Watercolor Menus, Table Numbers, and Escort Cards (a look at the extras)

View of the table setting with my custom watercolor wedding menu card | courtney khail watercolors | photo by Elle Golden

The Extras- watercolor escort cards, menus, and table numbers by courtney khail watercolors

Oh the extras. A lot of people forget about these, but it's these pieces that can really tie everything together design wise. You also a little more freedom to play around with pieces like menus or table numbers since there are-usually- less of them and therefore not as visually overwhelming or expensive. Since I've already shared the watercolor wedding invitations I created for the Weddings Unveiled shoot, I thought today would be a great day to share more of the "day of" elements.

For the menus and table numbers, I utilized the same basic designs and artwork as the invitations, but I played with the shapes to give them more visual interest. (If you missed the post on how I created the artwork, you can find that here.) My circular menus fit perfectly inside the (absolutely beautiful) gradient blue plates Raquel chose from Ponce City Market's West Elm, which in turn acted as "frames" for the menu artwork. (Full disclosure, this was actually just a happy accident. I thought circles would be more fun than common rectangle or square menus, not to mention that the artwork really lent itself to the shape so I just went for it and hoped for the best. I had no clue if it would work with the design, but luckily, it worked perfectly.)

my original sketch for the menu cards | via courtney khail watercolors

The table number was also a spontaneous decision. Originally a square, I thought it needed something so the night before the shoot I started cutting away at the white space. In the end, the cut out mimics the border of the painted "bouquet" and ended up blending in seamlessly to the center pieces. Which was pretty awesome if I do say so myself.

Custom watercolor table number by courtney khail | photo by Elle Golden

As for the escort cards, Raquel told me the idea she had for displaying them, so I knew they couldn't be too busy. By removing the line work, the names (handwritten to mimic the invitation) pop from the paper, while the lighter artwork forms a floating garden when all of the names are arranged together.

View of Table | Custom watercolor wedding extras by courtney khail | photo by Elle Golden

Custom watercolor escort card detail | created by courtney khail | photo by Elle Golden

sliced lemons

Sliced Lemons via courtney khail. Purchase this painting here

I just can't stay away from the lemons lately. Every time I walk into the grocery store they're just overflowing from the bins and the next thing I know, I've purchased another six. Luckily, I really like lemonade. And lemon cookies. And pretty much all other baked goods with lemon zest.

Something about citrus fruit always reminds me of lazy summer afternoons. Sitting outside on your porch-your skin still warm from an afternoon in the sun- just cooling off with a glass of cold lemonade that you bought from the stand on the corner. Though I guess that's probably made from a package, but that doesn't really matter. Those are the memories I wanted to capture in this painting. A piece that- even on the coldest of days- could send you right back to your sun drenched front porch.

To be honest, I wasn't exactly planning on painting these lemons, but after I sliced them to put into my water, I couldn't get over how pretty the looked arranged on the cutting board so I pulled out the paints and got to work. I love how vibrant the yellows are and how if you look closely, the flesh of the lemon has a slight lime green cast. It's those little variations in color that I just can't get enough of lately.

colorful inspiration- ranunculus blooms

Just some pretty ranunculus blooms (plus some greenery from the backyard) I put together for our housewarming party last week. Aren't the colors amazing?

Craving: Cloud Rain Gutter Cover

designed by Dmitriy Kulyev found on swiss miss

If this doesn't make you smile, I'm not sure what will.

From The Studio: Oranges and Grapefruit

While grapefruits were always a little too tart for me (and by the time I put on enough sugar to make that less so, it kind of defeated the purpose of eating it) oranges always held a very special place in my heart. Growing up, my aunt and uncle and grandparents lived on the St. John's River in Astor, Florida. Astor is a tee-niny little town with a post office, a food mart (that's actually what it's called) and like 4 restaurants. My aunt and uncle owned one of the only 2 places to stay if you happened to visit (mostly bikers during bike week or fisherman looking to catch "the big one" on the St. Johns) and if I remember correctly, there isn't a stop light. There may be a blinking light. Maybe. 

Going to visit was about spending time with family. It wasn't about Disney World or the beach (though those were close by if you wanted to go) but instead it was about watching the sun create glittery patterns on the river, listening to the waves splash against the docks as barges drifted by, and long talks with my grandparents. It was the kind of place you could actually breathe and hear yourself think. Aside from a speedboat or my grandfather's saws spinning in his shop, the world was quiet there.

And something you could ALWAYS count on at my grandparents was a huge breakfast every morning. You'd wake up to the smell of grits, toast, bacon, sausage, eggs, croissants and of course the juiciest, sweetest, fresh orange wedges from my grandmother's trees out front. I would eat plate after plate of her oranges. Sweet, sticky juice dripping down my hands, warm sunlight on my back- it's one of those memories that just holds on and stays with you. To this day I can't see an orange without associating them with my grandparents and those easy summer mornings. As soon as I cut into one I can almost hear the rustling of the newspaper as my granddad turned the pages and the shuffle of my grandmother's slippers as she cleaned up while we all ate. (Seriously. You could never get her to sit down. She always worried about everyone else. Was your grandmother like that too?)

Paintings and images copyrighted by courtney khail and are available for purchase right here

From The Studio: Lemons and Blood Oranges

 

Citrus fruits epitomize warm weather for me and with the temperatures rising in Denver, I knew it's what I wanted to paint next in my food series. Today I added three new paintings to the shop that remind me of spring and summertime. One is a childhood memory, and the other is just because I love the fruit.

