Hmm interesting! I may purchase a juniper indeed and work on that. Its finding a good one though
I personally prefer Boxwoods because they naturally grow tight branch structures, they are almost as hardy as junipers, they backbud very easily, and their small leaves are easy to work with. They also grow a lot faster than Junipers, which will let you see branches and backbuding happening in a matter of months. They take a very very long time to thicken, so you have to get material with a decent trunk thickness (not too hard to find).
Junipers don't back-bud well, they grow really slowly, and I find the needles harder to work with than boxwood leaves. I am also slightly allergic to them, so anytime I work with one I get a rash. However, they are not too difficult to style, they are easy to take care of, and wiring their branches is pretty easy. You can find good juniper material for starting, but you will have to spend time digging, and looking at trunks at the nursery. From my experience, 1 out of 20 is good material. I tend to find boxwood material easier than Junipers. Junipers teach pruning and styling very well.