A couple of months ago, a friend sent me a link to the Edward Gorey House Envelope Art Contest. Of course, I decided on the spot that I had to enter! Today, I’ll walk you through how I made my entry … and, hopefully, inspire you to send in an envelope as well.
My love for mail art is no secret. Embellished envelopes abound on the TPK blog, and they have their own section in The Calligraphy Book. TPK envelopes have even crept into The Graceful Envelope Contest and Scripsit Magazine. I return to this type of project again and again because it gives me so much joy! I loved every second of making my Edward Gorey House envelope, and I hope that you make one, too. Below, you’ll find the process that I used — but please feel free to use the techniques and style that work for you.
The theme of this year’s contest is “The Evil Garden”. At first, I toyed with making some sort of zombie-themed Garden of Eden scene, but all of my drafts for that were a bit too scary. Then, I came up with the idea of a skeleton having a garden tea party. After doing some sketching in Procreate, I had a nice draft, which I printed in preparation for tracing.
Why I use Procreate to make drafts: In the name of efficiency, I use an iPad app called Procreate to doodle drafts. It’s such a time-saver because you can work in layers, delete mistakes with a tap of your fingers, and experiment with colors. If you have an iPad and an Apple pencil, I highly recommend trying the app! (Find a beginner’s guide here.)
Next, I cut my Procreate draft printout to 5″x7″ (12.7 cm × 17.78 cm), and I slipped it into an A7 white envelope (affiliate link). When placed over a light box, the draft shone through the envelope. This allowed me to trace directly over the draft using a straight pen, Nikko G nib, and waterproof black ink.
Once I finished up the tracing process, the design was good — but it looked a little barebones (pun intended).
I decided to put the Edward Gorey House address on the wide expanse of tablecloth that was front and center. Luckily, I wrote it as a pencil draft first — because holy “Massassachusetts”!
Next, I used the crosshatching technique to add some contrast to the piece. This is a technique that Gorey himself was fond of, so it felt especially appropriate.
Once that was finished, the envelope looked much more substantial. Still, I didn’t love the expanse of white.
In Lesson 3 of the Beginner’s Modern Calligraphy Online Course, I yammered on about using black cleaning water as a wash. That’s been on my mind since I wrapped up filming a couple of weeks ago. Well, I still happened to have some sumi-infused cleaning water, and I realized it would be the perfect way to add some subtle color to the envelope.
Once I finished adding cleaning water, the envelope still looked a bit drab. I noticed that Edward Gorey often included pops of color in his famous pieces of envelope art, so I gave that a shot, too. Suddenly, the scene was both drab and colorful, which helps to make the piece more mystical. (The viewer might wonder: why is the tablecloth pink while everything else is gray? Why is there a cheerful lemon tree bursting out of the table?)
The envelope art contest requires contact information in case you’ve submitted a winning entry. I included mine, written in McCaffery’s red ink, in the upper left corner on the back.
Next, I calligraphed an Edward Gorey-esque quote using quick Kaitlin Style calligraphy. It’s a little tea joke: “Patience, my dear. One cannot rush an eternal steep.”
Once everything dried, I gave the envelope a layer of MicroGlaze (I don’t want the watercolor to smudge), and I popped it in the mail.
When I noticed the Edward Gorey House contest welcomes participants of all ages, I recruited my seven-year-old to craft his own envelope. After carefully absorbing the theme, he devised a suitably gory tableau of carnivorous plants and their ill-fated victim.
This was a neat experience for my son because he became acquainted with a variety of new tools. The white Gelly Roll pen is a new favorite of his, and he got a little too zealous with the sand eraser (which gets rid of inky mistakes). I was really pleased at how he started with a pencil draft — like mother, like son! — and I felt he did a nice job framing the scene. If you know any creative kiddos, this is a great little project to help them flex their creative muscles and celebrate the season!
I can say, in all honesty, that when I enter a contest like this, I don’t care whether I win. I’m just thrilled to have a chance to doodle on an envelope with a theme and a purpose! (Along the way, I discovered that there are some eerie true crime documentaries on Netflix at the moment that provided the perfect background listening material.) I hope that you enter the contest with the same attitude! Just have fun with it, and please feel free to share what you make on the TPK Premium Discord. We’re all in your corner and looking to cheer you on!
Warmly,
Fuel your inspiration and creativity with TPK Premium Plus! Members enjoy three free worksheets or learning resources every month, unlimited video course access, member-exclusive tutorials, and a 10% discount on all Supplies Shop orders.
inspiration in your inbox
TPK’s innovative newsletters are an artistic treat. Join the 125K+ subscribers who have already discovered The Postman’s Knock, and receive 10% off your first Digital Catalog order.
