Patterns & Projects

Comedy Duo

Laurel & Hardy-LeadCarvings pay homage to two real-life caricatures

By Floyd Rhadigan

Even as carvings, funny men Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy are inseparable. You can’t have one without the other! And I hear their signature tune, “The Dance of the Cuckoos,” in my head every time I carve them. These carving are my homage to the slapstick duo who took the film industry by storm from the 1920s through the 1940s. The pair appeared in 107 films. Stan Laurel, the tall, thin, clumsy Englishman, played the perfect foil to the heavyset American, Oliver Hardy.

 

Materials:
• Basswood, 3″ (76mm) thick: Hardy, 3 1/4″ x 6 1/2″ (83mm x 16.5cm)
• Basswood, 2″ (51mm) thick: Laurel, 2 3/4″ x 6″ (70mm x 15.2cm)
• Acrylic paint: black, grey, red, blue, yellow ochre, tan, burnt sienna, burgundy, raw sienna, green, white; DecoArt Americana: uniform blue

Tools:
• Bench knife
• Detail knife
• Micro gouge: 5mm
• #3 gouge: 1/2″ (13mm)
• #7 gouge: 3/8″ (10mm)
• #9 gouge: 3/16″ (5mm), 1/4″ (6mm)
• V-tools: 1/8″ (3mm), 3/16″ (5mm), 1/4″ (6mm), 1/2″ (13mm)
• Paintbrushes

 

CLICK HERE to download the Comedy Duo Article.

 

Read Caricature Soldiers: From the Civil War to the World Wars to Today by Floyd Rhadigan for more information about caricature carving. Start making your own memorable versions of classic service personalities with award-winning carving instructor Floyd Rhadigan. The book is available for $14.99 plus S&H at www.foxchapelpublishing.com.

 

Check out more great articles from Woodcarving Illustrated Holiday 2015 (Issue 73).

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