As I browsed Pinterest the other day, Schin Loong’s white and gold envelope calligraphy jumped out at me. If you haven’t heard of Schin, she’s one of the heavy hitters of the calligraphy world! She’s got a fluid, elegant style and flourishes that can go on for miles. I love Schin’s work, so I set out to make an envelope that features fabulous flourishes similar to hers. If you’re interested in making mail art like this, too, you can follow along with this tutorial!
1. Gather Your Supplies
Before you can get started, you need to gather your supplies. You can find a list of supplies (and links to them) underneath the photo.
For this tutorial, you’ll need:
- Brown envelope
- Gold watercolor (I used Arabic Gold from the Finetec Golds palette)
- White ink
- White mechanical pencil
- Calligraphy pen fitted for Brause EF66 nib (I used an oblique pen.)
- Black eraser (not shown)
2. Make White Pencil Guidelines
Use your white mechanical pencil to freehand draw a set of three guidelines like the ones shown below. All of these guidelines should be wavy and (mostly) parallel to one another.
3. Add Gold Calligraphy
Get out your gold watercolor and moisten it with a bit of water. Let the water sit for 30 seconds to a minute before you use a paintbrush to mix the watercolor into an ink.
Next, use a paintbrush to apply gold to the back of your nib (à la this tutorial). Then, use Kaitlin Style calligraphy to write the address on your guidelines.
Continue on until you have written the entire address. Then, go through and put in some additional flourishes here and there.
Wait for your ink to dry (it should only take a couple of minutes), then use a black eraser to erase any pencil guidelines. Apply a postage stamp to the upper right portion of the envelope, then add further flourishes to the envelope to fill up space!
4. Add White Accents
Now, add a bit of water to your Bleed Proof White ink (as per this article), and use your ink to add accents to the flourishes you drew. As a rule of thumb, Draw in a complementary downstroke wherever your original flourishes have downstrokes.
At this stage, your envelope will look something like this one:
Once you’ve finished accenting your existing flourishes, go through and add just a couple of standalone white pen strokes. Take a “less is more” approach at this stage: you don’t want to overdo the flourishes!
5. Enjoy Your White and Gold Envelope Calligraphy
Once your white ink has dried, the white and gold envelope calligraphy is ready to send! Remember, Finetec is watercolor, so if you’re worried about moisture damage, you can always give the paper a quick waterproofing before it leaves your desk.
I hope that you enjoyed this tutorial over how to make this fun white and gold envelope calligraphy! Keep in mind that you could do it with any calligraphy style. Please feel free to modify to suit your own style and preferences, and if you make an envelope that you like, I’d love to see it on Instagram. 🙂
Thanks a million for reading, and have an amazing weekend!
Warmly,
Reader Interactions