tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26949343877229036052024-03-13T23:26:53.155-04:00sara wood illustration and designThe life, work, and inspirations of Ms. Sara Wood.Sara Woodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10089095269824834527noreply@blogger.comBlogger24125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2694934387722903605.post-71495730512478084642012-03-14T16:02:00.004-04:002012-03-14T16:17:08.468-04:00THE GODS OF GOTHAMTomorrow will be a bit of an exciting day for me, as my first "big" book cover will finally appear on store shelves.<br />
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<i>The Gods of Gotham</i> by Lyndsay Faye is a work of historical fiction, based on the formation of the first NYC police force in 1845. Faye's story paints a finely detailed, but intensely gritty picture of New York in the mid-nineteenth century: lawlessness abounds, immigrants are flooding into the city from Ireland, religious tensions are high, and the streets are awash with filth, poverty, and every imaginable sin.<br />
The plot literally opens with an explosion—a great fire that actually did ravage over 300 downtown buildings in the summer of 1845. After Timothy Wilde, <i>Gotham</i>'s narrator, loses all of his meager fortune in the fire, he joins up with the copper stars, the earliest incarnation of the NYPD. On one of his nightly rounds, he finds a little girl who is absolutely covered in someone else's blood, and in trying to determine what could have happened to her, he gets sucked into investigating a string of strange killings: all of them are children, all are Irish, and all are Catholic.<br />
It's a great read, and full of richly detailed snapshots of life in mid-nineteenth century Manhattan. I'd definitely recommend it to folks who have an interest in New York history, Irish-American history, crime novels, or even just people who liked the movie, "Gangs of New York."<br />
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When I was first assigned this title, I was definitely intimidated. Not only am I the new designer on the block, but it's an Amy Einhorn book, and everything that Amy Einhorn touches turns to gold (like, uh, <i>The Help</i>, for example)! Everyone's expectations were high from the get-go, and it was made very clear that I needed to design a cover that would live up to the quality of the literature. It was what everyone described as a "big" book: a potential bestseller, and bestselling books need to <i>look</i> like bestsellers. So I got to it. After reading the manuscript, these were some of my earliest comps:<br />
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A little womp-womp, right? I got the general mood right, but not much else. There really wasn't much of the story going on here with the visuals, and besides that I needed to make it more eye-catching. I thought I'd proceed by focusing more on the girl, as she's such a pivotal figure in the story:<br />
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Still not quite right, unfortunately. The direction is a little too feminine for the story, and while women will be readily attracted to <i>Gotham</i>, I definitely knew that I needed to bump up the masculinity.<br />
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These comps started feeling as though they were getting close. I'd gone back to the text to see if I could pick up on some more useful visuals, and from that I gleaned two things: undertones of sexuality and more concretely, charcoal pencil marks. Timothy obsesses over an unrequited love interest throughout the story, and when he's alone in his room he uses charcoal on butcher paper as a way of sketching through his thoughts, trying to make more sense of them. I found a nice image of lush, sexy-looking hair, and after busting out my own charcoal pencils, superimposed the title with large, roughly drawn letterforms. Inspired by the shapes of the hair, I also sketched out some fluid fire lines with a grease pencil, so it would look both gritty and graceful. That ended up being the winning idea, and after a great deal of refinement, including the addition of woodblock type, I arrived at the final cover.<br />
The final effects really make this jacket sing, and they're easily my favorite part. It's printed on uncoated felt stock, so it feels nice and naturally gritty, the accented fire lines are stamped in a foil appropriately called "Fire Engine Red," and all of the type is spot-glossed, giving it a deliciously slick feel. Do me a favor and touch it if you see it at Barnes and Noble sometime soon!<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7177/6836718694_5d08b10102_z.jpg" /></div>Sara Woodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10089095269824834527noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2694934387722903605.post-15656169716535757192011-10-24T23:15:00.000-04:002011-10-24T23:15:03.985-04:00Autumn WeekendsThe last couple of weekends were spent with family in Pennsylvania, and I'm so glad that we were able to get a healthy taste of *genuine* autumn—something that's easy to forget about here in concrete-covered New York. The following photos were taken at Terrain @ Styer's in Glen Mills and Highland Orchards in West Chester.<br />
