Hello!

My name is Danielle Dingerson and I am an artist concentrating in fine artwork and illustration (primarily comics/graphic novels). I have a BA in Illustration courtesy of Columbia College Chicago. My weapons of choice are acrylic paint, markers, ink, and digital art.

I grew up in central Illinois, surrounded by cornfields. I am a Y2K baby, so my life has been one incredible whirlwind of change and progression in the world. Growing up as a member of the LGBT community was rough where I lived. One of the driving forces of my work is indeed community. My first graphic novel was a 50 page story done when I was 18 about a girl coming to terms with her sexuality, and how to love her best friend wholeheartedly. The story is still something I take great pride in and relate with very deeply.

My artwork in general is fueled by my emotions. And I have a lot of them. I’m an advocate for speaking out about mental health and the stigmas surrounding them. My paintings so far have been about my own mental health issues and coming to terms with them. Life is a journey too short to keep big emotions inside. With anything I create, I want it to have meaning, and if it doesn’t have any direct meaning, I want it to at least make someone happy.

So far, I have displayed my graphic novel in a student gallery at ICC. I’ve won the Faculty Recognition Award at Columbia, along with a Dean’s scholarship and the Columbia Scholar Award. My work has been displayed in the Porous gallery at Columbia, and has also been displayed in the Pritzker Musuem. I am currently working on a new project named Calyptra that focuses on gay vampires (what’s better than that?)

Feel free to contact me at:

doodlesbydd@gmail.com