Thanks to the fact that the wood of this tree has multiple shapes, it is then possible that artisans can use this advantage of nature to put a little of their ingenious imagination and with the help of some manual tools, begin to give life to countless animals. like jaguars, cats, dogs, snakes among others that come from the imagination come to life through the hands of artisans. All this, let’s remember, that the Alebrijes of Oaxaca take time to make, some can take up to months depending on the size and decoration in terms of painting.

Wood carved

The first procedure that must be carried out is to work when the copal is green, so that it is easy to carve, it is worked with a machete, gouges, knives, after removing the bark, and its sculpture is already carved and defined, the wood must be placed to dry in the sun. 

Curing process

The wood is bathed several times, that is, it remains submerged in these liquid compounds for several days, so that it can survive attacks by insects, it is necessary that the piece of wood of the copal receives a bath with gasoline, in order to immunize the wood and prevent moths.

The wooden alebrijes before being fully finished can remain a long time in the manufacturing process, in the workshop they spend weeks and even months with a piece of wood, before giving it a final finish. When the members of the workshop have finally polished the piece, elaborated every detail necessary so that it has the appearance that you want, it is then time to move on to the painting process, one of the most complex; apply a layer of acrylic paint that will be the base then at the time it dries this paint will be sanded with a fine sandpaper and so later until reaching the fifth base, this process should be carried out because at the time of putting the designs you must work on a fine and smooth base.