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<img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6094/6275611486_71b532aca4_z.jpg" /></div>Sara Woodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10089095269824834527noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2694934387722903605.post-55203986322183119972011-10-11T23:38:00.002-04:002011-10-11T23:40:57.140-04:00The Great American CookbookToday marks the release of The Great American Cookbook by Clementine Paddleford, and it was described by its publisher, <a href="http://www.rizzoliusa.com/book.php?isbn=9780847836901">Rizzoli USA</a>, as <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">"</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The first and greatest book of regional American cuisine, now revised for today’s home cook."</span></span><br />
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</span></span></div>Hana Anouk Nakamura from <a href="http://www.mucca.com/">Mucca Design</a> contacted me to do some silhouette illustrations of food, people, and animals, and I was pretty much over-the-moon about it—who doesn't love drawing food? And besides, I really could draw silhouettes all day long. Not *all* of my drawings appear to have been used in the final book, but I was very pleased to receive a beautifully printed copy the other day, and am already excited to try such old-timey, Americana recipes as "Mrs. Morton's Apple Crisp Pudding" and "Souffléd Macaroni and Cheese." Get ready, arteries.<br />
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Thanks again Hana! This was a particularly fun one.Sara Woodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10089095269824834527noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2694934387722903605.post-64171720349940069092011-10-05T00:23:00.001-04:002011-10-05T00:34:16.241-04:00Werk.It was at about this time last year that I started an in-house freelance job at HarperCollins, working on a specific yet large-scale project that involved dozens of reprints & repackages of Agatha Christie mysteries, which were to be marketed to a younger audience. While some of the titles would be adopting cover designs from the UK, they all needed a new, more consistently branded look, to be resized to fit Harper Paperback trim sizes, and quite a few of the books needed completely new designs/illustrations. It was a really wonderful experience—the Harper art department is full of some of the industry's most talented designers, and they're straight-up great people as well. <a href="http://www.tigerette.com/2009/index.html">Robin Bilardello</a> was my brilliant art director/cheerleader throughout the whole process, and that experience alone was worth its weight in gold. Robin=the best. Here are a few of my favorite repackages:<br />
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<div style="text-align: left;">These were all done in only a couple of weeks, as the deadline was reeeeaaaaaally tight to send them off to print. I finished these covers at the end of February, and they were printed and on bookstore shelves by mid-April. That's about one nanosecond in publishing time! Typically covers are designed about one year before they're scheduled to be published.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Speaking of working ahead of time, this is a cover that I designed/illustrated for Scholastic (whose Creative Director is the absolutely <i>wonderful</i> Elizabeth Parisi) at about this time last year, and it's not coming out until March 2012—nearly two years later:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
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<div style="text-align: left;">That's all for now; hopefully I can put together a couple of process posts soon, since I've got mountains and mountains of comps for a few of my recent Penguin titles...</div></div></div>Sara Woodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10089095269824834527noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2694934387722903605.post-52362125133300493262011-10-03T10:58:00.000-04:002011-10-03T10:58:20.230-04:00WHAT UP?!Oh my—it's been a mortifyingly long time since I've posted. Life, you know? Changes.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">I got married.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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</tbody></table></div><div style="text-align: center;">To the wonderful <a href="http://www.jimtierneyart.com/">Jim Tierney</a>!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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</tbody></table></div><div style="text-align: center;">...Then we went on an English honeymoon.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5030/5831353395_d8a8d5a6c8_z.jpg" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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Two of my sisters had babies within a month of each other.<br />
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We inherited a cat named Tawny.<br />
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And then summer ended rather quietly.<br />
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<div style="text-align: left;">Autumn is here though, bringing with it all new changes! I'm happy to report that I'm finally able to share a lot of the work that I've done in the last few months, so that'll be yet another big, honking post. Please bear with me while I play 2011 catch-up! I'm definitely ready to get back into the swing of things...<br />
