Finals, finally.

My show opening at Palio (at 1996 SE Ladd, a lovely little dessert and espresso shop) went amazingly well, and the show will hang until the end of December if anybody wants to go check it out but didn't make the opening night.

One more meeting of each class, and I am finished for the semester.
My thesis book project was approved for next semester, and I will begin crafting it when I go back to classes in mid-January. My last semester of college, finally. I've had a few setbacks, but I'm going to graduate.
For my painting class I've completed four 9x15 ink and gouache pieces from reference photos I took at Occupy Portland:
 

For my advanced drawing class, I've been exploring ways to visually depict the body, particularly in a state of illness, without literally drawing the human figure:

(Both are gouache and ink on arches coldpress paper)

Last but not least, the most realized piece I have come up with so far in preparation for my thesis book project. A self-portrait, hand-lettering, gouache layers, and cut up pieces of one of my MRI reports from back in December of 2010:

I plan to put more of my thesis progress on this blog. Stay tuned for more, and thanks for reading!

Show!

("Michelle Bachman", gouache, 9"x12", 2011 © Amanda Russel)

 

School's been going as well as it can be. Besides constantly plugging along on my thesis so I can propose during the first week of December, I've been getting to do some fun stuff like this Michelle Bachmann portrait (an exercise in anthropomorphism for my Illustration Painting Techniques class.)

I have my first solo show coming up! I am very excited about it. It will be the evening (around seven, though the exact time is not yet nailed down) at Palio Dessert and Espresso House, 1996 SE Ladd in Portland. I will mostly be hanging new gouache pieces, but will also include some less recent, smaller ink pieces. Everything will be for sale, so come on by!