.

• As a basis, pearl or white varnish is used, in the center - red or pink. Cover the nail with the main color, then put a large drop of the second varnish in the center of the nail and place a small spot inside this drop with the main varnish. On three sides draw lines with a needle, starting from the outer edges of the nail. The latter begins with a white dot and quickly draw a circle to mix varnishes. It should make a flower resembling a rose.
• You can apply the main varnish, then three drops of a different color. From the bottom up they quickly connect them, leading the needle to the very edge of the nail. The result is an elegant twig.

Manicurists know tricks that help make a stylish nail design. Most girls are not artists compared to them, which means that they encounter difficulties in creating beautiful and attractive nails. Bright roses and unusual ideas are not available to everyone, because they may lack experience, tools at hand or just imagination.

Recently, a sakura with a twig or just its flowers looks perfect on the nails. To create such a picture, it is best to use acrylic paints, since they allow you to create the necessary color transition.

Japanese cherries can be additionally decorated with diamonds, drawn with foliage or highlight only inflorescences. The main assistants will be brushes. Thin will allow you to clearly outline the boundaries, the rest - mix the palette of colors.

Flowers and overall floral design allow you to create not only a romantic image. This design is also suitable for casual wear. The most popular are bright and saturated poppies, delicate, clear sky colors cornflowers, snowdrops and roses. As a base coat for such patterns, not only light colors, but also black, dark purple are suitable.

You can create an amazing design for Valentine's Day with varnishes, gels or acrylics. Girls on this holiday love to decorate their nails with lips, hearts and other patterns, in which red always prevails.A combination of any tones of red with white, gold or black will look great, since they are contrasting with respect to each other.

Interesting options relate to animal subjects. Recently, more and more often you can find images of a cat, fox or panda on the nails of young and ambitious girls on nails. With this pattern, a playful image is created.

If a woman is tired of looking usually and she wants to emphasize her own charm, passionate nature, then lace is the perfect decoration for nails. You can draw it, but then you need a thin brush, which is worth learning to work with. Despite the fact that the process takes a lot of time, the result is amazing. It is best to draw a pattern with black acrylic paint, since it can be erased if something happens.

All interesting birthday designs are decorated with bright colors that emphasize the solemnity of this day. A popular design with balloons. Draw them with brushes and acrylic, so it turns out quite neat and blurry drawing.

The simplest version of manicure for beginners in stages looks as follows.

• The first step is simple - you need to look at the nails and hands. If there is an old varnish - it will need to be removed, if the shape is uneven - filed, remove the cuticle around the nails. All these small flaws can lead to a sense of untidiness, even if a real work of art flaunts on the nail plate.
• After the standard procedure, they start applying varnish. Protect the surface of the nail plate with a primer. Any transparent coating will work perfectly as a base layer. He is allowed to dry before the next step.
• Now take a bright green tone and stain your nails twice with it. Drawing two layers will provide saturated color. Let it dry.
• They draw a heart, for this you will need a thin brush and black opaque varnish. Make four points in the center of the nail, then connect them with thin liners to create a heart shape. Fill the shape with color and allow to dry.
• Wrap the pattern with white nail polish.
• After the composition is completely dry, fix it with a thick finish layer of a transparent coating.

You can create a floral design step by step using dots in violet colors, but every woman has the right to choose a palette on her own. To complete the picture you will need:

• covering three different shades: yellow and two different shades of purple;
• regular sewing needle or simple toothpick;
• finish fixing coating;
• dots.

Before you start creating a drawing, experts advise you to first make a schematic image on paper in order to clearly represent each subsequent step. Subsequent actions are as follows.

• They cover the nail plate with a purple background, and on each finger it will be necessary to finish the design first before proceeding with the other, since the coating should not dry.
• A light tone of varnish is dripped just below the middle of the nail plate.
• Until it dries, they take dots and create straight lines, moving from the edge of the delivered drop through the center and further. Try to keep the distance between the lines approximately the same. After each line, wipe the tool, otherwise the image will turn out to be careless.
• The following steps do not require the use of dots. Make rounded stripes of dots coming from the flower.
• After the drawing has dried, apply the finish coating.

To create one of its options you will need:

• 2 contrasting nail polishes;
• fine tool: toothpick or needle.

Walkthrough

1. Start with one base coat on each nail. Wait a few minutes until it dries.
2. Apply the second layer, wait until it dries a little, or immediately go to step 3. If you wait for drying, the result will be more accurate.
3. Apply a contrasting color only to the tips of the nails. In appearance, a careless French manicure should turn out. Then they take a toothpick or needle and put together the drops in any direction to create an abstract design.
4. Dip the varnish onto the foil and dip a toothpick to dot the base of the nail.
5. After everything has dried, cover the nails with a layer of colorless varnish.

