Interview with Nacho Jiménez: member of “The Journey”

Hi Nacho, tell us a bit about yourself.

I’m from Madrid, but I now live in Seville and have settled here. I’ve always traveled a lot between both cities, and I had to adapt a carrying case to bring my paints with me, always carrying the hobby wherever I went.

• Do you have any other hobbies besides painting miniatures?

Besides painting figures, I’m really into console gaming, especially playing Call of Duty online. Also, after searching for references, I’ve developed a taste for comics.

• When did you start this hobby? Can you show us one of your first works?

I started as a teenager, looking for a summer hobby until I came across a Warhammer starter paint set. I tried playing and collecting an army, but the only thing that motivated me was painting.

• Who are your favorite artists? Who inspires you when you paint?

In the miniature painting world, the person who inspires me the most is Roman Lappat, both for his work and his philosophy. Among classical painters, I’ve always been captivated by the chiaroscuro of Caravaggio.

• Let’s talk about your tools. What brands of paints and brushes do you prefer?

In terms of paints, I’ve used almost everything you typically find in a store: Vallejo, Scale Color, Scale Artist heavy bodies, Kimera, AK… and also Daler Rowney inks. Lately, I’ve been scaling back to mostly using AK and Daler Rowney because my painting method caused issues with other brands. Like I said, you have to experiment and find what works for you.
For brushes, I use a mix as well, mainly Broken Toad, though I want to give Winsor & Newton another shot. For details, I use Green Stuff World’s Silver series and synthetic Van Gogh brushes in larger sizes for base coats.

• What are your short/long-term goals?

For now, I just want to take a break and breathe, being aware of my current level and solidifying what I’ve learned in The Journey little by little, practicing on different figures and enjoying the process with each one.
In the long term, I think it’s more of the same: keep learning and practicing.

• Why did you join the “The Journey” pledge?

Joining the academy was a big leap for my painting, but I felt like something was missing—something I couldn’t learn from videos. I needed a professional to guide me and tell me what was wrong with my painting. Although I tried to apply new techniques and followed YouTube tutorials, something wasn’t right. Thanks to another friend in The Journey, I saw results, and as soon as a spot opened up, I didn’t hesitate.

• How long have you been in the group?

A little over a year and a half.

• Tell us about your experience in the group.

It’s been a fantastic experience. Meeting people from all over the world, watching how strangers connected and seeing their progress, as well as interacting with professionals whose work I had already been following on social media, and enjoying high-level advice from Alfonso. At first, I felt overwhelmed by the level of skill, and I wondered if this was the right place for someone at my level. But Alfonso is always willing to teach, regardless of your skill level, and all the students help each other with what they learn. That also helps reinforce your own knowledge.

• What have you learned during your time in the group?

Everything? Haha. I think the main thing is that I’ve learned to be brave and take more risks. I’ve lost my fear of making mistakes because I’ve seen that everything can be fixed. I used to have that typical mindset of “this figure is too special, I won’t paint it until I’ve learned more.” Now, I’ve gone from that mindset to completely reworking those special figures, including modifying and sculpting them.
I feel like before, my knowledge was scattered and disorganized, probably because of how we often learn in this hobby, by following specific tutorials. But now, regardless of the final result, I feel like I have the knowledge to tackle the entire process of painting a figure.

• What advice would you give to beginners in the hobby? Share with us that piece of advice you wish you had received when you first started in the miniature world.

Learn volumetry—it’s the essential step for painting. A figure doesn’t make sense if the volumetry isn’t correct, and any other advanced technique like NMM (Non-Metallic Metal) or OSL (Object Source Lighting) won’t make sense if the volumetry is not used properly. The rest will come later.