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<i>All wedding photos © Amy DiLorenzo; all other photos by me.</i> </div></div>Sara Woodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10089095269824834527noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2694934387722903605.post-87595776155614574432011-01-20T17:46:00.000-05:002011-01-20T17:46:33.448-05:00Ms. KokoSo I've had a lot of really exciting stuff happen in the last few weeks, and 2011 is already proving to be very busy and full of many promises, but I'm going to hold off on a full update (and believe me, there's a lot to update...). I'm going to hold off because I was just looking through some old photos/illustrations on my Flickr, and there's something that I must share right now: a little 3-page comic that I did about my dog Koko. This piece is from junior year at UArts I believe, in Christine Larsen's sequential class, and I want to share it because even though it's silly/poorly drawn, it's about my favorite animal in the whole-wide-world, Ms. Koko Wood. Enjoy.<br />
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I'll be back soon for a legit post, but I just wanted to spread some Koko love.Sara Woodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10089095269824834527noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2694934387722903605.post-29765638991139726462010-12-24T22:31:00.000-05:002010-12-24T22:31:19.426-05:00Merry Christmas!<div align="center"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5282/5285031901_4fbdcd4d23_b.jpg" /></div><div align="center"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: left;">Merry Christmas everyone! I hope that you all stuff yourselves silly, shower your loved ones with presents, and have a generally joy-filled holiday. You deserve it. Roll on, 2011!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">P.S. I started <a href="http://twitter.com/woodsarawood">a twitter page</a>... Did you know? Follow me @woodsarawood if you feel like it. :)</div>Sara Woodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10089095269824834527noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2694934387722903605.post-6809911789956804262010-11-24T09:53:00.001-05:002010-11-24T10:06:50.466-05:00All handsMan, hands are a tough render to begin with, but they're particularly challenging when you're rusty. And tired. This was a quick one for Redbird — they love giving me only a couple of days to complete a poster! I suppose that's why I kept it so clean and simple...<br />
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</tbody></table></div>Happy Thanksgiving everyone!Sara Woodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10089095269824834527noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2694934387722903605.post-13778022307004337702010-11-13T15:21:00.002-05:002010-11-13T15:25:46.851-05:00Thanks Barnes & Noble!Some of my covers are finally visible on B&N.com (and Amazon, etc.)! It's like Christmas come early... I actually can't wait until this <i>doesn't</i> fill me with glee. The fact that it does is just a mark of my status as a complete book design novice.<br />
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For Oxford University Press, where I worked from June-September (pardon the quality, they're actually grabbed from bn.com or Amazon):<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Peace-and-Violence-of-Judaism/Robert-Eisen/e/9780199751471/?itm=1&USRI=robert+eisen"><img src=http://images.barnesandnoble.com/images/84760000/84760941.JPG /></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/New-Frontiers-State-Constitutional-Law/dp/0195368320/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1289678577&sr=8-1"><img src=http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41iONWkOlML._SS500_.jpg /></a><br />
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<a href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Lines-of-Thought/Lance-Rips/e/9780195183054/?itm=6&USRI=lines+of+thought"><img src=http://images.barnesandnoble.com/images/77700000/77703930.JPG /></a><br />
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<a href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Passage-of-Literature/Christopher-GoGwilt/e/9780199751624/?itm=4&USRI=passage+of+literature"><img src=http://images.barnesandnoble.com/images/71020000/71029821.JPG /></a><br />
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The above covers were art directed by Rachel Perkins, Geronna Lyte, or Eduardo Nemeth, and all images were provided by the authors or Shutterstock.<br />
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Here's another that I did for Jim Massey over at Three Rivers Press, an imprint of Crown Publishing/Random House:<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Divine-Life-of-Animals/Ptolemy-Tompkins/e/9780307451330/?itm=3&USRI=the+divine+life+of+animals"><img src=http://images.barnesandnoble.com/images/81160000/81163489.JPG /></a><br />
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As you can see, none of these have any illustrations by me, but very very soon the first batch of my project at Harper will be coming out, and I'll be able to share those covers with you, as well as a couple more things that I've worked on in the last 6 months. Fun, right?<br />
