• 3 Speedy Mail Art Tutorials

    When time is at a premium but you still want to create a striking piece of mail art, look to one of these three tutorials! Each one comes together in just about ten minutes — though your recipient would never guess that. 🙂

    3 Speedy Mail Art Tutorials | The Postman's Knock

    I think that a lot of people would like to try making mail art, but, due to time constraints, it never happens. Just like any artistic pursuit, though, you can choose how much effort you put into your envelopes! Today’s three short tutorials will give you options for making cool pieces of mail art even when you are pressed for time.

    1. Galaxy Mail Art

    This mail art relies on flecks of gold and silver for an out of this world effect! Writing the address in whimsical calligraphy without guidelines helps to make this a quick project.

    3 Speedy Mail Art Tutorials | The Postman's Knock

    First, get out a black envelope. Use a sharp, medium-flex nib (like the Nikko G) to write your recipient’s address in Kaitlin Style calligraphy and white ink. Don’t draw any pencil guidelines to even out or center your calligraphy! Not using guidelines will result in a whimsical, spontaneous look.

    3 Speedy Mail Art Tutorials | The Postman's Knock
    It’s important to use a black envelope for this tutorial. The black color represents the night sky!

    Next, moisten a gold watercolor tone with about 1/8 teaspoon of water. I’m using Finetec here, but any metallic watercolor palette will work!

    3 Speedy Mail Art Tutorials | The Postman's Knock
    I’m using “Arabic Gold” from the Finetec palette for this project.

    Give the water a couple of minutes to soak into the paint, then dip an old toothbrush into the now-wet gold. Flick the toothbrush with your thumb to encourage the gold watercolor to distribute across the envelope.

    3 Speedy Mail Art Tutorials | The Postman's Knock
    Don’t throw out your old toothbrushes! Instead, use them for art. For a demonstration on how to flick paint across paper with a toothbrush, check out this video.

    For extra visual interest, you can also flick some Finetec silver across the envelope as well! Once you’re finished, try adding some galaxy-themed stamps (which are totally optional, but appropriate) and mail your envelope!

    3 Speedy Mail Art Tutorials | The Postman's Knock
    Curious about where to buy vintage stamps like these or how to make stamp collages of your own? Read How to Make a Stunning Postage Stamp Collage!

    2. Ombré Wave Mail Art

    This mail art doesn’t use a dip pen, so it requires very little clean-up. As long as you have a gel pen and some colored pencils handy, you’re good to go!

    3 Speedy Mail Art Tutorials | The Postman's Knock

    First, use a pencil to write your recipient’s first name on the left side of the envelope. Try to fill up the left half of the envelope with the name, then finish up the right half with a curved line.

    3 Speedy Mail Art Tutorials | The Postman's Knock
    This envelope is for my friend Bron. I wrote her name in all lowercase letters, but you can capitalize if you’d prefer!

    Now, follow the steps in the Quick Ombré Lettering Mail Art Tutorial to fill in the recipient’s name with plenty of color!

    3 Speedy Mail Art Tutorials | The Postman's Knock
    Going over your lettering with a Glaze pen will give your letters a nice, glassy texture, but it’s not required.

    Next, use a black gel pen to write your recipient’s last name on top of the curved line on the right. You can put dots between each letter like I did here, or you can keep things simple and omit the dots.

    3 Speedy Mail Art Tutorials | The Postman's Knock
    Let your letters hover just above the line!

    Finish up by writing the recipient’s address under the curved line. Make sure you follow the contours of the curve!

    3 Speedy Mail Art Tutorials | The Postman's Knock
    Try to add several postage stamps that echo the color scheme of the letters. You can see here that I utilized stamps that primarily feature blue or green, just like the lettering!

    3. Falling Star Mail Art

    This mail art has a more polished look than the previous two tutorials, but it’s still simple to make because you don’t have to center your calligraphy! I used a dark envelope and white ink here, but any envelope/ink color combination will give you good results.

    3 Speedy Mail Art Tutorials | The Postman's Knock

    First, draw diagonal pencil guidelines on an envelope.

    3 Speedy Mail Art Tutorials | The Postman's Knock
    For a refresher on how to draw calligraphy guidelines, check out How to Make Calligraphy Guidelines. If you’re using a dark envelope like this one, a white mechanical pencil will come in handy!

    Next, use Janet Style calligraphy to write the recipient’s address.

    3 Speedy Mail Art Tutorials | The Postman's Knock
    It won’t take you very long to write out the address because there’s no centering involved! Every address line is justified to the left.

    Now, fill in the negative space in the upper left corner of the envelope with seven (or so) vertical pencil guidelines. Space each guideline 1/2″ (~13 mm) apart, then use your dip pen and ink to draw one star at a random point on each line.

    3 Speedy Mail Art Tutorials | The Postman's Knock
    Be sure to place each star at a random point on the lines! Otherwise, the mail art will look too orderly.

    Finish by drawing tiny dots along the vertical guideline down to the each star.

    3 Speedy Mail Art Tutorials | The Postman's Knock
    The tiny dots give the illusion of a delicate chain holding each star up. Don’t draw any dots past the stars!

    Erase your guidelines, add some postage stamps to the right side of the envelope, and send!

    3 Speedy Mail Art Tutorials | The Postman's Knock
    Adding 3-4 stamps to the right side of the envelope will help to visually even things out.

    There are two secrets to the speediness of each of these tutorials. First of all, none of the calligraphy or lettering is centered. When you have to center your lettering, you’re in for some math, which always adds a considerable chunk of time to mail art. Second, each tutorial draws pops of color and visual interest from a postage stamp collage. You can find out more information about creating postage stamp collages in this article!

    3 Speedy Mail Art Tutorials | The Postman's Knock

    I hope that at least one of these mail art tutorials comes in handy for you! If you make a piece that you’re especially proud of, I’d love to see it on Instagram, where you can hashtag #thepostmansknock or tag @thepostmansknock. (If you’re worried about posting photos of envelopes, check out How to Maintain Privacy with Artistic Photos of Envelopes!) It’s always so cool for me to see what you end up doing with tutorial ideas!

    Thanks very much for reading, and have a fun, creative weekend! Don’t forget — the Ultimate Modern Calligraphy Kit Giveaway ends this Monday. If you haven’t entered yet, definitely consider doing so … the kit is an awesome prize, and will come in handy for making lots of mail art. 🙂

    Warmly,

    Lindsey's Signature | The Postman's Knock