My name is Diego Esteban Perez, but in the modelling world I am known as Dieguete. I was born in Madrid on the thirty- first July of 1984.

I have always loved drawing and painting since I can remember. The beginning in this world was just a matter of chance, one evening with my friends. I met a guy who was painting those I used to call ‘little dolls’ and since then, I felt curiosity about those circles. At the age of 21 I started studying artwork and I restarted the forgotten hobby. Step by step, what started as entertainment, became a part of my job, which I enjoy more and more each day.

Fantastic stories and comic books have always got my attention. However, leafing through modelling magazines I realized what people could do with the historical figure. I was really surprised because, at that time, fantasy figures did not have the quality that they have nowadays.

Just at the beginning I had the great luck of participating in some classes where I met some of my modelling examples, such as Alfonso Giraldes and Jose Manuel Palomares. Thanks to one of the first competitions in which I took part, I had the possibility of working with Palomares in his studio and I did not hesitate in doing it. You learn a lot after three years working hand by hand with a master like him.

If we put together my studies and what I have learned all these years, we can say that I treat miniatures just like a painting, using similar light techniques, contrasts and colours. As time passes by, and although I am still working on it and trying to improve it with every new figure, I have created my own style. Each of the pieces has a little part of myself. I was always fascinated by classic paintings of the Baroque period by Caravaggio, Velazquez or Jose de Ribera. They have had a great influence on my way of painting.

Within the miniature’s world, artists like Raúl García Latorre, Bill Horan, Mike Blank, José Manuel Palomares, Alfonso Giraldes, Fabrizio Rujo, Allan Carrasco, etc. will always be models to me. Nowadays, I can say that they are not just an example to follow, but good friends. Thanks to this fantastic hobby, I had the opportunity to travel and make friends all around the world, and I feel very proud of it.

My first professional work was painting the box art of the ‘Àrt of Gotia’ figure for ‘Tale of War’ and I am very fond of it. Since then, I worked as a freelance painter for some of the most famous brands of the sector, Andrea Miniatures, MProyec, Scale75, Heroes & Villains "H&V", Knightmodels, etc. During all this years, I have also collaborated with some specialized magazines such as Figure Internacional and Gameforces.