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P.S. Check out <a href="http://nonslick.blogspot.com/2010/11/sara-wood.html"><b>this</b></a> interview I did with <a href="http://www.o-fishel.com">Daniel Fishel</a> over at the <a href="http://nonslick.blogspot.com/">Non-slick blog</a>! It also appeared on yesterday's "Something for the Weekend" post on <a href="http://www.casualoptimist.com/2010/11/12/something-for-the-weekend-39/">The Casual Optimist</a>. Mmm, book talk...Sara Woodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10089095269824834527noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2694934387722903605.post-60215973006120619632010-10-25T14:27:00.000-04:002010-10-25T14:27:29.046-04:00Pumpkin rollAwwww yeah, it's fall. This was the first October weekend wherein which Jimmy and I were free from work/family/whatever obligations, so we took some time to enjoy ourselves and the season while I shot a roll. My camera managed to stay put on the first frame for the first 5 shots or so, despite my efforts to advance the film, so my first photo came out as a bit of a surprise. Thanks little <a href="http://vieilalbum.com/documents_fichiers/Manuel%20Olympus%20OM-10.pdf">OM-10</a>!<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1259/5112886763_59066afddd_z.jpg" /><br />
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<img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1155/5113481358_6e4cb40595_z.jpg" /><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(This is the spot where Jimmy proposed to me back in June. Right there... on that bit of grass in Prospect Park.)</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;">It was all very nice. I have to say though, I am <i>really</i> looking forward to <a href="http://www.rallytorestoresanity.com/">next weekend</a>. What up DC?!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div></div>Sara Woodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10089095269824834527noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2694934387722903605.post-16803546404074231492010-10-23T22:34:00.001-04:002010-10-23T22:41:23.263-04:00UPPERCASEHey, remember that little sneak peak I gave you a couple of posts ago? Well here are the deets:<br />
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Janine Vangool, the publisher/editor/designer extraordinaire behind the beautifully curated <a href="http://www.uppercasegallery.ca/">UPPERCASE</a> magazine, contacted me about participating in a super fun feature for issue 7, called "I'm Feeling Bookish." The idea was to design a book cover for not just any old story, but for <i>my </i>story. A self-portrait of sorts, in my favorite format. Of course I was thrilled, and I had a lot of fun figuring out what to do for it—would I focus on my love for cute things like hamster hands and baby turtles? My love for learning? My love for my 3 older sisters? I decided that I'd have the most fun exploring something that's actually been much on my mind as of late: my passive gluttony. I just plain <i>love food</i>. (Ask my jeans... they'll tell you.)<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4121/4942792747_8ef31e1998_b.jpg" /><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: left;">Yep, any excuse to draw my favorite foods, and I'll take it. Anyway, it was a fabulous opportunity, and I can't thank Janine enough for including me. I was in great company as well, sandwiched between my 2 supreme favorites, the suave <a href="http://www.jimtierneyart.com/">Jim Tierney</a> and the Queen of Book Covers, <a href="http://www.cb-smith.com/">Coralie Bickford-Smith</a>! Check out how it looked in print (I'm including Jimmy's too, because he's my man):</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
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<img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1402/5108533503_00595d1bba_z.jpg" /><br />
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<img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1428/5108528561_8933d903b0.jpg" /></div></div><br />
Pretty great! Major thanks again to Janine, not only for the honor of inviting me to be a part of this, but also for being such a dedicated purveyor and promoter of beauty. Seriously, if you haven't subscribed to <a href="http://shop.uppercasegallery.ca/collections/uppercase-magazine-1">UPPERCASE</a> yet, um, what exactly are you waiting for?Sara Woodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10089095269824834527noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2694934387722903605.post-60957891905872549042010-10-12T09:40:00.002-04:002010-10-12T09:42:56.308-04:00When in doubt, put triangles on it.<div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/251/5074550568_52c27dc7df_b.jpg" /></div><br />
This is my second gig poster in as many weeks. And yes, I put hipster triangle trees on it. No shame! This imagery just felt appropriate for this artist, this season, etc., etc.<br />
