DZF2023, printer upgrade, and new art!
The first 3 months of the year have come and gone, and I have news to report. I attended my first ZineFest, invested in a printer, and have been trying out new things with my art. I am excited to share everything with you, so without further ado let’s recap January – March of 2023.
A photo of me at the table, from Detroit Zine Fest.
Detroit Zine Fest 2023
Detroit Zine Fest 2023 was a bit different than I had anticipated, because my art partner A.OK Art was unable to attend with me. Nevertheless, the event was well run, everyone was understanding, and I had a successful fest. I wasn’t sure what to expect since I’m just getting back into making and selling my work, but I ended up exceeding my expectations so I’m proud of myself.
My favorite thing about this event was chatting with other artists and getting inspired by their work. I also love seeing other people relate to my work, or get a laugh out of one of my silly cat zines. The zine space is such a supportive and welcoming community, and this event really motivated me to make and share more of my work.
To learn more about the event you can read my write ups on the DnA blog and my personal blog.
Printer Upgrade
I decided to put my tax return toward a new printer this year. I had been doing some research, so when the return hit my bank account I was ready to make a purchase. There was a laundry list of features that I wanted, including automatic double sided printing, borderless printing, refillable ink tanks, and higher print quality. I was hoping to get a printer that could print larger 11” x 17” prints, and was interested in getting a printer with more than the standard 4 ink colors to get better color prints, but those were optional and ended up being out of my price range. I mainly want a printer that can handle printing my zines, stickers, and 8”x10” prints.
Ultimately I ended up purchasing the Canon Pixma G6020. I have been using it for a few weeks now and have no complaints. My previous printer was probably 10+ years old and I was constantly fighting it to get it to print the way that I wanted. It would suck up multiple pages at a time, leave smudges where the rollers were, and guzzled ink cartridges. With the new printer I’m less precious about the ink because it’s so much more economical and the printing is much more consistent, easy, and better quality. I am looking forward to printing on it more, and saving money by not ordering prints and stickers from vendors online. It’s also nice to have a bit more control over my prints and get the instant gratification of printing something whenever I want.
New Art
There are some new posts on my blog, where you can see me experimenting with more screentones and ink drawings. I am liking this mixture of digital and traditional art and it reminds me of the manga that I grew up reading. It’s simple but still very interesting artistically.
This illustration of Tove and Merri, from my now forever-on-hiatus webcomic Lady Knight became the cover of my 2022 Sketchbook zine. I’ve also posted some portraits of Oak and Suren, from Holly Black’s most recent novel and some sketches of characters from The Secret History.
I’ve been prepping for the next fest as well. I have a couple of new zines ready, some stickers, and plans to do more. There are also a couple of other new products that I don’t want to spoil, but I’ll be able to share them with you in the next update. If you want to hear about them before then, make sure you are following the DnA instagram.
-Dana
danaamundsen.com
”Coffee for a Ghost” a print that will be available for purchase at Detroit Zine Fest.
”2022 Sketchbook” a half-page zine which is a collection of sketches and drawings from 2022.