Modern manicurists suggest painting on nails not only with acrylic, but also with varnishes, since this is a completely different technique that allows you to create amazing paintings. If we talk about fashion trends, then the drawings never go by the wayside, they only change shape, color palette. Every year there are attractive new items, original ideas that begin to live a new life.

Floral themes will never go out of fashion, this is a whole galaxy that offers an amazing array of options for how to decorate your own image. In most cases, rhinestones or sparkles are used additionally, since they are ideally combined with a romantic bow.

The latest fashion trend has become transparent acrylic nails with contrasting colors and a slight spraying on the edge of the nail plate. Such a design looks neat, gentle and not very striking. It is also distinguished by its versatility, since it is suitable both for the business sphere and for everyday life, for which the fair sex loved him.

Berries and fruits in this area have occupied a special place. They organically came into fashion, along with bright saturated shades. Strawberries, slices of orange, lime and other prints decorate nails in the summer and cheer up in the winter. You can draw strawberries or bananas on palm trees. Such a design can distinguish a woman from the crowd.

Another unusual option is the characters of your favorite cartoons.

Sweets and sweets are another topic that is only in fashion, but girls are already striving to learn how to draw such drawings as realistic as possible. With all this, there is no need to build up large nails in order to enjoy the variety of the proposed drawings, just select the right element and you can enjoy the usual convenience.

Where without stripes in the new season! According to professional designers, this trend is able to live for a long time, since the topic has not been completely exhausted and there are new options for how and in what form bands can be arranged. With the right choice of geometry, you can visually lengthen short nails or shorten too long. Abstraction in this case also keeps up to date and often looks organically next to the lines.

The butterfly wing design, which is easily drawn with a toothpick and two colors of varnish, is just coming into fashion. The image is applied by points, which subsequently simply connect with each other. You can master such a technique yourself, thereby diversifying your own image without involving a specialist.

Like lines, peas also retain their position and do not want to leave the world of fashion. It is distributed along the nail plate in a line, evenly over the entire surface, drawn large and small. It became especially fashionable to combine peas of different colors and sizes.

If the collection has several consecutive shades of the same color, then you can create a feeling of a window on the nail into the unknown world. First, the square of the darkest tone is drawn along the edge of the entire nail plate, after it is lighter, then even lighter.The center is filled with the lightest shade.

Be sure to pay attention to the modern technique of drawing a parrot coloring on the nails. Despite the complexity of the design, creating it is very simple. Slightly closer to the cuticle, drops of the desired color are placed across the entire width of the nail and are pulled down with a toothpick. A little lower on the received rays they also use the second color and again stretch down. The technique is repeated to the very edge. It creates a visual sensation that on the nail plate there are several feathers that enter one into the other.

Due to the fact that the urban theme is increasingly penetrating our lives, it also touched on nail design. Now it has become very popular to reproduce high-rise buildings in design.

To have beautiful and original designed nails, you don’t need a professional, if this, of course, is not a super complicated option. It is enough to choose a suitable design and learn the technique of drawing a picture yourself.

It is worth paying tribute to the great Hollywood stars who have blinded us for many years on the red carpet, showing beautiful examples of what can be done with nails. It was from there that the fashion for rhinestones, sparkles and other bright decorative elements came to us.

If we talk about images, then depending on the selected tones, you can create a feeling of romantic nature or a womanaccustomed to achieve their goals no matter what. The red-black version cannot fail to attract attention from the opposite sex, since it is provocative and alluring. No matter which design is chosen, whether it be bright poppies or just an abstraction, you can use gold to add solemnity. Looks great on red black lace with rhinestones and foil.

When a girl is going to build up acrylic nails, use gel, shellac or any other technique, it is worth choosing the right design that will correspond not only to the general style, but also to the situation. If most of the time you have to spend in the office, meet with clients, partners, then pretentiousness and chic will be superfluous. In this case, a classic French or moonlight manicure is suitable without the use of bright colors with a small pattern made with a thin brush and black acrylic paint. It can be an ornament, a piece of lace or something to the taste of a woman.

You can give glossy black nails a unique look by adding silver dust or some details. Like the combination of red and gold, black and silver is always a win-win option, regardless of whether it is a floral theme, feather or lace. The main background can be either black or silver. A lunar manicure with a black crescent moon looks very neat, you can also make French in the same color by adding a few delicate lines to the junction line of the two shades.

