It is common for paper artists to “bind” their artworks into “artist books” – a broad display category that ranges from purely decorative through linear narrative forms, and everything in-between. Having recently made a linear design using cyanotype, inks and paint, it occurred to me that a book-like thing might be a fun way to display it.
Traditional “artist books”, in my observation at least, involve cutting, gluing, sometimes stitching and binding. I wondered if something could be achieved using FOLDS alone.
One “type” of artist book that I know of is a thing called a “Concertina Book”, sometimes including cut and folded “extrusions” which elevate parts of the page. I figured something like this should be possible using folding techniques, so took a scrap of paper and began a fold doodle with a simple fan fold.
Using a pair of pleats running across the fan fold gives me pleat overlaps that can then become “gussets” that then force layers up and off the resting surface in interesting ways. This makes “extrusions” that change the dimensionality of the shape.
As a paper folder, when someone tells you to “get knotted” … you have “options” – right?
I was playing around with offcuts – those inevitable slivers of paper you cleave off a sheet as you are squaring them and an idea struck.
I keep all my off-cuts, particularly those off beautiful papers – you never know when you might need some colour/texture. In the past I have added them to my paper pulp to add “thread-like” inclusions, and sandwiched them in-between translucent layers of wenzhou in paper mache sculptures etc.
I wanted to do something more “origami” oriented … so I tied a knot in a thin strip, and remembered that a flat knot resolves into a perfect (all things aligned and taut) pentagonal knot. If you string a few knots along the length then the strip does some pretty sculptural zig-zagging. I found I could decide the direction of the zig/zag by how I tied the knot, and that I could “graft” other strips on by simply knotting them there and hiding the extra end inside the graft knot.
I played around with Kraft paper strips to get my bearings, then added coloured accent strips of Hanji (purple, and green with acrylic ink spatter) and Kozo (red dry brushed with gold), knotted to intertwine like tendrils of an invasive weed. The original composition had a bunch more colours, but as I kept coming back to it, simpler seemed better so I gradually removed down to what you see here now. Initially I photographed it resting atop a sheet of my hand-made Kozo tissue because it looks classier like that. Should i ever decide to show/frame it I would prolly do the same. The geometry and composition is pleasing to me none the less.
It reminds me a little of the bold linework of Joan Miró, or the architectural geometry of Piet Mondrian, the fiddly intricate linework of Wassily Kandinsky, or the delicious geometry of Alexander Calder. We can all aspire to greatness I guess.
Origami “purists” will probably look down their noses at this because it is not folded from a square, contains multiple pieces and used some glue under each knot to anchor it to a sheet of olive Canson Mi-Teintes. That sort of folder snob can go get knotted 😛
The Java Sparrow is a type of Finch, and is characterised by some very brightly coloured but well confined patches of colour. It represents a challenge for an origami purist because it typically needs 4 colours, and paper is usually (at most) duo colour:
The approach of this model, like a few in Kyohei Katsuta’s repertoire, is to use multiple (in this case 2) sheets of paper folded in together to give you access to the double colour pallet.
You know that feeling you have seen something before – I get it in origami a lot. I was sure I had seen a “Java Sparrow” before, and was sure it was in a Robert Harbin book from my youth, turns out the one I actually remembered was in an equally old book I had as a kid (and still own) “Origami” by Toyoaki Kawai which I remember clearly used a colour change “cheat” that involved colouring in parts of the square strategically with colours that would be presentation areas in the final fold. This “technique” is currently called “Kimiroing” because a modern designer (Kimiro) uses little laminated (or sometimes painted) colour patches to achieve tightly controlled colour change in some of his models sometimes.
I searched my stash for suitable paper and settled on blue/black thick Shadow Thai, and orange/white Yukogami, cut 25cm squares of each and then set about nursing the thick papers through a lovely but precise sequence.
Although uniaxial (bi-symmetrical along a long axis), the shaping ensures the model does not spread open like so many in that ilk. The legs are really fine – a little too thin to support the model weight, but I will probably mount it on a wire armature to fix that. The sequence lets you use quite thick paper while still managing the layer build-up well. Even though I struggled to get a square of Yukogami that was actually square because of the rough texture, the results of the mixed paper types give the model the illusion of a fluffy tummy, scaly feet and smooth flight feathers.
I really love the result, and think it a good display model for my next cabinet exhibition.
Mum loved Basset hounds, we had a Purebred “Rebecca”, who we had paired with another purebread, and kept one of the resulting pups also (“Cleo”).
Bassets are very intelligent, loyal and lovely pets, but I remember Rebecca had a wicked sense of humour – she used to specialise in sneaking up behind you and unleashing a single deeeeep bark from hell, just because the human reaction amused her. Rebecca was a tri-colour (black, tan, white), whereas Cleo was a bi-colour (tan and white).
Their body shape is distinct, and this origami design captures the actual dog morphology really well (prolly the best I have seen, and I have looked long and hard for suitable basset models to fold). Their stocky body, large shoulders, ridiculous amount of extra loose skin, pendulous ears and face that is south of where it needs to be make them quite adorable.
Mum misses “the girls”, so I folded her a pair – this one, designed by David Illescas, along with Lee Jae Gu’s. I used the same size paper and they really look good together – a nice memento for her to remember her favourite pets.
