29-07-2012 / Bellas Artes Palace Mock-Up

Bellas Artes Palace Mock-Up

It was July of 2012 when I was requested to produce a mock-up of the Bellas Artes Palace in downtown Mexico City. 

She always had been curious and excited to see it in person and when that finally happened, she was disappointed about the fact that the building couldn't travel back home inside her suitcase.

I had to think of something. After how long it took to see her face in person, any wish she had was my command. 

That's when the idea sprung in my mind: I'd build her a mock-up of the building that she could take back without using up space in her suitcase.

Physics would be my ally in this quest.

It had to be as realistic as possible. Every detail had to match how things were in reality. Everything had to be perfect.

That's why I began with the surrounding environment. I planted the trees that would make the park known as Alameda Central. I even included the made-up wall surrounding it because it was being remodeled at the time.

Then I proceeded with the church and theatre, those were easy since they weren't supposed be complete in the mock-up. The problem was the public parking lot on the corner; those stripes on the columns gave me a lot of trouble. 

The Postal and Mining museums weren't that problematic either, but only because I didn't have to work on their interiors. Such astounding beauty takes a lot of work and time.

In order not to screw it up, I drew and painted the surrounding streets afterwards. The traffic lines required the use of a toothpick in order to be the proper length and width. It had to be perfect, remember?

It was time for the main event, the very reason why I was doing this: the palace itself.

A giant stone of marble would be the perfect place to start. So I took my hammer and chisel and removed everything that wasn't useful or needed. 

I carved the general outlay of the building with care because I didn't want to compromise the ability to do the small detail later. Even though I was in a rush, I also had to be careful. 

A spoon was useful to make the holes needed in the windows and doors, also to carve out the hallways and the space in between pillars. 

I used the other tip of the toothpick to carve the lines and fine detail on the walls; the lines of each brick, the ornamental decoration on the perimeter, and the lines that made up the three domes on the roof. 

Those domes were a problem. The lines on them were thinner than in the rest of the building and they had lines in them. Lines within lines. I did my best with the tools I had.

Now I had to paint the palace. As you can see, the color palette was pretty straightforward: Light gray, gold, dark brown, black, a few touches of blue and red here and there.

But again, the domes... They had a color palette of their own. That in particular wasn't the problem, the issue was the tones and degradation required. That was a real chore to achieve.

I had to ruin two brushes in order to achieve said effects on the domes, but I didn't care. She was worth it.

When I was finally done with the palace, I made the gardens. That wasn't so difficult; I just had to poke and trace in the ground in the shapes I needed. Plants manifested themselves in order to fill the view with life and color.

Then I used more toothpicks to make the guardians the palace needed: the dragons and the eagles. They would forever protect it for her when I couldn't do so anymore.

The last thing I added was the people and cars. I had to delve into my old toy box to find enough to fill the mock-up. I tried to go for a natural distribution of both things. I wanted them to add life to the whole thing. 

When the mock-up was ready, I took it between my hands and I compressed everything unto itself as hard as I could, with all my strength. It had to be perfect and I couldn't fail now. 

A blast ocurred and energy surged in all directions.  I found myself holding a glowing orb in my hand. That's when the mock-up became... light.

I placed it between two pieces of crystal and wrapped it with a bow.

Finally, I presented it to her. She loved it and most importantly, I managed to surprise and impress her. What a man won't do to impress a pretty girl...

She took the mock-up back home and sent me a picture to show me where she put it in her room. She always smiled when we talked about it, which is what always mattered to me: to make her smile any way I could.

Doing this mock-up took 5 seconds but her smile will last forever to me.

Time flies by when you're having fun. Time halts when you're in love.

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