Hello chickadees!
I personally find the Emmy's to be one of the most boring awards ceremonies of the lot. The Emmy's doesn't have the amazing performances of the Tony's (though fingers crossed given the return of Neil Patrick Harris as the host) or the prestige and glamour of the Academy Awards. I usually just watch the red carpet and then watch part of the telecast and turn it off sometime in the middle.
But this year I decided to make things a little more interesting for myself by doing a nail art look in tribute to some of my favorite shows. No, there will be no Breaking Bad, Mad Men, Boardwalk Empire, or Game of Thrones themed looks. I always intend to watch shows like that but I'm not paying for HBO or Showtime and my DVR is full of old movies that air on TCM so I mainly watch whatever is available on hulu.
So what shows will I be celebrating? Gossip Girl, Smash, Glee, and Nashville, of course. ;)
I used two brushes to complete all of these looks. I used my regular nail art brush which I picked up at my local art supply store as well as a new brush that I cut into a striper brush for detail work. I used the striper brush for all of the text.
By the way, if you want to know any more about the polishes I used, except for Revlon Vixen, all of the polishes have been reviewed on my blog. You can of course substitute any colors you'd like if you're going for a different look or if you have different but similar colors in your collection.
Of course, I started with a rough sketch of the design. I had planned to also do the Emmy statue but there was no way I was going to fit it on my pinky.
Gossip Girl Nail
This is going to be the easiest look to execute as long as you can manage the writing. You are going to be mimicking the logo of the show with the NYC skyline at night and the name of the show.
Polishes used: Confetti Black Tie, Zoya Trixie, L'Oreal Because You're Worth It, Zoya Purity, Zoya Pippa, Essie Avenue Maintain, Essie Jelly Apple
1. Start by painting a black nail polish over your nail as a base. I used two coats of Confetti Black Tie.
2. Dot a pattern of the city lights at night over your nail. I used the first image that came up when I searched "Gossip Girl logo" in google image search as a reference. You can go in whatever order you want, but I started with white dots using Zoya Purity. I then added yellow dots using Zoya Pippa. I then added some blue dots with Essie Avenue Maintain. And I finished with some red dots using Essie Jelly Apple. You are going to want the yellow and white dots to dominate as the red and blue will be quite bright. If you use too many blue and red dots they will overwhelm the design. Try and keep the design fairly sparse. Remember, you have to write the name of the show over this design and you want a lot of negative space so the letters will pop.
3. Write gossip girl. I used Zoya Trixie for this as it is one of my brightest polishes and it has a lot of sparkle. If you don't have a polish like this you could use a pigmented pastel polish but you'll have to be careful about which color you choose because it could very easily blend into the white dots. Try to use very short strokes when you are writing the letters. Remember, you're using a detail brush, not a pencil. You don't have a lot of control over the brush, especially if you're using a brush with softer bristles. Also remember to elongate the vertical line on the "p" like in the logo. Be sure to turn your nail when you are writing and use the entire surface of your nail. Unlike a piece of paper, your nail is curved. By starting at the edge of your nail, you'll be able to fit all of the letters more easily.
4. If you have space on the nail, you can write in XOXO. I used L'Oreal Because You're Worth It.
5. Seal your design with a quick-drying top coat. I used Seche Vite.
Smash Nail
This is also a fairly easy design, though the lettering is a bit tricky. You will be painting a Tony Award and the title of the show in the trademark red letters with lights.
Polishes Used: OPI Yoga-ta Get This Blue, Zoya Trixie, Essie Jelly Apple, Zoya Purity, Confetti Black Tie
1. Start by painting a dark blue base. I used three coats of OPI Yoga-ta Get This Blue.
2. Paint a small circle on the upper half of your nail. This will represent the medallion in the Tony Award. Remember to leave a tiny bit of room at the top to make the half circle that would allow a real Tony Award to spin on its base.