Also, I feel like I'm cheating on my graphite, but grease pencils are definitely my go-to medium right now. Funny.Sara Woodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10089095269824834527noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2694934387722903605.post-39208850087010665242010-10-01T21:56:00.001-04:002010-10-01T22:01:49.931-04:00Gig poster: Gogol BordelloI've gotten a couple of gig poster jobs from Redbird in the last week, both with fairly tight deadlines. This one was sort of tossed together last night, but I'm very pleased with the result. Can't decide between the two different background colors though... Thoughts?<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4133/5043202948_dc3f21756f_z.jpg" /><br />
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<img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4127/5043202422_5a4a8d1c27_z.jpg" /><br />
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<div style="text-align: left;">My inspiration came from Ukrainian folk art, since Gogol Bordello's lead singer is Ukrainian, and I couldn't resist indulging in those beautiful florals, bright colors, and lush decoration. Their music is fairly cooky and colorful, but quite rough in some ways as well, so I didn't want to make it <i>all</i> smooth and fluid, as in traditional Ukrainian folk art, and once again my handy-dandy grease pencil came to the rescue. I'm really liking it as drawing tool, as opposed to graphite, since I'm far less likely to get fussy and overly concerned with the perfection of my lines.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">If you're curious, here are some examples of my inspiration:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><img height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlPUhl2hCyqSR722IEurfERqWfzIG-WVPSyoXZbTYnFo2bA5MS-rYR9jg-SIuvlgqGTUpKagCuBRVhdy1t2Vh8kaP4WA68sNdu1YtdtaPJRrOppsLFwZYh9HL1JU9TqoOqRuimjahyphenhyphenYb8/s320/folkart2copy.jpg" width="228" /> <img height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4H19hc3m0vFdMSrWsyFji51MGEGUooom8VjkNpy5cGzYAHPvkxyA_NYiFrvVvZhoGQQheIupURkkYPhOi3Caglqb6sfqaSt9N_5d_Q2fDEHp4JK_MpGf3Q5CHQhN3bdNMyE98IL20DXc/s320/folkart10.jpg" width="229" /> <img height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi0b0zxMtfpounuTZFhpPG0RCYK5xtZFi14xlcMhk8hFNGsyPiXTax5cywcxmNJ3Nso_jfNdh9zV4hmIbMW7M3DA7IGTQ-xYqbVVMzJlxWBcXQjW3r8k1P5DMPVo4bIUG3gSSxe6_qfK8/s320/magazine03.jpg" width="233" /><br />
(These beautiful images are from <a href="http://temple-of-light.blogspot.com/2009/06/ukrainian-folk-art-magazine.html">..::Temple of Light::..</a>)<br />
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<div style="text-align: left;">More soon, promise! Some of my recent bizzy-ness is going to start coming to fruition in the next few weeks, which is super exciting.</div></div></div>Sara Woodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10089095269824834527noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2694934387722903605.post-33622960703121026422010-09-13T00:52:00.000-04:002010-09-13T00:52:35.473-04:00I am not a wedding planner...But I am planning our wedding. To be fair, I'm getting a great deal of help from Jimmy and my family (particularly my mother—bless you Mamacita!), but in terms of general mood/aesthetic, I'm hoping to have an event that is, from start to finish, 100% <i>us</i>. Not someone else's translation of what Jimmy and I might want, but what we want. We're visual people; why wouldn't we design our own wedding day?<br />
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Since we have the venue set for early next summer and I'm very close to buying a wedding dress, I'm moving on to some of the other major details of the wedding: the cake, color schemes, flowers, and bridal party dresses. I had a bit of fun putting together a couple of inspiration boards to help me keep track of my thoughts about two of those details:<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4091/4984872551_cc9dff6eb4_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4091/4984872551_cc9dff6eb4_o.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All images are from <a href="http://www.jcrew.com/">www.jcrew.com</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;">Don't laugh at me, but I'm going to have six bridesmaids. I know that is a very high number, but hey—I have three older sisters, and there was no way that I was going to snub either them or my very closest friends, because I want all of them up there with me that day. So yes, six different personalities, body types, and personal styles to dress! I've always felt so opposed to the idea of having an army of bridesmaids, all wearing the same style dress in the same color, but unity <i>is</i> sort of important when it comes to dressing a bridal party. I've chosen a few grays to choose from, since gray is such a flexible and dynamic color, and with all of its various tones/values, it can complement so many different skin tones. I also think that having a variety of dress <i>styles</i> is important, to not only provide the freedom of choice, but also to ensure that every girl has a dress that she feels comfortable and hopefully even a bit unique in wearing. J. Crew has some really great options for those who favor a fresh, modern aesthetic, and the above options are what I'm really leaning towards: figure flattering and simple, with slight variations.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4150/4985472992_9ed6af40aa_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4150/4985472992_9ed6af40aa_o.