My name is David Arroba and I am the co-founder of Akelarre Models. Although I studied history at university, my great passion has always been painting miniatures. I started as an amateur, enjoying every moment of painting, attending events and meeting many people who, to this day, are some of my best friends. Thanks to traveling, starting to be part of the community and winning some important prizes in international competitions, the opportunity to work in BigChild’s painting studio came up.
Although it was not my initial plan, I decided to test if it was a good option for my passion to become my job, something that doesn’t always have to work out well. After a while I knew I couldn’t do anything else, I loved working as a professional painter and found it very satisfying.
However, after a few years, I felt the need to make and bet on new projects. Leaving a stable job to start something from scratch was not easy, but the desire to do new and exciting things pushed me to keep going.
Welcome to our adventure
We faced numerous challenges, such as competition in the market and building our team. Every obstacle was a lesson and every ally helped us move a little further. After almost a year and a half, our first release of Akelarre saw the light of day. We put all of our savings and efforts into it, and Although it was a very difficult period, we were able to recover part of the initial investment.
A year later we launched our first Kickstarter campaign, “Yarns of the Elderwoods” which was also our first major collection for the brand. The campaign was a success, being funded at over 200%, which allowed us to grow and continue to innovate. All the challenges have helped us to become our best version and to give our best in every product and service.
In 2022, we decided to create the “Painting Academy”, renting a place and creating a perfect space for our courses and workshops. With my experience in teaching, we devised a new format of classes with annual enrollment, structured from the beginning and distributed throughout the year. This stage was one of the most challenging, as it implied diving into a very ambitious project once again. Nevertheless, the Painting Academy was a success. We are on our way to the third year of the project and nearly 200 students have already passed through the Academy. This experience has consolidated us as a reference in miniature painting, offering specialized training for all levels.
Welcome to Akelarre Models
The turning point came with the unconditional support of my partner Garbiñe. We both had jobs that were not completely fulfilling and we had been thinking about forming an artistic project for a long time together, so we decided to make the decision to quit our jobs and start from scratch.
Thus was born our brand of figures, “Akelarre Models”. Garbiñe’s support was fundamental to make what seemed impossible a reality, since then we both work together as a team in almost every project we do. We moved to the outskirts of Madrid, where living costs were lower, and became self-employed. We started Akelarre Models without even knowing how to manage a bill, making many mistakes, but learning from each one of them.
