Miguel Ángel Tapia works in the old style, with an extensive work process combining various traditional crafts, such as:

– Carpentry and joinery, vital in selecting and then preparing a block of wood. Once a wooden structure or block has been formed using joined pieces or… joints and bindings, the workpiece is shaped according to the design model for carving, joinery or sculpture, whether for decorative or structural work.

This involves traditional woodworking tools such as chisels, gouges, rasps, handsaws, planes, etc.

– Modelling for sculpting, designing and giving form to carvings, reliefs or sculptures. This task involves the use of malleable materials such as clay or plasticine for creating 3D models, either life-size or at scale.

– Modelling for casting, using materials such as plaster of Paris, polyester or fire sand for metal casting. Models and moulds are made to give form to the final piece.

– Gilding, with the application of silver and gold leaf on the relevant decorative parts over a substrate of gesso, glue and clay, over the wood. The traditional tools for this are gilder’s brushes, tips, cushions and knives, etc.

– Painting, for decoration with oil paints, egg tempera or gold varnish, using tools such as marten-hair brushes, a painter’s palette, spatulas and airbrushes.

The techniques employed in the imagery workshop involve the following processes:

– Documentation: referral to relevant books, visiting museums and churches and even drafting of restoration briefs to help prepare the project.

– Sketches: for defining details with the client and establishing guidelines for the project. Sometimes a scale model is made.

– Modelling and casting: clay is shaped on a wooden structure and a metal mesh, by hand and with sticks until the required form and expression are attained. Using the investment moulding technique, the clay piece is reproduced in plaster.

– Woodwork: Soria pine and local walnut are the most widely used woods in Castilla y León.

– Preparation of the block: wooden planks of various sizes are used to make a block of the required size for carving, or a single piece can be used depending on the thicknesses and whether it is to be hollowed.

– Outlining of the figure: the general forms of the piece are defined by means of sawing.

– Pointing and roughing: determining distances in the plaster model and transferring them to the wood block using a measuring needle (i.e. a pointing machine). With the triangulation or three-point system we obtain a triangular plane whose edges adjoining the three adjacent triangles lead on to more planes, finally defining the figure.

– Carving: this process yields the image and the volume of the sculpture, carved artefact or relief.

– Inner hollowing: this is to give the piece durability and consistency, preventing the wood from cracking as a result of inner stresses. So the piece is hollowed out and the hollowed parts are reglued.

– Application of garlic, linseed and gesso: rubbing garlic on wood is an excellent natural way of filling its pores (according to 16th-century writings on carving and altarpieces). By applying natural linseed with rabbit-skin glue on the joints we achieve an elasticity that will prevent cracking of the gesso substrate to be applied later.

– Polychromy with egg and oil paints: the egg tempera technique (natural pigments or earths with the yoke of a hen’s egg as binder) is used for garments, and oil paint for hair and flesh colours.

– Water gilding: application of (24-carat) gold or silver leaf subsequently burnished with agate stone over certain parts of the wooden object treated with glue, gesso and clay, enriching the work overall.

– Gold varnishing: this decorative technique is used for garments, mantles, brocades and trims.

– Finishes and protective coating: a layer of shellac (natural resin used for centuries) is applied as protection and to give a striking natural appearance without undue shininess.

Regarding updates to techniques for producing similar pieces, a serial copying or reproduction system is used in an effort to cut costs, with pieces being finished manually so as to give them a craft touch. As to documentation, information and design, technologies such as computer-aided design, digital photography, etc. are used to upgrade and greatly facilitate design and creative tasks.