Lesson 1

this morning there was an email from a friend who is new to envelopes. she remembered seeing one of my envelopes that was *grass growing* and she did not think she was going to be able to do that style. so here is a lesson (in just one of the many grassy growing styles that i do).

anyone who knows their alphabet can do this style.
step 1: draw a base line with a pale green or a colored pencil.
step 2: with a light pencil, draw the strokes you need to form letters. start them on the base line. add little lines to make each letter correct. do not worry about being too literal. for example, the cross bar on the T in toby is just a random stem.
step 3: go over the pencil lines with a thick bright green marker. flick the strokes quickly to give them some *stem-iness. don't try to stay on the pencil lines. i left mine in so you can see that i do not trace over them, just use them for guidelines.
step 4: add some dark green shades with a marker or colored pencil.
step 5: add dotty flowers. note how the ones on becky started out one way and evolved into something different on toby. i like the toby ones better. this was not going in the mail, so it was a practice envelope. if i was only doing one envelope, i would do a quick practice version to get the details down. then i would save the practice one in my file of ideas. if you are doing a complete mailing, start with the PWDMs. those are People Who Don't Matter. not that they don't matter as people, but they are people who will not scrutinize the dotty flowers or details. the non-artistic people on your list who just love everything.

so, this was fun. if anyone else wants to make a request, i will post lessons and ideas for anything you can think of. and some day i will find the coolest *challenge lettering* ever. a penpal called, wondering how to make letters look like film. it was a great style that was inspired by stamps.