About Juan García Miralles

Second place winner of Hobby/ Model category

Who am I?

I was born in Pilar de la Horadada, a small city in the south east of the Mediterranean coast in Alicante, Spain. My father was a glazier and my mom is a building janitor.

I had a perfect childhood playing on the beach, good marks in the school, good friends. Not painting too much, playing basketball, the normal things that every kid should do.

My will for learning, competing, pushing myself, meeting people has been always there, I went to the university, worked hard, developed as stress engineer, got some experience, build my family, etc.

But one day my daughter and I went to a Warhammer shop searching for something interesting to do together and that day, is the day I started to paint. After that everything happened really fast. Several factors got together it was a weird mix of situations. Covid appears, I was fired from the job in which I was putting my effort so hard, I started to do commissions, I started to win some local painting competitions, started to change my engineer profile with no success, I met Juanjo Barón my painting teacher… painting became a huge stress release from the other facts that I cannot control.

Now, I keep painting hard anything I can get my hands on, probing myself as a painter and

applying for interesting jobs in Bilbao where I have my family.

Winner’s Interview

1. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself, what is your background? When did you start airbrushing and what was the learning process like for you?

My actual background is Naval architecture, not related at all to arts, but one day I got hooked on painting, when I walked into a miniatures/modelling shop. Since that moment, 4 years ago approximately, learning about painting has been a stress release activity, even during hard times it helps me to pay my bills.

The first months I discovered airbrushing and how fun it was, watching YouTube videos. Nonetheless, the key moment when I started airbrushing hard was the day that a friend of mine come upon a wonderful lion painted in a wall. The lion was painted by Juanjo Barón, and he has his studio 15 min away from home!

I started to attend his classes around 2 years ago. He has helped me on how to use properly the airbrush, to improve my color perception, introduced me to custom painting, caricatures and realism.

" ...one day I got hooked on painting, when I walked into a miniatures/modeling shop"

2. Can you tell us a bit more about your winning entry piece? How / why did you choose it? How long did it take, and what inspired you?

My winning entry is a commission for a friend of mine. He chose the miniature.

It took me almost a month, one or two hours per day, and a few weekends working hard. It is not only painting, every little eye on the wings is hand modelled.

It is inspired in Warhammer world, different fantasy illustrations that found using google and the color scheme is inspired by a piece, “Noori Fireborn”, from a miniature painter that I loved, Arnau Lazaro.

3. What does airbrushing mean to you and what drives your passion for airbrushing and creating art? Also, how do you find the ideas for your other works?

I do not know exactly a meaning for airbrushing or creating art for me. It is difficult to express. In my case, just the noise, the compressor, the air flowing and the smell of the paints… feels soooo good and comfortable. I like to be in “that zone”.

With regards to my ideas, they come from everywhere. It could be my family, airbrush artists, illustration artists, classic art, social media, miniature painters, a mix of all of them. Sometimes, even when I am taking a walk or in the supermarket someone with a face or body or clothes, the reflection of a car, can catch my attention.

4. What are your goals / targets for airbrushing? What do you want to achieve?

I want to improve my realism paintings, portraits and learn digital art. I help a lot for retouching references, which at the same time improves my airbrushing, and also improves my color perception.

In the future I would like to compete more! It is a fantastic way to learn and meet new people and tricks. Both painting 2D and 3D models

5. Do you specialize or prefer to work on a specific surface?

I paint mainly plastic miniatures but I like to keep moving from one surface to another. Walls, helmets, A2 paper, A4 paper, cardboards, plastic, metals, resin, … I do not like to paint the same every time.

Change the scale, adapt the amount of detail and contrast, using the surface in advantage for texture, the chemical of the paints, etc... It helps me a lot to improve. I do not get bored, When I get tired from one type of painting and I change.

I even change my tools, from oils to acrylics, from airbrush to brushes, etc…I mixed them or sometimes avoid them.

6. How would you describe your style(s) in airbrushing?

I paint really close to the surfaces, really hard lines, using a lot stab lines. I do not really like to use stencils. I like to put layer over layer of paint.

7. Any advice to beginners looking to start airbrushing?

I would say 3:

Respect other artist and learn whatever you can, even if you hate the person behind.
Learn as much as you can from any artist, cinema, photography, classic art, comics, etc…
Social media is overwhelming use it properly. Do not rush, follow your own journey, be kind and critic with your work.