First, the childhood memory. Growing up, my mother used to roll a whole lemon until it was soft, cut a hole into the top and then put an old fashioned peppermint stick into it. Because the peppermint sticks had small holes in them, you'd use them as a straw to drink in the fresh lemon juice. The sugar and mint from the peppermint sticks would make perfectly sweet but tart lemonade that was perfect in the summer months. Looking back, it was just one of those things my mom did to make little treats that much more special, but to this day when the weather gets just hot enough to make you want to run through a sprinkler, I can't help but crave a homemade lemon and mint drink. Through these paintings, I wanted to capture that playfulness and memory.

As for the blood orange, there is just something so exotic about them.Like a grown up orange. From the outside, it looks just like any other orange. Bright orange and smells amazing, but that's all. You wouldn't really be able to tell the difference unless you sliced into it. When you do that, you're greeted with the surprise of a deep red flesh- juicy and sweet like any other orange, but almost as though it captured even more sunlight inside. There's a sexiness to them that makes even the simplest things- like an orange juice or a mimosa- that much more special.

All paintings copyrighted by courtney khail and are available for sale right here

From the Studio: Onion Cross Sections (and what I feel is the hardest part of being an artist)

view more images here

To me, one of the hardest things about being an artist is simply that- being an artist. Consistently coming up with new content that combines your style with your passions. It's easy to get stuck in a rut, or very similar to writers, to hit a wall. "Artists block" if you will. I remember during an end of the semester critique in college, one of my (favorite) art professors told me he couldn't figure out my style (and in turn that I probably hadn't found it either.) Looking over my portfolio, I realized he was right. I was all over the place. It wasn't that I didn't like what I was producing, but semester after semester of studying scientific illustration, I'd stopped creating art and instead was just finishing projects. I followed the guidelines, learned the lessons, made the piece- but I never really allowed myself to make it my own. It was a little depressing to be completely honest. (It was around this time that I realized I was no longer going to continue doing scientific illustration after college. I loved the science behind it- watching surgery videos, studying insects under microscopes, all of my anatomy classes- but it was killing my creative side and left me yearning for something more. As luck would have it, as soon as I started focusing on painting again, my style reemerged.) And while I'm a thousand times happier (a billion times even) it never occurred to me just how much I would miss the assignments scientific illustration provided. I remember the first time I sat down just to paint for me and feeling completely lost. It was as though the moment I could create anything, I couldn't think of a damn thing to actually create.

view more images here

So I started creating my own assignments. It didn't really matter how good the paintings were, just the fact that I was doing them. I read an article (about hiking no less) that said "if you rest, you rust" and that's really stuck with me. The longer I waited to "figure out what I wanted to paint" the harder it was to paint.

Anyhow. With all of that in mind, I decided that I didn't want to rust (or remain stagnant) so I sat down this weekend and just made myself paint. It was snowing, the house was clean, and I really couldn't find any other reason to procrastinate so I figured it was as good a time as ever. I wasn't really sure what would develop, or if it would be anything I'd want to share with you all, but luckily inspiration struck and before I knew it time was flying by as I painted.

view more images here

About the paintings:

Despite technically leaving scientific illustration behind, I've never been able to fully ignore my love for science. One of my favorite things ever were studying the microscope slides and cross sections. It was so cool to see what things looked like from the inside- a view most of us never have the opportunity to experience. Combine that with my love of cooking and it seems like a no-brainer that I would eventually paint something like this. From the outside, onions aren't really that remarkable, but cut them in half and you're greeted with a perfectly arranged pattern, subtle colors, and organic shapes. A hidden world inside something so incredibly common. (I'm so excited to see where this series goes! I'm thinking citrus fruits next.)

Want to see more? Head over to my shop

Craving: Sock Rug

via etsy

And thanks to this little gem, I can now rationalize that the pile of socks without mates just hanging out on our bedroom floor now qualifies as a rug. One less thing we need to by for the new house! (kidding. We still need a rug. I mean, we don't have that many mate-less socks.)

craving: Bec Brittain Maxhedron light

via Bec Brittain

Speaking of a housewarming present, how about a few of these amazing lights? When turned off they become mirrored and blend into their background, but when turned on the glass becomes translucent and they become beautiful glass constellation holders. Now if only they weren't $10k+...

craving: bicycle taxidermy

bicycle taxidermy via here

As someone who loves her electric blue cruiser (and is married to a bike fanatic) I'm going to go ahead and say that we need this in our home. Wonder if the hunters in my family would laugh at our "six pointer" on the wall?

DIY glitter tree tutorial

Yep, I'm obsessed with decorating for Christmas. And thanks to last week's project, I had some extra gold glitter paper just sitting around so I figured I'd make something with it! You can make this with any thick paper you have (you know, in case you're not in love with glitter) and they literally take like 5 minutes. Maybe 10 if you cut really slowly.

1. Grab your paper and your scissors

2. Draw out a Christmas tree (excuse the wonkiness. This is what happens when you try to draw while looking through a camera.)

3-4. Cut out the first tree, trace it onto the second piece of paper, and then cut that out so you have two identical Christmas tree shapes (or if you're feeling fancy, you could do this whole tutorial with present shapes)

5. On one tree, cut from the top down about an inch. On the second tree, cut from the bottom up- stopping just a little more than an inch from the top.

6. Slide them together and adjust so they stand upright

7. Go have a cookie, pat yourself on the back for being so incredibly talented, and begin planning your future crafting empire. Or just eat the cookie.