Meet Fidel Omil | Freelance digital artist & Model

We had the good fortune of connecting with Fidel Omil and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Fidel, where are your from? We’d love to hear about how your background has played a role in who you are today?
I was born and raised in Nairobi, Kenya in an area called Eastlands. I developed an affinity to art at a very young age, constantly filling up every book I could find with pen drawings. It got so excessive that I ended up drawing on some very important books that my belonged to my parents. Obviously they weren’t amused but they realized that there was gift within me and decided to nature it. I’d enter drawing competitions and even got lucky to win a few of them, more specifically one that happened in primary school. That constant support is what led me to apply for art school in the United States and I was lucky enough to land a spot.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My art is very unorthodox, it borrows inspiration from anything and everything. As long as I can create something that is “create” to me it’s art. I got a drawing tablet as a birthday present just as I finished high school and that’s where i decided to kickstart the possibility of me being a professional artist.
Imposter syndrome and art block have been my two main challenges when it comes to consistency and success as an artist. Sometimes I see another artist’s work and it leads me to question my abilities. Art block has to be the main one due to how long I could go without having the motivation to create. I’m still working on these two weaknesses and hopefully I can minimize their effects on my art.
Being an artist is not easy, everyone who’s taken to this field understands the sheer perseverance you have to have in order to achieve some level of success. When you are younger you assume things will fall into place as go on but I’ve learned to just do as much as I can and be content, don’t do too much and not too little as well. When it comes to your own vision I also learned that you should create what makes you happy first. I once got commissioned to do some work and i did not like the vision that was presented as it made me abandon principles of my specific way of creating. I did it anyway but the feeling afterwards left a sour taste in my mouth. I learned to do what makes me happy and if it makes someone else happy then I’m where I want to be.

Overall my brand has always been to try and create unique image of art that mixes concepts from all over the world. I’ll admit I’ve been one dimensional at times but the end goal is to create art that elevates different walks of life more specifically African inspired.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I’m very extroverted when it comes to people I’m comfortable with and I’m enthralled by good food. Mediterranean restaurants offer both great food and drinking options so I’d pick that to kill two birds with one stone. Hanging out we’d have to do activities such as go karting, arcades, mini golf or skating. These types of activities bring you together in a childlike manner and I figured most people are really taking care of their inner child. We’d go the park, get snacks, drinks and have a picnic on a nice sunny day too. Going to the movies is another option since I’m a big film nerd.
At night there’s Rocksteady on Tuesday that offers the best afro club experience specifically amapiano if you want to get your South African groove on.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
First and foremost would be my parents who stood by me in every step of the way. Without their support I wouldn’t be here. Second would be Masashi Kishimoto, who is the author of Naruto. I studied his manga(comics) to a sheer extent due to his mesmerizing ability to put pen to paper. Cartoon Network would be the third just due to the amount of time spent in consuming the content. I thought to myself, I want to be able to create animated stories of my own too.

Website: https://www.behance.net/omilfidel

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/omil_jr/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fidelomil