• Three Envelope Art Mini-Tutorials

    If your snail mail endeavors are feeling stale, then this is just the post to breathe some life into them! In it, you’ll learn about how to make three radically different — but equally appealing — pieces of envelope art. Whether your preference is simple lettering, watercolor florals, or pen and ink illustrations, there’s something…

    Three Envelope Art Mini-Tutorials | The Postman's Knock

    Today’s blog post provides another round-up of envelope art mini-tutorials from the TPK Facebook page! There’s something going on every day on the TPK Facebook, including a mini-tutorial once or twice a week. Though Facebook provides a great temporary home for mini-tutorials, I also like to post them here on the TPK blog. That way, they are accessible to readers who are not on Facebook; they’re “pinnable” for those who have Pinterest; and they’re much easier to come back and reference! In the post below, you’ll find three of my favorite envelope art tutorials from the past couple of months.

    1. Banner, Lettering, and Swirls Envelope Art

    There’s a lot going on in this envelope art! It just goes to show: sometimes more is more. You could utilize this concept on any color of envelope; just make sure to adjust your ink color accordingly! White inks go great with dark envelopes, and dark inks will do the trick on lighter envelopes.

    Three Envelope Art Mini-Tutorials | The Postman's Knock

    Begin by drawing “Telephone Cord and Flower” calligraphy flourishes in the upper left and bottom right corners of the envelope. You can learn how to make this type of flourish in the Three Simple Calligraphy Flourishes blog post. Next, use an assortment of stamps to create a stamp collage; the stamps should preferably correspond with the color of the envelope. If you live in the US, you can buy some great postage stamps at USPS.com and eBay! Once you have created your stamp collage, draw two parallel wavy guidelines, and write “PLEASE DELIVER TO:” between them, as pictured below.

    Three Envelope Art Mini-Tutorials | The Postman's Knock

    Next, draw a banner around “PLEASE DELIVER TO:”, and sketch out your recipient’s name. For the envelope below, I didn’t really use a specific lettering style: I just wrote the first name in cursive bubble letters, then I wrote out the last name in print. Whenever you’re making guidelines or sketches on dark paper like this, you’ll want to use a white mechanical pencil! White mechanical pencils are fantastic for drawing white guidelines because they erase very well.

    Three Envelope Art Mini-Tutorials | The Postman's Knock

    Now, write over your pencil guidelines with ink. If you drew bubble letters like mine, you can trace along the outside of them, then leave a space and fill in the inside.

    Three Envelope Art Mini-Tutorials | The Postman's Knock

    Write the recipient’s address under their name in any calligraphy style that you like! I chose Kaitlin Style because it is whimsical and pretty.

    Three Envelope Art Mini-Tutorials | The Postman's Knock

    Don’t forget to add your return address on the back! I like to match return addresses with the calligraphy style used on the front, so I used Kaitlin Style calligraphy here again.

    Three Envelope Art Mini-Tutorials | The Postman's Knock

    If you’re interested in making an envelope like this, here is a list of the materials that I used:

    2. Botanical Explosion Envelope Art

    This envelope art is cheerful and interesting to look at! It’s a great piece to tackle when you want to take thirty minutes for yourself and just “zone out” to a great playlist or podcast, paintbrush in hand.

    Three Envelope Art Mini-Tutorials | The Postman's Knock

    To create this envelope art, start by drawing a banner in pencil. After you draw the banner, write the recipient’s name and address in pencil inside the banner. You can write in any style that you want; in the photo below, I opted for Janet Style calligraphy with a little bit of Sans Serif.  Once you have written out the name and address in pencil, go over the lettering and the banner with ink.

    Three Envelope Art Mini-Tutorials | The Postman's Knock

    Next, break out the watercolors! Paint florals, leaves, and dots all around the banner. You don’t have to paint in a specific style; just let yourself paint whatever you want to! For this envelope, I was inspired by the bold florals of Felicita Sala.

    Three Envelope Art Mini-Tutorials | The Postman's Knock

    After you’re finished painting your florals, you may find that your banner needs a little bit of color. If that is the case, feel free to add some yellow to the edges. Once everything looks good to you, then the envelope is ready to send!

    Three Envelope Art Mini-Tutorials | The Postman's Knock

    If you would like to make an envelope like this, here is a list of materials that I used:

    3. Landmark Envelope Art

    This envelope art utilizes a drawing of a landmark to make for a compelling and intriguing piece! The landmark that I chose for my envelope art is Hearts on a Swing, a bronze sculpture by George Lundeen that is a staple of the Pearl Street Mall here in Boulder, Colorado. While I chose to depict a sculpture, you can apply this technique to almost anything: buildings, vegetation, bridges, etc. As long as the landmark reflects the recipient’s city in some way, the artwork will make sense!

    Three Envelope Art Mini-Tutorials | The Postman's Knock

    Begin by finding a reference photo of the landmark online and sketching it with a crow quill pen and black waterproof ink. If you are intimidated by the sketching process, you can always print out the photo you find online, insert it into the envelope, and use a light box or a bright window to trace over the photo!

    Three Envelope Art Mini-Tutorials | The Postman's Knock

    You can add shadows by crisscrossing tiny lines; the closer together those lines are, the darker the shadow will be. Lines that are farther apart denote light shadows. This shading technique is called “crosshatching”.

    Three Envelope Art Mini-Tutorials | The Postman's Knock

    Once you have finished drawing and shading your illustration, it’s time to add some calligraphy! I used Janet Style calligraphy in the photo below to write out the recipient’s name and address; the elegance of Janet Style complements the sculpture’s beauty.

    Three Envelope Art Mini-Tutorials | The Postman's Knock

    You can finish up the piece by painting the landmark. Watercolors are an excellent choice for adding color to the landmark art, but I actually used McCaffery’s inks in brown and green to mimic the real sculpture’s bronze tones. I love using McCaffery’s inks in place of watercolors because they have a beautiful transparency to them!

    Three Envelope Art Mini-Tutorials | The Postman's Knock

    If you like this envelope and would like to make a similar piece, here is a list of the materials that I used:


    Remember that all of these pieces can and should be adapted to suit your personal style! Please feel free to modify the ideas in this post however you want to. Experiment with different envelopes, different colors, and different techniques! In the meantime, if you have any questions about the envelope art techniques explained in this post, don’t hesitate to ask. Since these are mini-tutorials, they’re not as detailed as full TPK blog tutorials, so I’m happy to fill in any blanks!

    I hope you enjoyed and were inspired by this post; if you liked it, you may enjoy previous TPK Facebook mini-tutorial roundups — you can find the first one by clicking here, and the second one by clicking here. Thanks so much for reading TPK, and have a great weekend!

    Warmly,

    Lindsey's Signature | The Postman's Knock