3. Draw two short lines on either side of the circle. This is the piece that anchors the award to its base.
4. Now draw a "C' shape around your circle. I used my detail brush to get a thin line.
5. Paint the base of the award in black. I used Confetti Black Tie. This part is not very important as the black won't stand out much from the dark blue background. You can look at the award on google image search for reference but you are basically just painting a square on top of a rectangle.
6. Very carefully paint the word "SMASH" using a white polish. You need to start with a white base so the letters will stand out against the dark background. Like with the Gossip Girl look, use short strokes when painting the letters and turn your nail so you are using all of the available space.
7. Now go over the letters you just painted with a red polish. I used Essie Jelly Apple.
8. Finish by dotting very tiny white dots inside the letters of the word SMASH.
9. Seal your design with a quick-drying top coat. I used Seche Vite.
Glee Nail
This look is going to take a bit more artistic ability but don't be too worried! You can practice as many times as you need to on a piece of paper or a plastic nail wheel. If it makes it easier for you, you can also use acrylic paint for this look.
Polishes used: Zoya Pippa, Confetti Black Tie, OPI Samoan Sand, Essie Jelly Apple, Zoya Purity
1. Start by painting a yellow base. I used three coats of Zoya Pippa. For some reason my bottle of Zoya Pippa was full of bubbles on the third coat so even though it's a great bright yellow, you might want to use another polish.
2. Now begin your design by painting the outline of the hand in black. I used Confetti Black Tie. Remember, you don't have to get things perfect. You just want to make an outline for yourself. The most important part of this step is drawing the thumb and pointer finger so the thumb will extend out under the two "e's" and so the pointer finger will be long enough to look like an "L" in the middle of the word "glee".
3. Using a white polish, color in the hand, leaving a black outline around the edge of your design. Remember not to just color in the hand, You want to paint in three ovals for the fingers that are curled into the palm and leave a black outline around then so they don't just blend in with the rest of the hand.
4. Now color in the hand using any flesh tone polish you have. I'm all for diversity so if you have a polish in a darker shade that you would like to use, do it! I don't have any colors that would look natural so used OPI Samoan Sand.
5. Finish by painting the letters "g," "e," and "e" in a red polish. I used Essie Jelly Apple.
6. Seal your design with a quick-drying top coat. I used Seche Vite.
Nashville
Again, this look is a bit more difficult that the first two. It's not the end of the world if you can't paint a perfect guitar or fit all the letters of Nashville on your nail. Worst case scenario you can just use some nail polish remover to take off the polish.
Polishes Needed: OPI French Quarter For Your Thoughts, Zoya Purity, Revlon Vixen, L'Oreal Because You're Worth It, Confetti Black Tie
1. Start by painting a light gray base. I used three coats of OPI French Quarter For Your Thoughts. I know it isn't the prettiest color and you can certainly use something else, but I was trying to mimic the light gray in the Nashville promo pictures.
2. Paint the body of the guitar in white. I used Zoya Purity. Try and keep this part of the design on the lower half of the nail so you can fit in the neck of the guitar. I used this picture of Deacon as a reference for the guitar. http://abc.go.com/shows/nashville/photos/themed/guys-with-guitars/media/guys-with-guitars-001
3. Now paint a dark red color over the white, leaving a thin white outline. I used Revlon Vixen.
4. Now paint the neck of the guitar. I used OPI You Don't Know Jacques because I don't have many brown polishes but you can use whatever brown you have.
5. Add the embellishments. I've already used up all the guitar terminology I know so I basically just tried to copy the photo as best as I could using L'Oreal Because You're Worth It and Zoya Purity.
6. Finish by painting the word NASHVILLE on a diagonal over your nail. I used Confetti Black Tie. Keep the letters very thin so you'll have space for the whole word.
7. Seal your design with a quick-drying top coat. I used Seche Vite.
Whew! I applaud you if you got through all of that. So, are you more excited for the Emmy's now? Are you planning to try any of these looks? Let me know in the comments. Also, feel free to ask me any questions on these looks or suggest future nail art looks.
