Fairly soon, Angel Giraldez is going to take the miniature painting world by storm. Many of us know of the studio painter behind Corvus Belli's well-sculpted miniatures, and Giraldez is about to release a book after much (and often painful) anticipation. I discovered Infinity the Game back in July, and upon its discovery, I immediately googled "Corvus Belli Infinity Painter".
Giraldez attended his first GenCon this past August as a guest artist and has since gained a large online following. As he grows his social media presence, he's becoming more & more active on his Facebook page. Recently, he's been focused on promoting his upcoming book release, "Painting Miniatures from A to Z" Masterclass Volume I book. His upcoming release promises to show us the secrets of his interesting hybrid of airbrush and hand painted techniques that form his signature, dynamic style. Many "teasers" have been posted on his Facebook page to add to the hype and it's obviously having an effect-- his fans are chomping at the bit for more information about pre-ordering information.
In the meantime, Giraldez has released some great step-by-step tutorials of the Infinity Kum Riders to give us a taste of what we can expect from his upcoming book. He has an amazing ability to make larger, "big picture" effects seem almost effortless. While I have not yet dabbled in airbrush techniques (but will someday!), I can appreciate his simplified, yet practical approach to miniature painting. I'm sure he developed it out of necessity! When Corvus Belli provides several miniatures to be painted to a high-quality standard in a short amount of time, a talented miniature painter must find faster ways to achieve similar results.
While I have little experience painting futuristic miniatures, I've attempted to mimic his style in a small way: by outlining the edges of metal weaponry. For example, I've used a Corvus Belli Infinity Djanbazan Hacker WIP to practice this technique:
I admit, it takes a lot of patience, especially since I've never before attempted to outline such a detailed weapon in white. However, now that I've seen his tutorial, I'll be using a light grey rather than a white. Lesson learned! I love learning new things and practicing new techniques– that's what truly excites me about Giraldez's book. He had complete creative control over its development and if it delivers all that it promises, it will help grow miniature painters worldwide! One day, I'll invest in an airbrush, but in the meantime, I'll be painting more futuristic miniatures and practicing Giraldez's stylish techniques learned from his new book!