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The Making of Jackie Robinson
New! 10 min video: The Making of Jackie Robinson
Press Release: Jackie Robinson unveiling in Valhalla, NY (Oct 8, 2009)(Word)
Press Release: Jackie Robinson unveiling in Valhalla, NY (Oct 8, 2009)(PDF)
Press Ready Large-Size Photos For Download (1)
Press Ready Large-Size Photos For Download (2)
Press Ready Large-Size Photos For Download (3)
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This is the final figure, give or take a few minor touches. I had to rush a bit to get Jackie outdoors to take
photos for the press release for the October 8th talk at Westchester Meadows in Valhalla, NY.
The daylight was fading and it played havoc with the color saturation but the basic idea is there (ie: The Dodger Blue
is lighter in the photo than in person). The statue
is complete and it looks tremendous. I'm pleased with the intagibles; the overall "look and feel".
I wanted the figure to look relaxed and natural and I think I have actually attained that.
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Latest progress: Mid August, 2009. The color is a sinle base coat before airbrushing and is much darker than
it will be after it is brushed with lighter shades. That will also add a fair amount of realism.
Although he looks mostly finished, there is much more finishing work than meets the eye. Still,
I am very excited at this point to finally "see" the figure as he will look for the most part.
Thanks for all the kind words to this point.
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What follows is the story of how this life-size, solid wood statue of Jackie Robinson came to be.
The finished piece will take approximately 800 man-hours of work over a period of many months.
The finished statue weighs 250 lbs, including the base, to which it is permanently attached,
and is exactly life sized in all details. It depicts Jackie Robinson in a 1953 home uniform;
the first year that the Dodgers put the red number on the front of the home uniform.
Absolutely everything on the statue was done by hand by artist/sculptor Brian Birrer.
Every part of the statue is made solely of wood: the eyes, the hands, the hat brim, the belt loops,
the shoes and even the shoe laces.
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Here is one of the earliest photos of the statue. When he is finished, many people will stand inches from him and ask me, "...how did you get the uniform?", not realizing that it is, in fact, 100% wood. One look at this photo and there's no question what he's made of. The questions don't bother me because they signify that I've done my job making wood look like clothing.
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The wood dust and saw noise makes the ventilator and headphones a must; glasses to. It's not terribly comfortable but as the piece materializes you don't seem to mind.
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My method of fabrication is not as romantic as the classical sculptors. The piece is literally, in pieces, for quite some time, however, I'm sure that the old masters would have preferred it this way if they could have somehow, managed. In my case I need to make sure that the finished item can make it out the door of my shop, not to mention be delivered to the buyer for display and remember, these are life-sized pieces on fairly substantial bases.
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The final height is 5'11", plus and inch for hat-overage, plus 7" of fixed-base, plus the casters that allow me to roll it into different positions. You begin to appreciate the size after a while and really, anything larger would not fit into my current studio.
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You are seeing it correctly! The Dodger's home uniforms had assymetrical belt-loops! Two on Jackie's left and only one on his right. I can hear the questions now! In addition to the loops, I have depicted him in a fairly baggy uniform, particularly when compared to the uniforms of the 1970's and 80's. If you study photos of the 1940's and 50's, you will see that the tailoring was very generous. Some players even starched their uniforms and used the extra cloth as a bigger profile with which to get hit by a pitch! That tactic has not been attributed to Jackie Robinson, however; it is usually said of Eddie Stanky, a contemporary of Robinson's.
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