“Naked” or transparent coatings - a design that is suitable for any style, shape, whether short, pancake, almond, square, oval or any nails. Here, a simple and easy design can perfectly combine with a golden gradient, purple, lilac and any other to the taste of the girl.

If you want something unusual, why not take a print from the wild and make it more interesting, showing your own imagination? This applies to leopard coloring, zebra skin, peacock feathers. Experts advise in the latter case to use glitter-based varnishes or nails, then the pattern turns out with overflows and looks especially good.

Looks good chevron style and gradient with brilliance. The result of this combination is an unusual design. In summer and spring, you should definitely use bright shades of lemon yellow and green, as they evoke a wonderful mood. Specialists are always praised for the perfect matching of colors that are present in the rainbow. Violet, blue, cyan, green, yellow, orange and red are also used in rainbow designs. It is best to draw this element with acrylic paint, because then the lines are clear.

Nothing looks so cute and charming like Hello Kitty on the nails, although it is suitable for teenagers to have such a design, since they do not have to attend official meetings and business meetings. The main color in this design is pale pink.

Be sure to take a closer look at the ombre technique, when you can complement your manicure with a splash of shine and black ornament. Specialty stores have training stencils for this.

When spring comes, you can use more attractive motifs, light colors. For example, no matter how simple the ordinary points on the nail plate may look, they can be supplemented with small lines, thereby creating a simple drawing. Such a design blends well with French manicure, when only the junction line between two colors is formed. Thus, the design becomes more original, and a clear contrast is hidden under the painting.

If the girl is minimalist and loves subtle designs, solid color as the basis, then a simple nail design that does not have a load on the details would be an ideal option. In this case, you can simply draw a small ladybug on one of the nails, for example, anonymous.

When trying to avoid boring ideas, it is worth paying attention to just the main emphasis, that is, the image, the brightness of the colors used. Recently, aquarium equipment has been in great demand. Nail service professionals have learned how to create real works of art on a small area of ​​the nail plate. With a thin brush, plants and inhabitants of the deep sea are drawn, and everything from above is covered with a thick layer of gel.

For those who are not looking for easy ways, it's time to use the services of a professional and put your own or someone else's portrait on the nail. This is very unusual, but requires skill, so finding such a master will not be easy.

On occasion, it is always worth demonstrating your own personality. You can not be afraid of brilliance and bright colors. A simple sponge will come to the rescue here, which will help to create a smooth transition of one color to another. Such a gradient is usually supplemented by various drawings on the subject. The flower arrangement looks very good, where rose petals can be emphasized along the edge with a small amount of brilliance.

In specialized stores there is not only sand for manicure, sparkles, but also large rhinestones, Swarovski crystals. If they are correctly selected and distributed over the nail, moving the structure to one edge, then it will be possible to draw small lines with curls between them and get an unusual ornament.

Returning to the question of using peas on nails, it is worth using the summer version of the design, when the main tool and assistant will be dots with different ball diameters. The nail plate is completely covered with black varnish, because bright shades look best on it. Until it is dry, large drops of bright yellow color are applied in the center from top to bottom. On both edges, they put dots of smaller diameter peas of other bright colors, most importantly - also in line.

If a girl is a constant romantic, then you should plunge into the theme of love and decorate your nails with hearts of different sizes. The background can be white, gold or black, here as you like.Each element is drawn individually with a thin brush, and then painted over with acrylic paint.

We must not forget about creating a spectrum on the nail plate. This is not quite a rainbow, but it also looks very original. For this effect, acrylic paints and varnishes are used, which are combined on a piece of foil, and then applied with a sponge. There is no need to choose a special color of nails, when with this technique you can use them all in one design. However, maintaining harmony is not so simple, it is important to ultimately create a complex, but neat image.

What can complement a perfect summer tan better than soft pastel colors? Women are advised to choose light shades so that they can contrast with bronze skin. If it seems that it is too simple, but do not want to overload the design, then you can draw peacock feathers on black fingers with black paint.

A sophisticated twist to French design - black manicure with shiny glossy tips on a matte background. Such simple elegance is all that is needed to decorate oneself, but not attract a lot of attention. You can make small ornaments along the edge from one of the corners using silver or white.

You can show childlike spontaneity and use well-designed gift boxes as a picture, by the New Year, put an image of a Christmas tree, snowflakes, bells or tinsel. The latter looks especially impressive if you use the volume, luster and technique of wicker design. In the presence of a rich imagination, Christmas toys, well drawn with shiny acrylic paint, will become a real decoration for the holiday.

