Dinny Grayson : Challenges | The Cosplay and Anime Café: arkadymac.com

arkadymac.com highlights not only the best events in the Philippines but also its cosplayers. We are fortunate enough to get a small interview with her. Here is our feature on a great artist and our dear friend, Dinny Grayson.

Dinny Grayson comes from her nickname and the last name of her favourite comic book character, Richard “Dick” Grayson. It was meant to be because she wanted to be Mrs. Grayson – as in marry Dick Grayson but then her brother, Gelo Grayson, cosplayed him and that ruined her image of Dick Grayson. Now it is definitely just a family name and she no longer have a crush on Dick Grayson.

She started cosplaying during the month of June in 2013 but got really sick in the later half of the year, so she really got into cosplaying in the year of 2014 when she got better. She actually started cosplaying only because a couple of her friends urged me to go with them to a convention using the costume she had lying around from a friend’s costume party. She instantly got hooked with the entire process of it: making the costume, styling the wig, doing the make up, and being in character.

She loves how you can build relationships in cosplay – not just with others but yourself. The cosplay community introduced her to wonderful, talented and inspiring people – with some she is so proud to call her friends. The beautiful thing about the cosplay community for her is that you can also build a relationship with yourself; she would not be the person I am today – whether I’m at home, school or my job – without cosplay. Cosplay taught her to get out of her shell, love the body that she grew up despising, and most importantly to always stay in touch with her creativity and passions.

There are so many memorable experiences with her little cosplay adventures but one of the best moments for her was when she made my first ever cosplay from scratch with a design she created herself. She worked on a five day timeline with no prior knowledge on how to work a sewing machine, create garments and giant props,or dye a wig. There were so many “firsts” creating that costume and tears and blood (literally). Honestly, it did not come out very great but that moment taught her that she would only really know she could or couldn’t do something if she tried to do that something. That’s when she cultivated her motto for cosplay and that is to “Always challenge yourself.”

The characters she usually cosplays are the ones she becomes infatuated with. She also choose characters who she relates to or designs that she wants to challenge herself with making. Some of her favourite cosplays include: Rogue Pikachu Gijinka and Articuno Gijinka that she designed herself, Karolina Dean from the Runaways, Cidney from Final Fantasy XV, and Different versions of Harley Quinn. One of the very first people to inspire her is the queen Jessica Nigri – who taught her to love her body, be herself and challenge herself with her craft. She is also heavily inspired by her brother and her two best friends, Fox and Rib, who run little blog together called The Tiny Trio! Other important names that inspired her in cosplay are: Byndo Gehk, Knitemaya, and Jin (behindinfinity).

Dinny’s message to the people who have accompanied her in cosplay “Thankyou so much to everyone I have interacted with – even just for a second – because cosplay makes me so happy! I especially want to thank my family: my mom who supports me in my passions always, my brother who is my best friend, my partner who supports me no matter what and even went cosplaying with me once (yay!), and of course Sischu and Skipper who keep me sane when I cram my costumes. Thanks you also to Liui Aquino who has taught me so much in the community!”

Her advice for any aspiring cosplayer would be: “Always challenge yourself. If you think you can’t do it, just do it anyway because the key word in that sentence was “think”. You don’t know you can’t do it – what if you can, right? The only way to find out is to challenge yourself! Also, have fun and be good to yourself and others. I firmly believe that cosplay is for everyone and we all have our own ways, preferences and standards in our own crafts – and these differences and similarities should be celebrated.”

Thank you, Dinny, for letting us interview you. Thank you also to Jose Fernando Caasi, Mathew Vergel De Dios, Erving Go, Bernard Garbo, FullMetal Trigger, Peppy Salita, Ryan Romeo De Vera, Xander Aboc, Jovi Claire, Francis Legarda, JaJa Production, Portgas D. Neri, Fritz Taquiqui, Kaylze Aishien, Christielo Esguerra, Dale Perias, Florenio Jaballas, Pefdgrapy, Mickey Julian, Ninja Media PH and Michael Reyes for some of the pictures in this feature.