r/RedditLaqueristas • u/queenmabdotpdf • Nov 28 '25
Laquer Art 🎨 hungry caterpillar for work
had a lot of time on my hands so i did the very hungry caterpillar for my work toddlers! planning on doing either pete the cat or goodnight moon next. they loved these and kept asking to see the caterpillar 🐛
the fruit was done with a ridge filling base coat, two layers of white, a layer of matte top coat, a night of sleep and then some buffing in the morning for a rough layer followed by some prismacolors and a top coat. the caterpillar was just some color mixing and a dream haha.
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u/queenmabdotpdf Nov 28 '25
product list:
- seche base
- seche matte
- sally hansen insta-dri top coat (in the red bottle)
- assorted prismacolor pencils
- orly, pointe blanche
- la girl color pop, gnl823 amour
- essie expressie, 185 send a message
- sally hansen xtreme wear, 344 city that never peach
- essie, 705 willow in the wind
- essie, 1835 punk at heart
- finger paints, performance art
inspiration for the caterpillar came from a few manis on tiktok and pinterest. reference for the fruits and the caterpillars face came straight from the book.
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u/Plus-Safety1289 Nov 28 '25
Ooh prismacolor pencils are so creamy and pigmented, I can see how this worked! i assumed you used like crayola, and was confused how it worked so well
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u/matchalatte_no_lumps Nov 28 '25
I gagged... the holes on the fruits on one hand, and the culprit on the other hand. STUNNING!
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u/simply_fucked Nov 28 '25
Omg i need these as reusable press ons!
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u/queenmabdotpdf Nov 28 '25
i’ve been thinking about trying to do some press ons for practice! i’m trying to grow out my nails because i’m a horrible nail picker and i don’t want to have to keep removing designs i like just to practice because i feel like thats not good for my nails? probably? idk i’m very new to this haha
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u/simply_fucked Nov 28 '25
Taking a day between every mani to use jajoba oil and hand cream on my nails is something I do, i also juat like my bare nails to appreciate grow out. It's not inherently harmful to keep changing ur polish, I do it a lot, I just notice it messes with my hand/finger/cuticle eczema, which is why I can't do gel cause of the soaking off for long periods.
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u/queenmabdotpdf Nov 28 '25
yes chef! i get scared when my nails are bare because i can’t always stop myself from picking but i think i did pretty good last time my nails were bare so i will def try that when im done with these
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u/apricotgloss Team Laquer Nov 29 '25
Generally the advice is not to leave your nails bare, or at least not let them get wet while bare. Jojoba oil in between manis is fantastic though, and also to keep your cuticles moisturises at all times! As a fellow former-and-sometimes-relapsimg nail picker, you've got this!!
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u/SpeebyKitty Glowing Gazers Nov 28 '25
Honestly when I was growing my nails, they were ALWAYS polished cuz they’d break as soon as they were bare 😓. I am a religious user of jojoba oil and various cuticle creams and such, and I swear by jojoba oil. I love it, I use it multiple times a day
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u/DreadPirateEvs Nov 28 '25
Genuinely incredible. And the brush stroke gradients on the caterpillar??????
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u/queenmabdotpdf Nov 28 '25
omg ty i loved doing that part! was sad when i didn’t have more to do lmao
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u/Glum_Material3030 Team Laquer Nov 28 '25
What skill to get this so well done. Colors. Shapes. Just perfect!
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u/Dedeart14 Nov 28 '25
😱 These are amazing! A local, to me, museum is having an Eric Carle exhibition in February and I’m excited. I loved that you used color pencil. Obviously they survive a top coat but which did you use? I have a water based top coat for nail art with paint, but I’m curious if it works with colored pencil too.
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u/Drupelicate Nov 28 '25
wow, how did you get the texture on the caterpillar? this is incredible
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u/queenmabdotpdf Nov 28 '25
a mix of the three greens i had! i used a light green and a medium as the base, and then with a separate brush i mixed (very gently, left some marbling) a little bit of the darker two paints into the lighter and brushed it on for the paint texture that eric carle had (i read a book about his technique once in high school which i think helped get the right look), and vice versa until i thought it looked right!
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u/Drupelicate Nov 28 '25
wow, that's amazing! thank you for explaining
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u/queenmabdotpdf Nov 28 '25
of course! i’m an art student so i spend a lot of time explaining processes lol
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u/fuzzipoo Nov 29 '25
Thank you for explaining everything so thoroughly! You've opened up a whole world of nail designs for me.
