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  • Hissing Cat Halloween Envelope Tutorial

    by

    Lindsey Bugbee

    , , , ,

    This Halloween envelope combines flourishing, hand-lettering, and a classic color combination to celebrate the season! While the motif may look complicated, a couple of TPK resources make it completely doable.

    Hissing Cat Halloween Envelope Tutorial

    After I made the Sleepy Hollow skull Halloween card, I realized that I need an envelope to send it in. After giving it some thought, I decided to make mail art with the same elegant feel as the card, but with a slightly different theme! Today, I’ll show you how to go about creating this fun Halloween envelope with a hissing cat and vintage style lettering.

    1. Draw the Hissing Cat

    To begin, grab a calligraphy-friendly envelope and draw the hissing cat outline from the Spooky Drills packet. The outline should take up most of the left side of the envelope. Once you’ve drawn the outline, use your pencil to draft out a long, loopy flourish from the cat’s tail that extends to the right side of the envelope.

    Cat Pencil Draft
    You can find instructions for making a flourished hissing cat on page 9 of TPK’s seasonal Spooky Drills packet.

    Now, take some sumi ink and your favorite pen/flexible nib combination, and draw the hissing cat per the instructions in the Spooky Drills.

    Flourished Hissing Cat
    I used a Brause EF66 nib and an oblique holder to create my flourished cat.

    2. Hand-Letter the Recipient’s Name

    Next, draw two sets of two guidelines on the right side of the envelope. (The first set of guidelines is for your recipient’s first name, and the second set is for your recipient’s last name.) Then, grab the Flytrap exemplar on page 16 of the Premium Hand Lettering Worksheet Set.

    Hand-Lettering Guidelines
    My guideline pairs are both 5/8″ tall.

    Use the instructions in the exemplar to write the first half of your recipient’s first name in tangerine ink.

    Hand Lettering

    Then, use your sumi ink to complete the second part of the recipient’s first name. Reverse the color scheme for the last name — sumi ink first, tangerine second — to balance everything out!

    Hand Lettering

    3. Write the Address

    Now, use tiny pencil guidelines (mine were 3/8″ tall) and a combination of calligraphy and simple lettering to write the recipient’s address. Try your best to align the ends of your address lines with the ends of the recipient’s names.

    Address
    I used Janet Style calligraphy, Sans Serif lettering, and a Nikko G nib to write this address. It’s important to use a low- to medium-flex nib when you’re making such small letters!

    4. Add Reinforcement Strokes

    Once the ink you used to write the address has dried, use a good eraser to get rid of your pencil lines. Then, use your dip pen and tangerine ink to reinforce all of the downstrokes in the flourished cat. To do that, you’ll basically draw a parallel line to the left of each downstroke.

    Hissing Cat Halloween Envelope
    Reinforcing strokes gives any flourished piece a luxurious look. This Halloween envelope is no exception! For more information on stroke reinforcement, see the Intermediate Modern Calligraphy Online Course.

    Finish up by adding complementary postage stamps and an additional flourish at the bottom, if you’d like!

    Hissing Cat Halloween Envelope
    These Ruth Asawa postage stamps have the perfect color scheme for this envelope! I overpaid for postage on this piece, but sometimes that’s the price of making the perfect mail art.

    5. Step Back and Admire Your Work

    Once you create this Halloween envelope, I hope you give yourself a pat on the back! That hissing cat requires some patience, and the ornate Flytrap Lettering is no joke. Your energy and concentration will be rewarded, however, with the perfect mail art envelope. It’s classy, playful, and a bit gothic … my top three adjectives when it comes to describing anything Halloween-related.

    Hissing Cat Halloween Envelope Tutorial

    I hope that you enjoyed this Halloween envelope art tutorial! It’s TPK’s third of the season (first was Phyllis Macaluso’s “Spooktacular” Halloween Card Tutorials and second was the “Sleepy Hollow” Skull Halloween Card Tutorial). To prevent Halloween burnout, this will be the last 2020 Halloween project on the blog this year. But never fear: next year will bring additional eerie fun!

    Thanks very much for reading, and have a wonderful Halloween! 🕷

    Warmly,

    Lindsey's Signature | The Postman's Knock