If the anniversary is ahead, then the cake, candles, confetti or maybe even numbers will be more suitable as a drawing. The advantage of a thin brush when decorating nails in this design is difficult to overestimate, since it helps not only clearly draw small elements, but also outline their borders with a black tone.

The sun, palm trees and sunset are those images that remind us of the days of the long-awaited vacation. Each of them can be applied to nails, thereby creating a special mood of lightness and relaxation. And again, paints and brushes become the main assistants, the artist’s skill is used, which can use both simpler silhouettes and create a whole picture.

Geometric shapes can be woven on one nail or used on different. It has become very popular to use several different color coatings. Looks very good burgundy, white and black. The thumb and middle finger are covered with a burgundy shade, the index and little fingers are covered with black varnish, and the ring finger is covered with white. On the smallest nail plate, two small horizontal lines are drawn with white acrylic paint, shifting them to the left, and semicircles are placed on them, which should be perpendicular.

On the ring finger they draw even rhombuses, placing them on the right side at a distance from each other. Rhinestones are applied to the middle nail, setting them in a straight line.

Most women love black nail polish because it is refined and elegant. It can be glossy and matte, so why not combine both in the chosen design with a matte base and an emphasis on glossy tips? You can apply varnish to the edges with a brush, along the border to make a picture using silver paint. It may just be a fun combination of lines.

If Halloween is ahead, you can complement the image with an interesting nail design, especially since it is very easy to do, with paints and brushes on hand.The vampire theme is always dominated by red, but it goes out of fashion, it would be much more interesting to make pumpkin drawings, with different faces or ghosts. In the end, the dark wine shade and piercing scary skull pattern look great. With this design, you can become the leader of such a party.

A fabulous nail design is not a problem for beginners. It is enough to collect the necessary palette at hand, take the needle and train your hand so that the lines are confident. After applying a general tone, which can be any one you like, add white dots over the entire surface of the nails. Finally, to transform them, they connect the lines together, and the joints are drawn in a different color. So you can create the effect of marble, leopard coloring.

You can play with zigzag lines or make them straight, but distribute them unevenly across the nail, creating separate zones that are painted with suitable colors. This abstraction allows you to achieve the desired visual increase in the length of the nail plate or, conversely, shortening. Turquoise and white squares look good next to each other. The lines between them can be painted over with metallic.

It is not necessary to use peas in their own style, they can be easily converted into circles. The advantage of this design is that it takes a minimum of time to create a unique image and the girl does not need to master special skills. For work, you need dots. It is necessary to work with each nail separately, since it is impossible for the main layer to dry, otherwise the effect we are aiming for will not work out.

As for the basic coverage, in this case, the woman is not limited in her imagination. The main thing is to remember that the colors of the varnish should be in harmony with each other and it will be varnishes that are used for drawing, and not paints that do not have the necessary texture.

If a light shade is chosen as the main layer, then the circles should be bright and clear. Black, white and all contrasting shades look good. First, a base layer is applied, then several small or large drops are placed on the surface, on top of them is a drop of the base shade. It is worth considering that the varnish spreads, so it is worth observing the distance between them. If you make the first drop black, and then drop another bright shade into the middle, the result is beautiful circles with a black border. You can use several colors in one circle, then a completely different effect will be obtained.

When used as a basic dark shade, the technology does not change, however, it will be necessary to apply it in several layers, the first one having to dry. This is the only way to avoid gaps that can ruin the design. In general, masters advise polishing the nail plate well to avoid uneven application of varnish.

The theme of using white and black will never run out. Some designers still really like the chessboard. To make it simple, it is enough to apply a white or black tone as the base layer, then paint the nail with acrylic paint and a thin brush, but you can not completely paint the surface, but use the element only on the side in combination with other patterns.

Playing with black and white nail polishes is easy. You can ultimately personalize the simplest design, which after processing will correspond to the style chosen by the girl and her personality.

It has become very popular to copy and reproduce in the design the coloring of natural materials, including marble, wood. After mastering a simple technique, you can create the feeling that a layer of natural stone lies on the nails. Especially unobtrusive, but at the same time, white marble with gray lines looks original. You can combine shades of black, white and gold on nails.

A cage is another print that never goes unnoticed. Women prefer to “put on” nails in this pattern both in everyday life and to complement a special image. It can be vertical and horizontal white, blue, red and any other lines that create fancy squares. The design looks good both in glossy and matte finish.

Next, see 27 simple life hacks to create a beautiful manicure.