Quarterly updates from the desk of Dana Amundsen

Recapping 2022

Highlights of 2022 to start off 2023—

Launching My Own Website

In 2022 I started my own blog and made and remade a portfolio using GitHub Pages. I already had some experience writing HTML and CSS, and I knew that I wanted to build a presence for myself independent of social media websites. I started building a WordPress page but found it to be a bit more complicated than I was looking for.

It took me some time to understand how to use Jekyll and Liquid, but now I feel like I’m really starting to take advantage of this compact and flexible static site generator. In 2023 I am planning to release a new and improved personal website that will have my blog and portfolio both built in, as well as creating an easy-to-use template for other artists that want to build their own website with GitHub Pages.

Experimenting w/ Social Media

After a couple years of not sharing much artistically on my social media accounts, I did some experimentation this year. I was briefly active on Instagram, I joined the Fediverse, and I finally ditched Twitter in December. I feel like social media demands a lot of the artists that use it, and I want to continue to be critical of the social media that I use and reduce the time I spend mindlessly interacting with social media. I also want to use it more efficiently to promote and share my work.

My Favorite Pieces of 2022

Finally, here are my favorite pieces of 2022 in no particular order. Click through to go to the blog post about that piece.

A low poly 3D model of a Victorian Study Vin and Elend Venture from Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn series standing back to back A man writes at his desk while a woman in a black Victorian day dress drapes herself over him posessively

Looking forward to 2023, I am planning to attend some art shows with a friend and long time collaborator, A.OK Art, as one half of DnA Artists.

I have been ruminating on a new long-form project with the working title Frostbite and I hope to share more of the development for that project as well.

I will also to challenge myself with different media (I’ve recently been playing with watercolor, ink, and calligraphy) and pursue other creative hobbies outside of digital illustration.

Happy New Year! I look forward to sharing more with you in April.

-Dana
danaamundsen.com
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