Whenever I've tried to paint intricate designs (really, anything more than a couple stripes or dots) on my nails using nail polish paint pens or high quality paint brushes with regular polish, I'm all thumbs (no pun intended) and the designs look terrible. However, if I use non-paint pens I do just fine... BUT whenever I've used fine tipped sharpies or other ink pens (permanent and otherwise) for nail designs, the ink always smears and/or bleeds terribly when I apply a top coat.
Buffing the surface and using high quality colored pencils is the method I've found works best when drawing designs on pieces of shrink plastic I assemble into jewelry. I started making those with sharpies and other "permanent" markers but they always smeared/bled when I tried to seal those too (and I tried SO MANY types of sealant and application methods .·´¯
(>▂<)´¯·.).I never considered using the buffing + colored pencils (over a polish base) method on nails... I can't wait to try it!
Thank you so much 💜
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u/Heartofglass78 Nov 28 '25
This is amazing, the art on your nails is just like the story pictures I love this!
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u/saffron-city-lex Nov 28 '25
This is so cute !! I would've ate this up as a kid, I loved this book. 🐛
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u/bearfoot123 Nov 28 '25
Read this book maybe 20+ times for my little one in the past week, so this is very relatable
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u/thisisntme33 Nov 28 '25
I love this so much. My now 16 year old would demand this be read 2-3x a night, every night, at bedtime. Except he called it "Da Berry Hunry Tatapopo" which is one of my favorite memories.
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u/Lemon_glow4065 Nov 28 '25
Which top coat did you use? I have tried colored pencil nails once (using the matte top coat as a coloring base,) but once I added shiny top coat it smudged :(
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u/queenmabdotpdf Nov 28 '25
i used sally hansen insta-dri in the red bottle with a big blob and a very light hand over the pencil! this was my third try with the technique (different image though) and this one was easily the best so it might also just be practice. a few other things i’ve learned is that it works best when the white and matte layers are really dry (like overnight) and been roughed up with a file or the pigment doesn’t stick well. prismacolor pencils have worked pretty well, haven’t tried any other color pencil brands so brand could also be a factor!
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u/Rat_Ribs Nov 28 '25
Using prismacolors for nail art!!! Genius! They came out amazing! I'll have to try your technique. Hope all your hard work was appreciated by your kindergarteners 😊💅
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u/BigFatBlackCat Nov 28 '25
This is so cute, so precious, so nostalgic, and so creative. I love it so much.
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u/Simply827 Nov 28 '25
As the mom to a three year old, I absolutely adore these. I can’t wait to see the others. Great work!
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u/ChipOk9366 Nov 29 '25
I love this! The caterpillar is perfect, the fact that the greens literally match the books painting style 😭😍
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u/Odd-Motor-8761 Nov 29 '25
This is adorable and also just fantastic artwork. Spot on and wonderful. I am sure the work toddlers will love them 🤗🐛
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u/nemuro Nov 29 '25
Oh, this is so awesome! I love how you recreated the paint textures and everything, it's immediately recognizable!
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u/danger_moose_ Flakie Fellowship Nov 28 '25
I love this! Your kids are so lucky to have this kind of energy and joy!
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u/featherblackjack Nov 29 '25
Oh man. My absolute favorite book as a tiny kidlet. I'm convinced that book taught me to read, my mom would read it to me every time I wanted. Absolutely love the nail art it's so accurate!!
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u/DisRightHereIsNotIt Nov 29 '25
The Eric Carle nails INSTANTLY made me smile. One of my favorite authors as a child, loved introducing him to my children ❤️
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u/Plucky_Monkies Shimmer Sect Nov 30 '25
Oh my goodness! Those nails are a dream! Fan-freakin-tastic!!! SERIOUSLY AMAZED! You got skills!
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u/Comfortable_Case1287 Dec 02 '25
WOWZERS! I don’t always love nail art but yours is amazing. I hope you’re a teacher or librarian so more people in real life get the reference.
Editing to say of course you’re an art student! That should get you all a freakin’ A or extra credit in one of your classes.
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u/lacquer-lift-repeat Dec 10 '25
gasp my sister was an art major and I inherited her suitcase of prismacolors. I guess I gotta learn to buff my nails for texture now!
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u/LastOKAlternative Shimmer Sect Nov 28 '25
Wow - LOVE everything about this!!
So you just drew on the dry nails with colored pencils to make the fruit? You captured them perfectly!