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Floral images were plucked from Google, and the bouquet sample photo is from <a href="http://www.magnoliamarketonline.com/">www.magnoliamarketonline.com</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;">The floral selections were <i>really</i> fun to brainstorm. Now, because I haven't yet contacted a florist, I'm not quite sure what will be available in June, but my ideal bouquet would pretty much be what is pictured above. It includes peonies, which are just nature's most deliciously robust blossoms, peach stock, Queen Anne's lace, those funny little yellow lollipop flowers are called craspedia. The mixture of peachy salmon and golden yellow are so yummy against white and the bright, glossy green of early summer, and I think that they capture the right amount of freshness: perfect for our outdoor country wedding.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Thanks for bearing with me! This definitely won't be my last wedding inspiration post, I have to warn... This whole 'getting married' business is more or less consuming a portion of my life at the moment, and I'm rather enjoying it.</div></div>Sara Woodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10089095269824834527noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2694934387722903605.post-62882249182120431372010-09-09T21:44:00.001-04:002010-09-09T21:46:45.129-04:00Last of the Summer WineI hope that everyone had a safe and happy holiday this past weekend—Jimmy and I certainly did. We headed down to Coney Island on Labor Day to sort out photos for our save-the-date cards (coming soon!) and I took the opportunity to not only savor the absolutely idyllic weather, but also to use up a roll of film that I had knocking around.<br />
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Enjoy!<br />
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I tell you: there's really nothing quite like hand-painted type. So charming! So quirky! And Coney is absolutely full of it. We've gone down there and had a few overwhelming experiences in the past, on days where the crowds are just ridiculous, but Labor Day was a surprising exception, and it was actually really great. Take a trip to Coney Island, if you haven't been before! It's incredibly cheesy and fairly run-down, but as I said, it really is charming. It's like ramen noodles—kind of gross, but ultimately satisfying.<br />
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That's it for me for now I think, but I've definitely got some new stuff in the works, as always. More soon, for sure.<br />
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Night night!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l8gdbeJbLJ1qzwibd.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l8gdbeJbLJ1qzwibd.gif" /></a></div>Sara Woodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10089095269824834527noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2694934387722903605.post-34841124698756594632010-08-30T18:44:00.001-04:002010-08-30T18:46:31.121-04:00Yummy sneak peekI just finished working on a special project, and I suppose you'll have to wait a bit to see the final result. <br />
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...But not before I give you a generous sneak peek!<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4138/4942793907_34707d45c5_z.jpg" /><br />
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<div style="text-align: left;">Mmm, foooooooood... Come to think of it, the full thing might be a bit boring now. Ah well, I'll still save the explanation for later.</div></div>Sara Woodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10089095269824834527noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2694934387722903605.post-63092586443184814362010-08-17T09:43:00.001-04:002010-08-17T09:45:03.338-04:00ManhattanI both love and hate it... The summer is difficult (perhaps this one in particular), because it's so incredibly sweaty and dirty, and there's almost no way of finding true comfort. But then the summer is also quite fun, because there are interesting events going on, and it feels as though everything is happening outdoors. I guess I just wish that it always felt like this Ella Fitzgerald song, with all of the charm and none of the grime:<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><object height="385" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/OgorHOk8Vdg?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/OgorHOk8Vdg?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object></div><br />
Also, I shot a roll of film the first weekend in August, and didn't get around to scanning the prints until now. Mmm, reliving good times! Manhattan was charming that evening...<br />
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Another upside to living in New York: the live music opportunities. Jimmy and I saw Andrew Bird play in the rotunda at the Guggenheim, amidst a garden-like installation of Ian Schneller's gramophone sculptures. Sounds were looping, bouncing, vibrating... Yes, it was amazing. I didn't get any decent photos of the gramophones though, so I'm afraid you'll have to settle for these:<br />
