As a fan of the actress Evangeline Lilly (Kate Austen in Lost, Tauriel in the Hobbit, Hope van Dyne in Ant-Man), I recently read her first published work, ‘The Squickerwonkers‘. It’s technically a children’s book but I found it perfectly enjoyable and it was fun to read something lyrical after 3 years of dry academic texts.

I absolutely adored the illustrations by Weta Workshop artist Johnny Fraser-Allen. Naturally, I couldn’t resist copying his design to my nails.

From a technical viewpoint, this was one of the hardest designs I’ve ever done. Trying to fit ‘Squickerwonkers’ onto my index nail whilst maintaining the distinctive font was a challenge. I also wanted to try and replicate the slightly faded, worn look of the original illustrations. I found that the easiest way to achieve that was by painting the lines of the figures very lightly and sometimes unevenly, letting the lighter colour show through from below.

If anyone has any book recommendations, please let me know. I’m just getting back into reading for pleasure rather than work again and am completely out of the loop. My fiction tastes lean towards fantasy/sci-fi but I also read a lot of non-fiction, mainly history/politics/current affairs.

Polishes used:

• Seventeen Pale Green
• Revlon Carat
• Revlon Sheer Blush
• NYC Midtown Mink
• NYC Lexington Yellow
• Maybelline Blackout
• Kiko 343
• Kiko 238
• OPI Hawaiian Orchid
• OPI Over the Taupe
• MUA Whitewash

If you would like to see a full tutorial of this design, please comment below.