Magazine for the professional nail industry.
Issue link: http://nailsmag.epubxp.com/i/190368
From the canvas Vu NGUYEN St. Louis, Mo. From sculpted 3-D dragons to hand-painted portraits, Vu Nguyen's nail designs are works of fine art. Over the last decade, he's gained international recognition, collecting a handful of first- and second-place prizes from competitions such as ISSE Long Beach and London's Nailympics. But part of his success in this arena is due to the many different artistic hats he wears outside the world of nails. Nguyen comes from a family of artists, so his interest in drawing and painting developed naturally as soon as he could hold a pencil. His mother enrolled him in art classes by the age of nine and after high school he was accepted into Cal Arts' undergraduate fine arts program. But Nguyen left before graduating to pursue a unique apprenticeship in tattoo art. He learned the ropes from a skilled classmate and eventually landed a full-time position at a local tattooing studio. Soon after, however, Nguyen's mother decided to enroll in nail school and pleaded with him to come along for the ride. "She didn't like my tattooing," he says. At first he'd just try class assignments for fun, but it wasn't long before his talent turned heads. He ended up graduating alongside his mom. After about two years in the salon, Nguyen discovered nail art through magazines and was instantly hooked. "Nail art is quick," he says. "It's a small canvas that doesn't take as long to do as a tattoo or a painting. And I could be creative without worrying about my marks being permanent." Tattooing and fine art both gave Nguyen the background in composition needed for his complicated nail designs. He even merged worlds, creating a tattoo-like manicure for NAILS' November 2008 cover. "With my nail art I do a rough sketch, like I would a tattoo or a painting, and then break it down into what layers I need to polish on first," he says. Although nails are Nguyen's main profession, he still makes his personal artwork a priority. "I like everything from oil painting to airbrushing, but I mostly work on canvas and do pencil drawings or sketches," he says. "As for tattooing, I only do that once in a while now, mostly just for friends and family." Nguyen works as an educator for OPI specializing in the Vietnamese market. His current favorite medium is gel, although he also enjoys mixed-media. to the fingertips >>> 160 | NAILS MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER 2013