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I have a special new project that I'll be working on in the next few days, so uh... stay tuned, I suppose.Sara Woodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10089095269824834527noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2694934387722903605.post-91830473961952252422010-08-12T09:32:00.001-04:002010-08-12T09:37:53.307-04:00The National<img alt="the national" height="1024" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4097/4883855429_72cb407992_b.jpg" width="696" /><br />
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I finally finished this poster! I know that it's very soft and undeniably girly, but I really couldn't help myself. I always use gig posters as an excuse to scratch whatever visual itch I've been having, and recently it was calligraphic illustration.<br />
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Drawings such as this were my inspiration. Continuous line, pure decoration... Mine is obviously nowhere near as intricate or refined, but it was certainly fun to try! I used a grease pencil (China marker) to give the drawn line a more interesting texture.Sara Woodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10089095269824834527noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2694934387722903605.post-42775479434789920072010-08-02T13:15:00.001-04:002010-08-02T13:17:42.029-04:00Case of the Mondays= blogging about the weekend on my lunch break. Jimmy and I had a lovely day out on Saturday. Can you tell that we heart Prospect Park?<br />
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Breakfast of <strike>champions</strike> cardiac patients. Well, I suppose it could be worse. But it certainly could be better...<br />
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Pigeons are obsessed with our fire escape.<br />
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Admiring other people's doggies.<br />
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I found a tattered little Red Admiral!<br />
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And discovered that I've still got it. You may call me the butterfly whisperer...<br />
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Mr. Tierney and the Audubon Center.<br />
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We've watched these signets grow up!<br />
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So pretty... And yet, so mean.<br />
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He's not though.<br />
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<div style="text-align: left;">I had fun watching all of the planes pass overhead throughout the evening. They were all heading to JFK airport I presume, and passed by every other minute or so. I love airplanes! They always make me itch to pick up and fly off somewhere. Come on, honeymoon...</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
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<a href="http://vimeo.com/13605108">Prospect Park prospects</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user2264431">Sara Wood</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.</div></div>Sara Woodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10089095269824834527noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2694934387722903605.post-83738069882961815712010-07-19T12:27:00.000-04:002010-07-19T12:27:57.576-04:00The Social NetworkSo I'm sure that everyone and their brother has already seen this, but if you caught it only briefly before seeing "Inception" in theaters (as I did), then it's likely that you're still thinking about it. The trailer to "The Social Network":<br />
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I'd heard/read about this film before, and I knew what it would be about, but I had absolutely zero interest in seeing it. Until I saw this... What really snagged me was obviously the accompanying music: Radiohead's "Creep" as sung by a youth choir. The whole trailer is finely crafted though, and I can only assume that the film will be finely crafted as well. Roll on, October!Sara Woodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10089095269824834527noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2694934387722903605.post-44986978787919571122010-07-18T23:24:00.002-04:002010-07-19T13:16:11.622-04:00Cheers, CVSTell me...is there anything more satisfying then getting a roll of film developed? When it goes correctly, of course. I've had my fair share of paying the folks at CVS $10 for a roll of blurry, dark, and completely unrecognizable exposures, but not this time. I finished off a roll on my Olympus OM-10 between yesterday and today, and had them developed this afternoon.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It's a little touristy, but there really is no beating a trip to <a href="http://www.strandbooks.com/">The Strand Bookstore</a>. We spent quite a few hours in there last night, and by the time we had stepped out, it was already pretty late. We saw lots of great books though (including <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Impressive-Printmaking-Letterpress-Graphic-Design/dp/3899552881/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1279509100&sr=8-1">'Impressive'</a>, which features the work of my friend <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/juliepeach">Julie Malone</a>), and I ended up coming home with a steeply discounted copy of John Connolly's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Book-Lost-Things-Novel/dp/B0018SY6BW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1279509230&sr=8-1">'The Book of Lost Things'</a>.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Today was comparatively low-key (as any proper Sunday should be) and involved errands in the neighborhood and a stop at the local Vietnamese sandwich shop for some passion fruit bubble tea and refreshing summer rolls. It was great really... I could do without the heat though. I'm not really a fan of feeling the need to take another shower every time I step out the door.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Sorry for the photo overload! I got excited.</div><br />
