FAQ

-Are your nails real?
 Yes, my nails are real. I had acrylic nails for about two weeks several years ago and just couldn't stand them on myself.

-Do you use nail polish for nail art?
 Very rarely, most of the time I use acrylic paint from craft stores, The brand I use most is Americana just because it is easily available here but I use others as well like Folk Art, Apple Barrel and other off brand names. I have found over the past few years that doing nail art with polish is very frustrating to me, it just dries too quick. It can be done, and a lot of people do wonderful things using only polish. For me though, acrylic paint works the best, especially for very detailed art.

-Do you use pens or brushes?
 I use brushes. The polish pens just do not work for me, they dry too quick, get clogged up, aren't fine enough and so on. It's just easier for me to use acrylic paint and brushes.

-What brushes do you use?
 Any I can find. Seriously, just go to any craft/hobby/art store and pick out a few of the smallest brushes they have. If they aren't small enough you can always cut some of the bristles off to make them the thickness you want. Right now my favorite brush is one I purchased from Ebay in a set for about four dollars, it wasn't small enough at first but I cut it use it for almost all of my nail art.

-When did you first get started in art?
 I started way back before I can remember. My father had art books and I would trace the outlines and color the pictures in, bad, I know! Anyways, I started drawing as a kid, then when I was about fifteen or so picked up painting. Somewhere in between that time I had also gotten into doing my nails. At first it was just solid colors then I started doing simple things like hearts, dots, lines and it just progressed from there. I really got sucked in about two years ago.

-How can I learn?
 Practice. That's it, practice, end of story. You just have to do it and keep doing it. If you are just starting out I would suggest getting some paper, paint and brushes and start making simple shapes like circles, squares, triangles until you can do them somewhat consistently. Then start putting them together. If you have looked at any or my nail art tutorials you always hear me take about basic shapes. There is a method to my madness!
 Another great way to learn is pick up an art book from the local library and take a look at how they put basic shapes together then add onto those shapes to form the image.

 My last tip is if you haven't heard of Robin Moses go to her YouTube channel and watch her videos. She has a FAQ page you can check out here that has a ton of great information to get started. I love her and watching her videos.