Juan Machuca
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Born in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico, Juan Machuca is an emerging illustrator whose passion for art has been a lifelong pursuit.
Originally trained in Renewable Energy Engineering, Juan has been drawing since childhood, although he only began practicing painting a decade ago. A fan of horror, science fiction, and fantasy media, Juan draws much of his inspiration from these genres.
After discovering illustration as a career path, Juan began honing his craft through online art communities, following YouTube fantasy art channels from artists like Matt Busch, Jeff Miracola, and reading the art blog Muddy Colors. As he acquired more instructional art books, he further honed his craft, doing work for small art galleries and projects as he continued to refine his artistic voice.
While he currently works as a truck dispatcher, Juan continues to pursue his lifelong ambition of being a full-time illustrator. His work on Sorcery: Contested Realm marks his first major professional project, a milestone he hopes will be the beginning of a long and exciting career in the art world.
Preferred Medium
"I like to work with mixed media, mostly acrylics, sometimes I use airbrush, but mostly for atmospheric effects. I enjoy acrylics cause I tend to rework areas until everything fits with all other areas of the painting. It´s like a puzzle where you keep working on the different pieces until everything, shadows, lights, shapes, and colors fit together."
What Led You to Pursue a Career in Illustration?
"It´s something that I have the need to do. As someone born where I'm from, art-related jobs seemed like something far away. When I learned that illustration jobs were a thing and could be done remotely, I was very excited about this. This gave me hope to try to pursue and keep learning from whoever I could. I couldn´t afford to have an art education, so I decided that I would do it however I could and made this plan for achieving that dream, making a list of things I needed to know and equipment I needed to work remotely. I decided that I would concentrate on improving my painting skills first and learn everything else later.
I became aware of the game through a YouTube channel called Questing Beast. One day, I decided I should send my portfolio to Erik's Curiosa, checked the website, and found the contact email. I sent my work there, and thankfully Erik responded a few hours later, saying that he liked my work and gave me my first assignments."
Find more of Juan's work @ https://www.instagram.com/machucarts89/
