The Digit-al Dozen Does Winter Wonderland: Day Four, Winter Berries

Hi everyone! It's no secret that I love doing nail art that has a painterly look. So I'm very happy about tonight's nail art for Digit-al Dozen week. The inspiration was winter berries, and I wanted to do a background that had texture and variation, so that it had an overall grainy or arty look.

Winter berries nail art

About this design:

There was no one image that I used in making this design. Normally what I do is google the type of image I want to paint, then I look at several pictures to come up with something that works for me. I did want the nails to have a mural orientation. If you were to look at my nails lined up, the branches would line up as well.

Winter berries nail art
To get this look:

After I painted my base, I created texture in the background by sponging and dragging different polishes. I dragged some of the brown in the background, and I found it had a harsh look, so I sponged the blues and grey on top to lighten it up, and soften the background.

Winter berries nail art
The branches and berries were all painted with a fine detail brush. The branches were pretty straightforward, I painted the brown, then after that was done, I mixed up some brown and black to add some shadow. The snow was the last step and I lightly dragged some white polish over the branches and berries.

Winter berries nail art

• Base: China Glaze Five Rules
• Background: China Glaze For Audrey, OPI You Don't Know Jacques, UNT Breakup Blues, Five Rules
• Branches: OPI You Don't Know Jacques, black polish
• Berries: Essie Dressed to Kilt and She's Pampered.
• Snow: Pure Ice Superstar!
• Top Coats: Girly Bits What a Rush and Essie Matte About You

Winter berries nail art
Final thoughts:

There's temptation to add something to this - birds, or details in the background - but I like that it's not too busy.

See also:

Day Three: Poinsettia Flowers
Day Two: Pastel Snowflakes
Day One: Holiday Water Marble

I'm curious to hear from you - should I have added something to this, or do you like it as is?

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