DEMO: Angel Giraldez @ Gen Con

Got an up close and personal demo from the man himself. Check it out!

I'm not overly partial to the Infinity model range. I'm also not a huge fan of highly airbrushed models where everything looks like chrome. But I know a legit artist when I see one, and I respect the hell out of Angel. That he happens to be an incredibly humble and nice guy only makes me respect him more.

At Gen Con for the weekend, I ran across the Iwata airbrush booth and noticed a sign that Angel would be doing a demo. I always love seeing how other artists work, and You Tube videos just aren't the same as watching it in person. He showed his NMM technique on two bases, doing one chrome and one gold. I learned a ton just watching his process.

Probably the biggest thing I'll take home is how he premixes the paint on a piece of old blister card before ever going in to the airbrush. We saw first hand what happens when he mixed in the airbrush pot (like I always do): clumps and splatter. It also lets him check his consistency and how thoroughly mixed he is before going in to the brush. He also waters down his paint WAY more than I do (dude waters down airbrush paint), something I'll have to try. Generally speaking, he paints in painfully thin layers, building up at least 3 coats for a base color, but he's got such tight control that he paints things with the airbrush I just don't have the cojones to try yet. That thin paint lets him build slowly and correct mistakes.

I won't do the demo justice as far as calling out colors, and he rarely uses a color straight out of the bottle- usually mixing some of the last color sprayed in to the new to help blending. Everything here is from the Vallejo NMM set if you're really curious. 

Here's the chrome, which he spent a little more time on (40 min while answering questions and passing around between steps).

 note- 3 lines of light to draw eye to the model

scratches

roughed up edges on the panels

Again, a little too...80s chrome-y for my taste, but the results are undeniable. Really dig how he put all the extra scratches in and took the time to rough up some areas to make it less perfect. Beautiful work.

Here's the speed job on the gold. 

Not sure how I feel about the blue, but to each his own, I guess. That blue is super watered down paint or inks on both versions, btw. 

After the demo I got to chat with Angel briefly- me in broken Spanish and he in beginner English (just started lessons) and he signed my book for me. He was a super genuine guy, and was truly touched to have people eager to listen to him. If you need any more proof how cool he is, he put his personal email address in the book so you can ask him questions. I mean...who does that?

Lots more interesting stuff to show from the con. Will post more next week.  

~Deet