Hello! This post is going to be light on the chatting and heavy on the photos. There's not much to say about the technique but I am totally enamored with these nails, so I included a lot of photos...
They start with a base of OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls. Then I freehanded on the pattern with a medium length striper brush using Cult Nails Time Traveler. The jellylike nature of Time Traveler really helped in creating a more authentic handpainted porcelain look.
While looking for sample blue and white china patterns, I came across this teacup. I loved the designs on it. I thought the flower was beautiful, and I really enjoyed the swoop shapes.
However, as you can see, I didn't quite copy the teacup exactly, and I didn't want to! I was set on doing a full nail pattern and the teacup was a bit simpler than I was aiming for. So I just took elements, moved things around, and added pieces.
Almost no planning went into this manicure... I just practiced the main flower one time and then sort of dove in, filling in areas with whatever I thought would look nice there.
Obligatory thumb nail shot...
These are seriously my favorite nails that I've done in quite some time.
You can check out the upcoming challenge prompts here, and you can also take a look at last year's blue nails here.
