Meet Janaina Spada | Illustrator

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

Hi Janaina, what principle do you value most?
The most important value or principal that matters to me is resiliency. By being a creative person, developing a strong resiliency is a needed skill to achieve. The capacity to recover from mistakes and making my best effort to make things work in my carrer and life is what keeps me going foward. It is certainly difficult facing adversities and almost impossible to avoid stress. Although, by combining my will to succeed and my resiliency, I am able to find the strengh to overcome those problems.
Being relisient, also means to be flexible, which is why I am always changing and adapting towards what the world expects of me.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My art is something that was always with me. I started drawing since I was able to hold a pencil, but started taking it seriously near 2013. Drawing makes me relax, feel free and put all my thoughts to the paper. I believe each person has a unique experience with drawing and mine was always relaxing, like a yoga class, or even magical.

However I still get to a lot of problems when doing my work. Sometimes it does not look the way I want or even my client had other expectations. Still, as I said before, my resiliency is something that will stick with me and keeps me growing.

As most hobbyist artists out there, I started drawing things I like. Such as pretty characters, horses and sketches of my favorite characters and shows on midia.
By having that exciting start, I started creating my own characters and stories. Those are the ones which I am most excited about, and currently working hard to make their story come true by drawing a comic book I have always dreamed of.

Still, it can be difficult to make personal projects when I need to focus on college and work, although whenever I find free time, I’ll be dedicating it to my Original Characters.

I can’t say my journey was difficult. I was actually very lucky to be born in such a caring family and era that supports young artists and a growing creative community. By taking that opportunity, me and my sister, with the help of our father created our own website called Spadart.com where we put together some of our work to share as a portfolio. In the near future, we will use it as an investment to create videos, sell works, and build a strong community.
Me and my sister already started posting animations and videos on Youtube, but unfortunately because of College and personal problems, it is challenging to stick with a strict schedule of making videos. That’s why we share content on our channel only once in a while. My focus for now is on Instagram, where I can really have a close contact to people who enjoy my work and characters.

About our brand, it took me a long time to choose a name for our brand, but Spadart was the chosen one. The name Spadart is a mix of my last last name (Spada) with Art. It is something personal and simple, which I really hold dear.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I am originally from Brazil, but I live in Canada since 2019. I didn’t get to know a lot of new places in this beautiful huge country. However, I do know some places and foods I would show them.

Shawarma is the best food I have ever tried, and it is a great combo with Bubble tea. I have never tried those two before coming here in Canada, but now I could eat it everyday of my life.

Toronto Downtown is a great place to find comic book stores (which are my favorite) and they have some great art events once in a while as well. The huge Museum near the OCAD (Ontario College of Art & Design) and AGO is another great place for artists seeking some knowledge about local artists.

Mini golf games, The Canada’s Wonderland and Karaoke shows are some simple yet fun activities everyone should try at least once!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My first contact to what I really love (Illustration) came from TV shows, Medieval book stories, and games such as “Skyrim” by Bethesda. I looked at all of those interesting things and thought: I want to do the same. My family saw that sparkle in my eyes, and supported me all the way. That’s why I’d like to dedicate this shoutout to my family. They are always there to share my dreams and helping me to achieve my objectives. Still, there is someone who has a big impact in my life; my twin sister. Having someone by my side who understands my difficulties and is always by my side is always inspiring and uplifting.

Website: Spadart.com

Instagram: instagram.com/skyjan09/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janaina-spada-35137521a

Twitter: twitter.com/skyjan09

Facebook: facebook.com/Skyjan09Art

Youtube: Youtube.com/c/SpadArt