FEB to Irene - Checkerboard Madness

There are a total of 7 envelopes done in this style that will alternate with envelopes that arrived. I was inspired by Rachael's November envelope. The concept is to draw a grid. Put an outlined letter in each square. Then quarter each letter. Then create the checkerboard by coloring in the background - alternated with coloring in the letter. So easy -- until you start doing it.

Rachael had warned me that it could be a headache-inducing style and I wish I could remember what was going through my head that convinced me to try something that was going to be so hard. (Chore avoidance, no doubt) 

Drawing all the letters is not hard. It's the filling in that is tricky. Below is my very first attempt - on paper - not an envelope. It was a test run to see if I could come up with a way to *color in* the spaces that was not solid. Something faster.  Also, to test how hard it is to. keep track of whether you are coloring in a background or a partial letter.

The letters are too large. My alternative to filling in a solid is crosshatching. There are two ways to cross hatch. You can draw little lines, always in one direction, lifting your pen each time. Or you can make the lines in a back and forth motion - that gives a bit of zig-zag effect. I did both on this one.

I will spare you a lengthy discussion of the pros and cons of one direction vs zig-zag vs combining. Since there is vertical, horizontal and 2 directions of diagonal - we have lost our footing on a very slippery slope.

I think Rachael and I came up with the name Checkerboard Madness for this style. I think a future post will include the inspiration for the style. I know that several of the upcoming posts have jumped around and will be confusing.