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The guys of Ra Ra Riot asked if I'd like to try sketching up a t-shirt design idea "on spec" (read: for no cashmoneys unless they use it). You might have seen <a href="http://www.sara-wood.com/files/gimgs/4_rarariot1.jpg">this poster</a> that I did for them last summer, when I was about as inexperienced in working on real jobs as I possibly could have been, so it was fun to hear back from them again. That being said, I haven't heard a peep since I sent this over, so <i>REJECTED</i>. No worries, though! I had fun drawing this, and I fully expect to go to a refined finish, since I so enjoyed working with illustrative type. Mmm, hair...<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I'm also working on a book cover illustration for Scholastic, believe it or not. It's still in progress, but I don't think there's any harm in sharing my rejected sketches... I was a big fan of these, but since the book is for 8-12 yr. olds, they were understandably deemed "too old" for the book. It's challenging designing a book cover for children!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Poor little sketches! Never to see the light of day... In the end, we decided on something that would most definitely appeal to the target audience. And the AD could not be nicer, which is always a great bonus.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Coming up soon: a gig poster design for The National? Yes. I need to get on that.</div>Sara Woodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10089095269824834527noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2694934387722903605.post-78131190950253624192010-07-14T14:10:00.003-04:002010-07-14T14:44:59.871-04:00A whole lotta newI figured that it was high time for me to start a big girl blog. Tumblr is really great (and goodness, <a href="http://sarawood.tumblr.com/">I love Tumblr</a>), but I really needed a way in which to be more organized, more flexible, and more personally satisfied with my blogging habits. Also, this has been a time of great change for me, you know? I’ve graduated from art school, I’ve moved from Philadelphia to Brooklyn, started my career, and as of only a couple of weeks ago, <a href="http://www.jimtierneyart.com/">Jim Tierney</a> and I are engaged to be married! All of this, and it’s only been two months, so you can see why I want a legitimate blog for legitimate sharing of thoughts, news, recent work, and various noteworthy [internet] finds. I could start with a huge run-down of recent work, but to be honest, I’m not allowed to share very much of it just yet, so here’s a little peek into what I’ve been up to in the past few days:<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><img alt="rockaway" height="324" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4138/4793922480_b908a7f1ee.jpg" width="500" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt="pigeons" height="359" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4143/4793289509_21d381dd36.jpg" width="500" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt="sandals" height="344" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4114/4793289643_c69835b68b.jpg" width="500" /></div>Jimmy and I went on a quest to find a NYC beach that was a) not crowded and b) not horrible in every way. Success! After about 3 transfers and 1.5 hours on the subway, we got to Rockaway Park beach, which was really quite pleasant. We had ice cream cones barefoot on the boardwalk, and it was just... summer encapsulated. Any other recommendations regarding beaches that are public transport-accessible are more than welcome! It’s amazing how little we know about the area we live in.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><img alt="macaron!" height="398" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4094/4793289979_1bf8cb987f.jpg" width="500" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt="macaron!" height="336" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4142/4793922894_4d3657fbb8.jpg" width="500" /></div>THIS. This is a chocolate macaron with chocolate ganache filling. Egg whites. Cocoa. Sugar. So crisp, chewy, yummy and wonderful. I’d been meaning to try my hand at making these suckers for months and months, and I finally went for it for the first time using <a href="http://www.davidlebovitz.com/archives/2005/10/french_chocolat.html">this David Lebovitz</a> recipe. Try it! Do it. They’re delicious. <br />
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More soon!Sara Woodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10089095269824834527noreply@blogger.com0