Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Valentine's Owl Nail Art Tutorial

So, it has become pretty clear that you guys really liked my Valentine's owl design! It is one of my most popular posts and I've received a lot of really awesome feedback from you guys about how much you liked it.

I had a request for a tutorial on how to do this manicure, and while I don't have time to do a full on-the-nail demo, I did manage to draw up a quick Photoshop tutorial for you all.
Good luck, and enjoy!



  1. Using a striper brush, paint on two small lines for legs.
  2. Grab a nail art brush and paint a fat circle on top of the legs. I used a flat ended brush.
  3. In the same color and with the same brush you used for step 2, paint on two tufts at the top of the head.
  4. Take the large end of a dotting tool and put on two dots of white for the eyes. Once the white dots dry, go over them with two yellow dots. Putting the white down first will ensure that the yellow shows up well.
  5. Using the small end of a dotting tool, add two smaller black dots in the center of the yellow dots. 
  6. With the end of a small nail art brush, add two small white highlights to the eyes. They should be positioned off center (see picture).
  7. Make a small triangle for the beak in white. Once the white is dry, go over it with your yellow. Again, this is to ensure that the yellow is bright and pigmented.
  8. Create the small hearts on the belly by using the small end of a dotting tool to make two strokes inward towards each other. The strokes should connect at the bottom to form the “point” of the heart.
  9. Paint on two small wings on either side of the owl with a nail art brush.


By the way, feel free to replace "nail art brush" with small paintbrushes or whatever you can get your hands on. The dotting tools can also be replaced by bobby pins, the plastic balls at the end of a sewing pin, or whatever else will help you easily make a small circle. Be inventive! Any tools listed in the tutorial are simply what I used when I did this design.

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22 comments

  1. One of your best! Thanks for the tutorial =D

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  2. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  3. Yayy, thank you so much for this tutorial! I wanted to do these nails for myself too - so cute!

    ALSO, I tagged you in this 11 Questions tag somebody gave me. I know you don't know me, but hi, my name's Pryanka. I'd love it if you at least took a look!

    http://nailspark.wordpress.com/2012/02/08/356/

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  4. I loved your owls so thanks for the tutorial! I might try my hand at this if I get the time. :)

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  5. *Dies* This is soooo freaking cute!!! I wish I was better at free handing nail art, can you do my nails please? :)

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  6. Wow, AMAZING!!! You are soooo talented, I love it!!!

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  7. Great tutorial, thanks for putting that together. I LOVE this mani, too cute!

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  8. LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS!!! Thank you for the tutorial.

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  9. Aww pre shaver nails. lol! Thee owls really are pretty though.

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  10. So creative. Owls are so "in" right now but I love being trendy this once. Love the colors too!
    *oh just a tip to EVERYONE- Walgreens does their annual resets of makeup and polishes at the end of January...they put discontinued colors on clearance (not polishes people have used and tried) I went there yesterday and got 4 Sally Hansens for under $4! Essie's, Revlon's and others are 50% off! I'm not trying to endorse Walgreens, just these amazing deals!

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  11. Hello from France !
    I simply love this nail art ^^ So cuuuute !!
    Thanks for the tutorial, I will try !!!

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  12. Lovely owls. i tried to do it and add my blog.
    if you want you can look ; http://aycelcehayat.blogspot.com/2012/02/daldaki-kuslar.html
    kisses

    ReplyDelete
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