MORE SWATCHES
I personally find the Emmy's to be one of the most boring awards ceremonies of the lot. The Emmy's doesn't have the amazing performances of the Tony's (though fingers crossed given the return of Neil Patrick Harris as the host) or the prestige and glamour of the Academy Awards. I usually just watch the red carpet and then watch part of the telecast and turn it off sometime in the middle.
But this year I decided to make things a little more interesting for myself by doing a nail art look in tribute to some of my favorite shows. No, there will be no Breaking Bad, Mad Men, Boardwalk Empire, or Game of Thrones themed looks. I always intend to watch shows like that but I'm not paying for HBO or Showtime and my DVR is full of old movies that air on TCM so I mainly watch whatever is available on hulu.
So what shows will I be celebrating? Gossip Girl, Smash, Glee, and Nashville, of course. ;)
I used two brushes to complete all of these looks. I used my regular nail art brush which I picked up at my local art supply store as well as a new brush that I cut into a striper brush for detail work. I used the striper brush for all of the text.
By the way, if you want to know any more about the polishes I used, except for Revlon Vixen, all of the polishes have been reviewed on my blog. You can of course substitute any colors you'd like if you're going for a different look or if you have different but similar colors in your collection.
Of course, I started with a rough sketch of the design. I had planned to also do the Emmy statue but there was no way I was going to fit it on my pinky.
sunlight/afternoon
Polishes used: Confetti Black Tie, Zoya Trixie, L'Oreal Because You're Worth It, Zoya Purity, Zoya Pippa, Essie Avenue Maintain, Essie Jelly Apple
photo tutorial
2. Dot a pattern of the city lights at night over your nail. I used the first image that came up when I searched "Gossip Girl logo" in google image search as a reference. You can go in whatever order you want, but I started with white dots using Zoya Purity. I then added yellow dots using Zoya Pippa. I then added some blue dots with Essie Avenue Maintain. And I finished with some red dots using Essie Jelly Apple. You are going to want the yellow and white dots to dominate as the red and blue will be quite bright. If you use too many blue and red dots they will overwhelm the design. Try and keep the design fairly sparse. Remember, you have to write the name of the show over this design and you want a lot of negative space so the letters will pop.
3. Write gossip girl. I used Zoya Trixie for this as it is one of my brightest polishes and it has a lot of sparkle. If you don't have a polish like this you could use a pigmented pastel polish but you'll have to be careful about which color you choose because it could very easily blend into the white dots. Try to use very short strokes when you are writing the letters. Remember, you're using a detail brush, not a pencil. You don't have a lot of control over the brush, especially if you're using a brush with softer bristles. Also remember to elongate the vertical line on the "p" like in the logo. Be sure to turn your nail when you are writing and use the entire surface of your nail. Unlike a piece of paper, your nail is curved. By starting at the edge of your nail, you'll be able to fit all of the letters more easily.
4. If you have space on the nail, you can write in XOXO. I used L'Oreal Because You're Worth It.
5. Seal your design with a quick-drying top coat. I used Seche Vite.
shade/early morning light
Smash Nail
sunlight/afternoon
This is also a fairly easy design, though the lettering is a bit tricky. You will be painting a Tony Award and the title of the show in the trademark red letters with lights.
Polishes Used: OPI Yoga-ta Get This Blue, Zoya Trixie, Essie Jelly Apple, Zoya Purity, Confetti Black Tie
1. Start by painting a dark blue base. I used three coats of OPI Yoga-ta Get This Blue.
2. Paint a small circle on the upper half of your nail. This will represent the medallion in the Tony Award. Remember to leave a tiny bit of room at the top to make the half circle that would allow a real Tony Award to spin on its base.
3. Draw two short lines on either side of the circle. This is the piece that anchors the award to its base.
4. Now draw a "C' shape around your circle. I used my detail brush to get a thin line.
5. Paint the base of the award in black. I used Confetti Black Tie. This part is not very important as the black won't stand out much from the dark blue background. You can look at the award on google image search for reference but you are basically just painting a square on top of a rectangle.
