New Mail Art- August

I recently joined a great online community called swap-bot.  Members participate in group swaps, each with a specific theme.  As a newbie, I started out in easy swaps like sending post cards and short notes with creative writing challenges.  This week I'm branching out and trying some art based challenges.  The first was to decorate a kraft envelope with anything I wanted.  I had the option to draw, paint, collage, or even use a mix of techniques.  I've really needed a reason lately to dive back into practicing my drawing and collaging skills.

For the first assignment I used a white pen to Zentangle/Zendoodle all over the entire envelope.  For those of you that don't know, Zentangling is simply doodling in a repeating pattern to fill a space.  Sometimes you can find elaborate works of zentangles, but more often than not, zentangles are used to illuminate a letter or fill a shape.  At first this technique really intimidated me, but I discovered that Pinterest is full of patterns, tutorials, and step by step drawing guides for each pattern.

Celtic Owl by Taliesin71

by pinkflamingo61 on etsy

After a bit of practice, here's what I ended up with.  This is before the paper was folded into an envelope.

For my second art challenge on swap-bot, I chose another simple swap.  This one, being very similar to the first, used kraft envelopes as the medium.  This time there was a theme though: Fall; and a stipulation that you could not use Halloween items.

Again, I decided to draw.  With some practice first (and lots of erasing!) I went with a simple maple leaf and a pumpkin, two of my favorite things about fall!