Impressionistic Nails - Inspired by Claude Monet

I am a huge fan of Monet's work - the most influential impressionist painter of all time. After spending hours upon hours just awing over his masterpieces, I was inspired to create an impressionistic form of nail art. What I've come up with could never be compared to the nuance of Monet's brilliant work and hence this is more of an inspired tutorial. In all honesty, I'm quite horrible at applying nail polish so I tried to make this process as simple as possible. I guarantee that anyone, no matter your skill level, will be able to re-create this nail look with ease.

STEP 1:
Start off with a dark colour as a base.

I used Revlon's Midnight Affair (791)

Revlon - Midnight Affair (791)

STEP 2:
Choose a variety of bright colours that you will then stipple onto the dark base with a sponge.

These are the 3 colours that I used (all by Sally Hansen) - Pacific Blue (420), Mint Sorbet (340) & Coral Reef (405).

SALLY HANSEN Hard As Nails Xtreme Wear - Pacific Blue

SALLY HANSEN Hard As Nails Xtreme Wear - Mint Sorbet

SALLY HANSEN Hard As Nails Xtreme Wear - Coral Reef

Here, I applied some nail polish onto the sponge and began stippling the colour onto the nail. Do the same for all of the colours you have selected, layering one upon the other, until you get your desired look. 

After stippling on all 3 colours, layer after layer, I came up with this final look. Again, not even close to the brilliance of Monet's paintings however, I think the inspiration can most certainly be seen.

I think there is something very fun and whimsical about this nail look. The pastels colours make this ideal for spring/summer however the darker base really grounds the whole look. 

I just want to give a quick shout-out to my elementary school art teacher Mrs. Brady! She exposed her students to so many different artists from Monet to Picasso to Dali. It was from her class that I able to experience all of these different forms of art. I don't think it's required for educators to teach their students the history of art at such a young age, however she made it a priority. I remember she even had a special session where she invited an individual who drew the scenes for one of the Star Wars movie to come in and talk to the students. I didn't appreciate it much at the time (because I was so young) but I now realize that opportunities like this don't come everyday. She went above and beyond to give her students the best education possible and I'm glad that I have this knowledge of art that many students tend to lack (unless they've chosen to pursue some form of visual art).

Are you a fan of Monet? Would you ever sport this Monet inspired look on your nails? Let me know in the comments below!