Adventures in Polishland

Happy Monday! Today I am extremely excited to share with you two amazing nail art looks created by the one and only Valerie Star! I first met Val at the Caravan Summertime Lounge Event (more info on that HERE). She told me about the intricate nail art designs she does, and how she loves to bring art back to nail art. As you all may know, I struggle with nail art! I don’t have a steady hand, so I stick to basic designs. That’s always fun, but when I had the opportunity to let Valerie turn my fingernails into art canvases, I jumped at the opportunity! We decided to put together two nail art looks that would satisfy any art critic! All of the polishes used in this post are from Zoya, but you can use any polishes you have in your collection. Now, onto the art!

Piet Mondrian Nails

We began with a nail art look inspired by Dutch painter Piet Mondrian, who is known for his piece Composition II in Red, Blue and Yellow (see the original HERE). Not only is this a well-known painting, but it’s one that is easily recreated on the nails with a bit of patience.

Step 1: Paint your nails with a white nail polish and let dry. Any white will do, here we are using Zoya Snow White.

Step 2: Use a black nail polish to stencil out some rectangles on your nails. A nail art brush with a fine tip comes in handy here. There is also no set formula for the rectangles, but have fun mixing up the pattern! We are using Zoya Raven as our black polish.

Step 3: Fill in the black rectangles using a red, blue, and yellow polish. Mondrian uses the three primary colors in his work. You can choose to stick with his original color scheme, or make it your own. For example, we used a pink instead of a red. The polishes used are Zoya Layla, Robyn, and Pippa.

Step 4: Go over your black outline again to sharpen the lines. Once your manicure is completely dry, add a top coat!

I’m completely obsessed with this Piet Mondrian manicure! I think it looks amazing, and definitely represents a well-known piece of art! We stayed true to Mondrian’s original piece, but you can use this same tutorial to create something more suited to your own personal style.

Pop Art Nails

For those who love more modern and funky designs, we also created a pop art manicure styled after the era of Andy Warhol. This look is a bit more difficult to recreate, but if you have patience and a steady hand you can definitely put together this nail art design!

Step 1: Paint your nails a light blue base. We are using Zoya Robyn.

Step 2: Use a foam wedge and a dark blue polish to create an ombré manicure. Don’t worry about getting a neat edge – we will clean everything up later! The dark blue polish in this look is Zoya Song.

Step 3: Use a white polish to create some zig-zig speech bubbles, and outline them in black. We used Zoya Snow White and Raven, and a nail art brush to create this look. Feel free to alternate where the speech bubbles are placed on your nails!

Step 4: Use a dotting tool to add pink polka dots over the blue ombré and a nail art brush to write some fun words in the speech bubbles. We used Zoya Ali for the pink, and Raven again as a black. Once everything is dry, finish up with a top coat!

As you can see, bringing art back to nail art is not only fun, but it’s a great way to pay homage to famous artists in a new way. Whether you’re recreating a masterpiece, or using a classic as inspiration, our nails can be a canvas for more than just your everyday manicure.

I want to give a huge thank you to Valerie at Caravan for creating these amazing nail art looks, and helping me put together this story for my blog! Make sure to check out her website HERE, and to follow Caravan Stylist Studio on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for more amazing beauty tips.

Let me know in the comments what famous painting you would love to see recreated as a manicure!