Falling for Nail Art: Early Sunsets

      I don't know about you, but I love the early sunsets of autumn. I really enjoy watching the sun go down. Just don't wake me up for a sunrise. I don't think any sunrise is amazing enough to get me out of bed that early. I treasure sleep too much. 

      This nail art is pretty simple. I think anyone could easily duplicate it. The best part is that you only need a sponge and a paintbrush. Well, time is also a factor. Check out all the details after the cut.

Early Sunsets

      For this look, I did a simple sponged gradient with four polishes over a plain white creme base. I used a piece of kitchen sponge since I couldn't find my makeup sponges. I swear they were on my desk a few days ago. I think the cat hid them from me. I smeared some chapstick around my cuticles to make clean up easier. SURPRISE: it was still a pain to clean up. The silhouette of autumn trees and grass was done with black acrylic paint, a thin paintbrush, and more sponging. Black polish could have been used, but I wanted to try my hand at acrylic again.  

Early Sunsets

(from dark to light)

OPI Eurso Euro

Sinful Shine Go Glossy

OPI On the Same Paige

Nubar Hot Yellow

      I sponged each nail twice. The white base really made the gradient pop. (Gradients look terrible until you top coat it. Don't get discouraged if yours looks bumpy or bubbly at first!) For easier clean up, you might want to tape off your nails. The chapstick I used didn't do the trick as it usually does.

Early Sunsets

      After the gradient was all cleaned up, I used a small paintbrush to apply the grass is wispy strokes. I used a heavier line for the tree trunks and a few branches. (Simple, right?) Using a small bit of sponge, I added the leaves. 

      One coat of Seche Vite smoothed this out and made it look a million times better than it looked without top coat. Seche Vite is my go to top coat for nail art. I've yet to find another one that works as well. Nail art never streaks or bleeds with Seche Vite. 

      I'm truly in love with this look. The gradient was beautiful alone; the trees really make it feel like autumn. As I'm writing this, I see a similar sunset from my deck. My backyard looks gorgeous this time of year. So, do you like this look? Do you think you could pull this off? I'm pretty excited to see how many compliments I get on this look. 

Don't forget! You can still join in on the challenge. You can post them on your blog and add your link below, post them on Instagram with the tag #fallingfornailart, or you can share them on my Facebook page and I'll share them from there. I'll also be making a Pinterest board!  Do as many or as few as you'd like. Here's the schedule:

Check out the other bloggers who have joined in!