The Invitation Suite (Courtney Khail Watercolors for Weddings Unveiled Spring Inspiration Shoot)

The Invitation Suite (Courtney Khail Watercolors for Weddings Unveiled Spring Inspiration Shoot)

Custom Fine Art Watercolor Wedding Invitation Suite by Courtney Khail | photo by ellegolden

I absolutely love when I'm given free reign with designing. Which aside from sending over inspiration boards to give me an idea for the overall look and colors, is pretty much exactly what Raquel did. She trusted my expertise and ability and just let me create- and in the end she got amazing pieces. (I stress this point to anyone looking to work with an artist- whether it's for commissioned art for custom wedding invitations or for your home. Choose someone whose work and style you love, give them enough information- favorite colors, overall mood, etc- so they know what you want, and then trust them to provide that. By giving people the freedom to really create, more often than not you will be rewarded with exceptional art far exceeding anything you could have imagined!)

The color palette board I made to show the original inspiration (photo by Elle Golden)

But back to this suite. Raquel wanted a natural palette- lots of greens, blues, and whites- that evoked spring. After seeing her inspiration, I immediately envisioned a garden after a spring rain (Wow. Feels like I'm writing copy for the J. Peterman catalog with that one.) Subdued, yet still vibrant colors, with enough contrast for interest, but not so much that anything is jarring. Have you ever looked into a clear, blue lake? How close to the surface the water is barely blue at all- more crystal clear- but as your eyes look deeper, the water gradually darkens until it's almost navy or midnight? (If not, I suggest you go explore the outdoors more because the world is beautiful and you'll get to see things like what I just described.) I wanted my pieces to appear delicate, but strong enough to stand on their own, with subtle color variations like those that occur in nature.

Invitation by Courtney Khail Watercolors (photo by Elle Golden)

Like all of my work, I incorporated handwritten elements as well. With this particular one though, I kept the lines very thin. (The style was inspired by the handwritten notes my grandmothers used to send. Cursive, airy, and always consistent in the width- probably because they were written with a ball point pen. There was always something so feminine about their handwriting and I want to capture that in this suite.)

The design itself was directly inspired by spring time in the South. I'm originally from Augusta, Georgia and for Augustans the beginning of spring is marked by one thing- The Masters golf tournament. Always the first full week of April, the city is full of bright azalea blooms, dogwood blooms so bright they appear to be glowing, and tons of green- in everything from manicured lawns to the famed green jacket. I dialed back on the colors some, but still strived to capture the overall feeling of spring's "fresh start" with the artwork itself.

Watercolor RSVP by Courtney Khail Watercolors (Photo by Elle Golden)

And there you have it- the back story and inspiration of the invitation suite. Does it remind you of spring as well?

jessica + will wedding invitations

Pink Spring Wedding Invitations: jessica + will

Now that my sister and brother in law have been married almost three months, I figured it was about time to share their invitations with you all! My sisters favorite color is pink (she's the super girly daughter) so it was no surprise that when asked "what her colors were" she replied "blush and bashful." (If you have not watched Steel Magnolias that reference was probably lost on you. Then again, if you haven't seen Steel Magnolias you are seriously missing out. And not the new one- the original one with Julia Roberts. Go ahead and pull it up on Netflix. You can thank me later.)

Anyhow, back to my sister. I was honored when she asked me to do her invitations, but also knew it was a tall order simply because it was my sister. That's a lot of pressure because I wanted them to be just right. (And because I am a perfectionist that likes everything to match, I knew it also meant I'd be doing her menus, signage, escort cards, programs, etc.)

jessica_and_will_invitation detail via courtney khail

I knew she wanted a mix of styles- two parts English Garden tea party, one part the Great Gatsby, and a dash of Southern vintage- which creates a unique set of challenges. In the end, I combined my signature handwritten names with a sans serif font to mesh the modern with the vintage/intimate feelings of their hand inked names. Then I created a painting that combined the wildflower feeling she wanted with the bouquets of the 20's (with their long cascading leaves and petals) all while using the color palette of antique floral china patterns that would be found during an English tea party. (Well, I mostly stuck to that- I amped up the pinks since that's her favorite color.)

jessica_and_will_table cards2 via courtney khail

I love how it all turned out, but most importantly, she loved it which was really all I was concerned about!

And because I mentioned them above- here are a few photos of the other elements I did as well. (The programs mimicked the invitations, the escort cards were tied to small keys since the first time her husband said "I love you" he gave her a key necklace symbolizing that she had the key to his heart, the menus were kept simple but still combined the handwritten aspects from the invitation, and lastly- each table had a love quote that I inked and my sister attached to a gold backing.)

jessica_and_will_table cards via courtney khail

Everything came together so well and looked beautiful, but in the end (as always) all that mattered was the love between my sister and her new husband. No amount of beautiful details could outshine that!

happy weekend (plus kind words from frolic! and melissa loves)

via frolic

Well happy weekend everyone! I'm not sure if it's just because the week's been busy (or if I'm just loosing track of the days) but I feel like this week has flown by. (How about yours?) My cousin got engaged (yay!) we went to the Denver Auto Show (if anyone wants to buy me an Aston Martin I will not turn you down) and made a quick stop at a new thrift store. (Sadly, it ended up looking more like a landfill than a store so we promptly made a U- Turn and walked right out. It looked like someone took trash, removed any food that was there, and then put it on a table. So gross.) And aside from that, I've just holed myself up in the studio painting (which is one of my favorite things so I'm not complaining.) Right now I'm actually watching the snow roll in (you heard me right. Snow. Looks like a few good days left of skiing!) and adding the ink to one of my newest pieces.

And speaking of pieces, I wanted to share how two of my friends are enjoying some of my work. Excuse the gushing, but seriously these two ladies are both so wonderful. I met Chelsea in Portland when J. and I went on our cross country road trip and instantly felt like we'd been friends for a while. (I'm still trying to coax her into coming out to Colorado for some sunshine!) As for Melis, I met her at Alt last year through Uncle Beefy. Between her sarcastic (and just my style of inappropriate) humor, her love for rap, and the amazing warm/loving vibe she gives off, I knew this was someone I wanted to call a friend. I'm so lucky to have these two in my life!

Anyhoo. Enough gushing. On to the posts. The top photo is of Chelsea's desktop. She's a stylist so it didn't surprise me at all that it was so beautifully arranged (unlike my mess of a desk right now) but seeing that my work was included made me feel all warm and happy inside.  Aren't her fresh flowers beautiful? (and the vase!) Nothing quite like flowers to brighten up a space.

And then here is Melis' post! I absolutely loved watching her document the entire process (from the unopened box to the final painting!) If you have a moment I'd love for you to pop over and read it (as well as take some time on her lovely site.) Oh and another fun tidbit, this is Melis (doing the voice over and bathing her eldest for a johnson and johnson commercial.)

And again, thank you both so much for sharing my work! It means the world to me to have such amazing friends in my corner.