We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Gabe Del Valle. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Gabe below.

Gabe, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

Most of my work has been writing and storyboarding for animated cartoons for television. It requires a culmination of a lot of different skills: drawing, storytelling, cinematography, acting, animating and thats just the tip of the iceberg. I learned these skills through years of obsessive practice: drawing all the time as a kid, breaking down the stories of my favorite Simpsons episodes as a teen, going to art school and taking drama classes as an adult and so on.
It’s difficult to say what could’ve speed up the learning process for writing and storyboarding because it takes so many different skills. In general I’d say its good to have a basic interest in lots of different disciplines and then eventually find the ones you like the most and hone in on that. For me, its comedy writing and drawing but having a little bit of an acting background helps when I have to pitch story boards and knowing cinematography helps when I have to explain different shot choices. I think its best to first be a jack of all trades and then master a skill or two but still be able to call on those old trades when needed.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Hi Im Gabe Del Valle and Im a professional animator, cartoonist, writer and storyboard artist. I’ve written and boarded on shows such as Looney Tunes Cartoons, Mighty Magiswords and am currently a director on the Spongebob spin off series, The Patrick Star Show. I’ve started out my career as a 2D animator working on odd projects like a music video for Miley Cyrus, milkeshake commercials and a quirky adult animated show called Animals. I switched over to boards after animating for a few years because most animation now involves pushing a digital puppet around rather than crafting a performance through drawings which is what I enjoy most. I learned boarding by “testing” for various productions. I got many rejections at first but finally got my first board job on Cartoon Network’s Mighty Magiswords and have been happily boarding ever since.

On the side though, I stream art making and video games through Twitch. I have an animated avatar there or a “PNGtuber” of a cartoon alligator that lives in a sewer. Through the streams, I get to meet fans, like minded artists and geek out about my favorite games and media. Its a great creative outlet for me because I keep my animation skills sharp by animating the gator character and sewer layout while not having to worry about deadlines and budgets.
I also table at conventions and sell fandom related merchandise. Mainly stickers, pins and keychains inspired by my favorite nostalgic video games like Super Mario and Banjo-Kazooie. Streaming and tabling are my low stakes side hustles that are a lot of fun for me. I dont make too much money from them but the friends and good times I made from them are far more valuable.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

For me the most rewarding aspect of working in the creative field is working with like minded people. Working in animation, I get to work with a lotta people who have similar interests: From animation, to video games, to toy collecting, film, music and so on. I love making other people laugh both in person and through my art and I’ve been forunate to work with people who are receptive to that.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

I think it’s important to support artists directly and not only what they make for a bigger corporation or studio. If theres a piece of media, animation or movie you love, learn about the people behind it who make those things and share what they create or produce on their own.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gadworks/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gadart/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/GabeDelArt
• Other: twitch.tv/gadworks

Image Credits
Looney Tunes Storyboard panels from “Looney Tunes Cartoons”/Warner Bros Animation “Patrick Star Show” storyboard panel from Nickelodeon/Viacom “Helluva Boss” storyboard panel from Spindle Horse