We recently connected with Johel Almeida and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Johel thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Do you wish you had waited to pursue your creative career or do you wish you had started sooner?

For me personally I wish I started much sooner, as a kid I was always the one at the back not paying attention and doodling on his notebook, I was always known as the kid that “knew how to draw”. I t all started when I was about 8 years old and a friend of mine showed me a comic he made and I was amazed at how he was able to imagine and create his own world just with a pencil and paper.
As the years went by I always had an on and off relationship with art, I would get very frustrated because it was so difficult to get my art to a level I knew it needed to be at to be able to compete with some of the artists I looked up to. Also I never really received any support from friends or family members, there was no one close to me that i could look at as an example and see that it was actually possible to make a living off of art.
Eventually i started to draw less and less, when I was about 13 years old I was introduced to Animation, seeing that it was possible for me to animate with just my mouse, computer and an old pirated version of Adobe Flash MX i was amazed at all the possibilities, I self taught myself how to animate and was a part of the booming animation community of the early 2000’s with websites like Newgrounds, this was before youtube was even a thing.
Unfortunately once again I grew frustrated with my lack of skill, and with no one really to motivate me I eventually gave up and spent a lot of years gaming, in school I wanted to pursue arts but once again I was told that it was a one way ticket to unemployment so I followed all my friends into science.
Thankfully my grades on the final exams didn’t qualify me to get into anything science related so I followed Animation in college, it was the only bachelors available in all of Portugal.
Although it was a much better experience than all the years i spent in science, I paid ALOT but didn’t really learn anything new because everything they were teaching I had already taught myself all those years back.
I finished the degree as one of the top students, and was a leader in the only group that was able to deliver the final project on time.
During this whole time , I would also dance with my friends as a hobbie and it was always our dream to have a professionally shot video of us dancing but we were all broke.
My mothers gift for finishing my degree was a brand new DSLR that i kept asking her for, and this would end up being the shift that would change my life forever.
I started shooting dance videos for my friends and they got extremely popular, eventually music artists here in Portugal took notice of the videos and asked me if I wanted to try shooting music videos, I jumped at the opportunity and after a couple of years Film-making became my full time career, I created my own Production company and it has been going strong for the past 10 years.
During the 2020 lockdown I really had time to get back to my first passion that was art, I started just posting some sketches on Instagram and the page slowly but steadily grew, eventually I started getting commissioned ALOT, and for the first time I was making a career off of my art.
Today im glad to say that I feel very fulfilled being a Filmmaker and Digital Artist at the same time.
Looking back I only wish that I believed it was possible much sooner and never stopped believing in my self.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Johel Almeida (Yes there’s and actual H ahaha) , I’ve always been into Art as a kid but I never really believed it was possible to make a living until much later in life when I started to see more examples of people that looked like me and were very successful. My main source of income comes from my Production company which basically takes care of Video production from the concept all the way to the final delivery, we specialize in the fast paced rhythm of the Music video industry. What really sets us a apart is our Speed and effectiveness, were able to solve and deliver a whole production in less than a week for a price you wont find anywhere else.
With my production company what im most proud of is the fact that I was able to show my parents it was possible to make a living off being a filmmaker, they didn’t believe in it at first but as the money rolled in and they were seeing multiple music videos of mine passing on tv they came to understand.
My second source of income is my Digital Art, my mission with my art is to showcase African culture in a way that has been missing in the art medium for many years now, I want to create and be a part of original story’s that embrace this mission of mine.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I think a lot of people are working hard towards a purpose and goal that isn’t suited for the person they are. A lesson that I had to unlearn is that there’s only one fixed path towards success and that it is to work hard.
Through out my life I’ve seen many hard workers not reach the success I though they deserved.
More important than working hard is to find purpose, I believe firmly that once you find your purpose and something you are passionate about only then will the hard work bear fruits, everyone’s path towards success and each persons definition of success is different so we shouldn’t always try to lump them all in the same group.

Can you share your view on NFTs? (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)

I feel NFT’S are largely misunderstood by the Art community, they see it as some kind of get rich quick scheme or money grab. Unfortunately that’s how a lot of people, company’s and celebrities treated it as but NFT’S are a part of a revolutionary technology that will change how everyone transacts things of value in the near future. The climate issue is largely misunderstood also as there are far more harmful things to the environment that everyone uses daily but each person should do their own research in regards to that.
In simple terms NFT’S are irrevocable proof of ownership of a digital asset, seeing as we are transitioning into a very digital society this will be pivotal in the years to come.
Art was simply its first use case application but it goes way beyond that, in reality it has nothing to do with monkey profile pictures like most tend to assume.
The same way social media revolutionized the way everyone interacts with one another is the same way NFTS will change how we transact digital assets.
It’s still too early for most people to understand its impact but eventually everyone will feel it whether they agree with it or not.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jafro_art/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/JafroArt_

Image Credits
Photography by Haroldo Correia