SIMPLE POPPY |
 | To build a Poppy you will need: Monomer (acrylic liquid) Black acrylic powder Red acrylic powder Black acrylic paint Sculpting brush Detail brush Acetone
Step 1: Decide where the flower will sit on the nail, and then draw wavy lines with black acrylic paint, using the detail brush, from the imaginary centre of the flower.
Step 2: Add a couple of drops of acetone into the monomer. Acetone increases the pliability of acrylic, which will help to make the details of the petal design more crisp. |
 | Step 3: Sit a little red powder on the tip of the sculpting brush, and then dip it gently into the black powder giving you a tiny black tip in the centre of the red. Roughly 95% of the mix should be red with, literally, a dot of black on top.
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 | Step 4: Don’t deliver the powder mix downwards onto the nail. You need to hold the brush at a steep angle so the tiny black tip rests near the centre of the chosen area for the flower, with the red lying above and to the side of it. |
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Step 5: Using the tip of the sculpting brush, gently drag the bristles through the red paint away from the centre of the flower. You are trying to create the shape of a tear. As the red moves outwards, the centre will begin to blacken as the red powder is pulled.
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 | Step 6: When the tear shape is formed, wait a few seconds until the acrylic loses its shine, then dip the brush back into the liquid flattening the bristles on edge of liquid pot. Use the sharp edge to “cut” the petal design into the solidifying acrylic. Good results come from using a see-saw motion on the design – starting at the centre use the tip of bristles sharp edge down in a gentle cutting motion. You can separate the acrylic bid giving a live petal effect.
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 | Step 7: Repeat steps 3 to 7 for each petal. Five petals will give a nice design. |
 | Step 8: You will now have five petals with a red main body and black internal edges. Now we need to build the centre design. We will repeat step 3 here (after forming the bristles back into a point) but, when it comes to delivering it into the centre of the poppy, the black acrylic needs to be underneath the red and not to the side as in step 4.
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 | Step 9: Touch the red and black acrylic mix into the empty centre of the poppy then wait for the shine to leave the acrylic. Touch the bristle tip back into the centre of the fresh “blob” and without the bristles leaving the nail, rotate your wrist so the brush travels 360-degrees (a bit like drawing a circle on a school pencil and compass).
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 | Step 10: Now, repeat steps 8 and 9 using an even smaller mix of red and black acrylic, placing it in the flat centre of the design you have just created. |
 | Step 11: You now have five petals and two inner designs. Your poppy is almost complete. All that remains now is to add some fine detail to the design using your black acrylic paint. Add tiny specks of the paint to the petals and the centre design. Your poppy is now complete!
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