Interview with Miró Ingmar Tiebe aka MIRUEL

How did it all start?

Actually, I’ve loved drawing for my whole life. After graduating from high school, I decided to take my joy in drawing more seriously and understood that it could very well be my profession one day. And thats how I got my Bachelor of Arts in Illustration at the HAW Hamburg. Then, at the end of my studies I got my first jobs as an illustrator.
I am now working on my Master of Arts at the HAW Hamburg, too and at the same time am working full-time as a freelance illustrator, graphic designer and from time to time as an art director.

When did you initially decide to make a 100FOR10 book?

In May 2021 I was contacted by 100FOR10 and to be honest I didn’t know about the project before that. But i found the concept to be very charming, because I love working in black and white anyways. The chance to be creating my first artist book and then being published right away was too good to be true!

In your illustrations you often depict these kind of other worldly creatures? How did you come up with them?

Well I’ve grown up with a big love for Lord of the Rings and from there on I was addicted to almost every fantasy story. Especially the dark creatures of these stories got my interest, I guess thats because they are more mystic.

When I work on personal stuff, I just enjoy to let my fantasy run free and float into other worlds. As i did for this book, too.

What do you want to express with your art?

I would say it’s not only the want to express something, it’s furthermore a need to get something moving in the heads of people. To show them that there is not only a classical way of illustration, where most of the shown work is directly obvious to understand.

What does your workspace look like? Do you have any favorite art supplies or drawing mediums?

I have been working from home for a long time. My desk is always very tidy and organized. You’ll find a Macbook and my beloved big Wacom Cintiq graphic tablet. Ever since i’ve got it, i have been enjoying it a lot, because it makes so many things so much faster. On the other hand I also love to just draw with fineliners in my sketchbook. I would say there is a good balance between analog and digital in my works. All the pieces from my 100FOR10 book were drawn in my sketchbook and then scanned, too.

Is there anything else you are currently working on? Any sneakpeaks?

Right now I am starting to work on an album cover for a London based DJ, which will be in a simple and futuristic style.

What are your plans for the future?

A personal success in the future for me would be to expand my modular system of forms and visual language to such extent that I could depict everything i want with my own personal style.