Even More Mail Art

 

You can put as much or as little effort in your envelopes as you want. Here is a simple design but added interest is created by blending using my Copic markers.

Here added interest is created my crosshatching and creating a background. The plaid background is easy especially when you need to fill in a lot of space.

This is a basic geometric stencil with crosshatching and another plaid background.

Here, I wanted to create something special because I was sending my journal to be included in a touring art journal exhibit. A mandala stencil above and my favorite floral stencil below.

This is generally the process that I use when creating a piece of mail art. Usually, I create the main image with stencils and markers. If I am creating the address by hand, I usually begin with that. In this case, I will be using a label.

Next, I create the background. Here I used alcohol inks in a spray bottle.

Then I work on the reverse. I usually create the front of the envelope first. This is one of my rose stencils. It is a single stencil that I have repeated. I like offsetting the image to get a second variation out of a single image. I also like playing with positive and negative space. As you can see here, I crosshatched the background (the negative space). To add interest, I used three slightly different shades of red. You can create the same look with a single red marker and a black fine tip Sharpie. To create the same effect, color one rose using strokes in one direction. Color the second rose using strokes in both directions (therefore giving it a darker hue). Color the background in strokes opposite of the first rose. Add crosshatching and you have created a third color.

Well everyone. Thanks for stopping by this week. I will be taking the rest of the weekend off to celebrate my birthday. Who am I kidding, I have been celebrating my birthday all month. Have a great weekend.