6. Very carefully paint the word "SMASH" using a white polish. You need to start with a white base so the letters will stand out against the dark background. Like with the Gossip Girl look, use short strokes when painting the letters and turn your nail so you are using all of the available space.
7. Now go over the letters you just painted with a red polish. I used Essie Jelly Apple.
8. Finish by dotting very tiny white dots inside the letters of the word SMASH.
9. Seal your design with a quick-drying top coat. I used Seche Vite.
shade/early morning
sunlight/afternoon
This look is going to take a bit more artistic ability but don't be too worried! You can practice as many times as you need to on a piece of paper or a plastic nail wheel. If it makes it easier for you, you can also use acrylic paint for this look.
Polishes used: Zoya Pippa, Confetti Black Tie, OPI Samoan Sand, Essie Jelly Apple, Zoya Purity
1. Start by painting a yellow base. I used three coats of Zoya Pippa. For some reason my bottle of Zoya Pippa was full of bubbles on the third coat so even though it's a great bright yellow, you might want to use another polish.
2. Now begin your design by painting the outline of the hand in black. I used Confetti Black Tie. Remember, you don't have to get things perfect. You just want to make an outline for yourself. The most important part of this step is drawing the thumb and pointer finger so the thumb will extend out under the two "e's" and so the pointer finger will be long enough to look like an "L" in the middle of the word "glee".
3. Using a white polish, color in the hand, leaving a black outline around the edge of your design. Remember not to just color in the hand, You want to paint in three ovals for the fingers that are curled into the palm and leave a black outline around then so they don't just blend in with the rest of the hand.
4. Now color in the hand using any flesh tone polish you have. I'm all for diversity so if you have a polish in a darker shade that you would like to use, do it! I don't have any colors that would look natural so used OPI Samoan Sand.
5. Finish by painting the letters "g," "e," and "e" in a red polish. I used Essie Jelly Apple.
6. Seal your design with a quick-drying top coat. I used Seche Vite.
shade/early morning
Nashville
sunlight/afternoon
Again, this look is a bit more difficult that the first two. It's not the end of the world if you can't paint a perfect guitar or fit all the letters of Nashville on your nail. Worst case scenario you can just use some nail polish remover to take off the polish.
Polishes Needed: OPI French Quarter For Your Thoughts, Zoya Purity, Revlon Vixen, L'Oreal Because You're Worth It, Confetti Black Tie
1. Start by painting a light gray base. I used three coats of OPI French Quarter For Your Thoughts. I know it isn't the prettiest color and you can certainly use something else, but I was trying to mimic the light gray in the Nashville promo pictures.
2. Paint the body of the guitar in white. I used Zoya Purity. Try and keep this part of the design on the lower half of the nail so you can fit in the neck of the guitar. I used this picture of Deacon as a reference for the guitar. http://abc.go.com/shows/nashville/photos/themed/guys-with-guitars/media/guys-with-guitars-001
3. Now paint a dark red color over the white, leaving a thin white outline. I used Revlon Vixen.
4. Now paint the neck of the guitar. I used OPI You Don't Know Jacques because I don't have many brown polishes but you can use whatever brown you have.
5. Add the embellishments. I've already used up all the guitar terminology I know so I basically just tried to copy the photo as best as I could using L'Oreal Because You're Worth It and Zoya Purity.
6. Finish by painting the word NASHVILLE on a diagonal over your nail. I used Confetti Black Tie. Keep the letters very thin so you'll have space for the whole word.
7. Seal your design with a quick-drying top coat. I used Seche Vite.
shade/early morning
Whew! I applaud you if you got through all of that. So, are you more excited for the Emmy's now? Are you planning to try any of these looks? Let me know in the comments. Also, feel free to ask me any questions on these looks or suggest future nail art looks.
MORE SWATCHES
No comments:
Post a Comment