Abstract Blueberry Nails: Watercolour-Inspired Fruit Nail Art
Fruit-inspired nail art doesn’t always have to mean painting the fruit itself. For these blueberry-inspired nails, I wanted to capture the soft purples, blues and slightly inky colours of blueberries in a much more abstract way.
Creating a watercolour effect with sheer gel
I created the design using the Neko Gel Juicy Palette, building up layers of sheer blue and purple tones and allowing the colours to blend into one another.
Because the colours are translucent, you can create depth without losing the softness underneath. Rather than trying to make every nail identical, I let the colour move slightly differently across each one, giving the finished set a loose, watercolour-like effect.
I finished the design with darker, ink-like details scattered across the surface, adding contrast against the softer blended background.
Taking inspiration from colour rather than objects
Although blueberries were the starting point, I didn’t want to paint literal blueberries onto the nails. Instead, I pulled out the colours and visual qualities that interested me and used those as the basis of the design.
It’s another way of approaching inspiration: an object doesn’t necessarily have to appear in the finished nail art for it to influence the end result.
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About the Author
Kirsty Brown is the founder of Paintbrush Nails, an independent nail artist and educator based in Scotland. A Glasgow School of Art graduate and qualified Art & Design teacher, she combines professional nail education with a creative approach to nail art and design.