Today we’d like to introduce you to Gino Dal Cin.
Gino, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I’ve always loved cartooning and comics since I was little, and I was very fortunate to grow up in a home where I was encouraged to pursue the arts. I played in a band in high school, and I would earn extra cash during this time by making Myspace layouts for other local bands and designing concert posters for a small venue in town called Rock Steady. I moved to Denton in 2009 to go to school at UNT and get my BFA. I wanted to be an art teacher for a long time, and after graduating, I did some subbing and taught theatre for about a year. I got burned out on teaching pretty quickly, and I struggled for a while to figure out what I wanted to do.
I found my way into making zines after seeing so many artists I admired on Tumblr making them. I fell in love with the format, and it seemed to be this incredible outlet for so many different forms of creative expression. I had tons of sketches and small illustrations that I treasured, and it seemed like a fun way to gather them. My first zine fest was Denton Zine Party at Rubber Gloves in 2016, and I only had two zines to sell. I made so many new friends and felt inspired by this welcoming community of people who make and buy zines. I devoted myself to making a dozen more zines, trying out a bunch of different illustration styles and formats while also focusing more on my writing because I wanted to start making comics. In the following years, I traveled to zine fests all across Texas and other states just so I could set up a table and sell my work.
Over time I was gradually getting more comfortable with calling myself an illustrator, and I was very fortunate to make enough connections with people that I was able to start supporting myself through freelance work. When I was going to all of those zine fests, I was also trying to get a better understanding of how they run and how I could find new ways to collaborate with other artists. In 2018, this desire to support accessible and creative arts communities ultimately lead to my decision to move to New York and get my master’s in Arts + Cultural Management from Pratt Institute. I graduated right when the pandemic started, and I made the choice to move back to Dallas. I then started an internship at Dallas Contemporary while doing a lot of design work for local publisher and bookstore, Deep Vellum. In this last year, I’ve helped with organizing 3 zine fests, and in addition to my freelance illustratin work, I am now the Development Manager for Dallas Contemporary.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Personally, I struggled for a very long time with figuring out the value of my work and my time. Starting out, no one wants to tell you what your work is worth and you have to come up with a number/rate that is only based on how you value yourself. And if you’re a person like me, who regularly struggles with confidence and how you value yourself, it is very easy to get taken advantage of. I was so grateful for any opportunity that presented my work that I would regularly undercharge or even do free work with the hope that it would pay off with more opportunities in the future. It only got better the more I was able to meet other people working in design and illustration who were more comfortable sharing what their experiences were with charging others for their work.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I mostly specialize in illustration and zine-making – those two things are probably what I’m most known for, but I always try to push myself towards learning new ways of making things. At any given moment, I’m usually working on 2-3 personal projects at once. And at least once a year I get very into a form of art that I have absolutely no experience in. In the last three years, I’ve either re-learned or tried to teach myself animation, painting, block printing, sculpting clay miniatures, and right now, I’m learning how to do hand poke tattoos. I feel like trying all of these new things helps to keep me in that beginner’s mindset – it frees me up to experiment, and most importantly, have fun.
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
Really, I have no clue! It’s hard to say what trends in art are actually sticking around and what’s just something hot at the moment. Honestly, I’m a little bit freaked out by AI art/dall-e. I kind of worry what it will do for devaluing the work being done by artists, and I feel like it misses the point by removing the necessary and intangible human part of artwork that is born of imperfection/trial and error. Mostly, I just think it looks bad and I don’t want it to look better. People have tried to assure me it’s great as a tool for artists to try out concepts before actually making them, and I’m sure someone very into it would love to explain to me how I’m overreacting or that I don’t get it. And they’re right! I don’t!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.ginodalcin.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ginodalcin/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ginodalcin
Image Credits
Ashley Hunn