I have been enjoying exploring curved folds recently and an idea came to me:
I designed 3 complimentary “wavy” line patterns using Affinity Designer. They were designed on A4 and A5 templates. I printed them out and used them as score templates for pieces of 180gsm watercolour paper.
Hand-scoring curves is fraught with non-smoothness moments, but the watercolour paper was forgiving enough that, when laying in the creases, I was able to round out the little lumpy bits.
This is a Triptych – the 3 panels relate to each other, and could be smaller sections of a larger rippling mill pond.
I have been playing with approximations of non-euclidean based geometric representations of “squares” – those shapes that have 90 degree corners. In curved space that geometry gets seriously weird, really quickly.
I operated on some standard Kami to create shapes that had 90 degree corners, but to my surprise, I managed a 2,3,5,6 and 8-sided “square”, depending on the size of the “plug” I grafted into the square.
I could then form “square bases” with these sheets – the preliminary fold is the base for many designs. Interestingly, the number of points a sheet has when put into a preliminary base is governed by the number of sides the sheet has.
Working on the 8-sided square, I then went about folding a traditional crane (Tsuru), and noticed I ended up with a surplus of appendages. With some re-arrangement I was able to return some of the classic vibe to the rear of the crane, but that resulted in 5 heads.
I have seen similar (like up to 3 I think) multi-headed cranes designed from conventional 4-sided squares, but the model efficiency is usually terrible because the point-splitting methods necessarily reduce the size of the final model exponentially.
Ages ago, using up the white papers from a cheapo pack of coloured 15cm square origami papers, I first had a go at folding an origami “Spirit House”:
Designed by Ichiro Kinoshita, this model emerged from my “to fold” pile and it was meant to be.
I had not long returned from a trip to Japan (in the late nineties), and fell in love with the idea of having a Spirit House at our front door. Apparently it is a tradition to provide a home for good spirits – they then repel bad spirits. We have had our “spirit house” for decades, I love it.
I decided it was time to fold a better version of the rough first go, so turned to my stash of hand-made Kozo and cotton paper I had made from pulp back in October 2024 – it has a “stone-like” appearance so I thought it would be perfect.
I cut 3 18x18cm squares and a 20cm square, then set about folding the parts (it is sort of a modular, 2 parts of which need to be glued together). The paper is fairly thick and fabric-like, but takes folds fairly well. I used some strategic glue spots to keep seams closed, wrestled a little with the thickness but was happy with the results in the end.
As often happens, I was approached by a mate to fold a model for him (MJ) – he wanted a “Chook” for a surprise gift for his wife (Nikki) on her birthday. I love a challenge, so began looking for the best origami chook.
Turns out there are LOTS of roosters out there, but relatively few hens that looks like hens – I wanted feathers, volume and a playful but realistic chookiness and found in Makoto Yamaguchi’s beautiful book “Transcendent Origami”, a chicken designed by Kyohei Katsuta that I knew I needed to fold because it was perfect.
After doing a test fold, it became apparent that it was a 2-part model (top half has the rings and tail, comb and wattle) and the bottom half has the legs, beak and fluffy bum. It is a colour change model so with some careful “Kimiroing” I was able to use 2 sheets of glorious black spattered Shadow Thai (from origami-shop.com) that has Rorschach-like inkblots on one side, black mulberry on the back. The black was perfect for feet and beak. I laminated some red Kozo in the spot that would become the comb and wattle and I was away.
From my test fold, I was able to guestimate the paper size to make the chook more or less life-size – well, more of a bantam, but large enough for my purposes.
A model that has been on my “must fold” list for ages is the best origami Giraffe there is, designed by Bodo Haag:
After test-folding this model with a 90cm sheet, I decided to get closer to the recommended 50cm square by using a 70cm square of duo Kraft paper (part of my last roll of Ikea black/natural stash).
Some designers combine brilliant design with delightful fold sequence and this model has both. It is challenging, but entirely followable – some amazing moves strategically position the edge of the sheet towards the centre of the pleat bundle that will become the neck, body and legs – this affords an intricate set of edge-crinkle colour changed for the spots – just so clever.
The paper was a little thick, but I persisted and managed to complete the shaping pretty well. The long spindly legs needed help, so I added wires to allow it to stand on a base, I posed the legs so there was a slightly irregular stance.
This is my presentation fold of 1ctzH8jmON2’s Delicious “Bone Dragon”.
The CP and photodiagram guide for shaping appears in Orifancy6 (my late Halloweeny post).
Folded from a 65cm square of grey Unryushi with black, grey and white accent fibers.
grok.com made this AI animation of the fold – not quite sure how I feel about it but there you go:
I love this model – to mee if feeeels like a proper dragon. It has a wire armature, allowing it to free-stand and it can also be posed. 65cm is quite small (for me) for this model, due to layer build up, but from it’s many horned head thru its lovely rib cage to the tip of it’s tail it was lot of fun to figure out.
One of the many models I have had on my “to fold” pile for ages is Chen Xiao’s “Walking in the Rain”:
This box-pleated model seems to have taken me an age to complete for many reasons (including what I consider a weakness of box pleating), but finally I committed a square of pre-prepared Wenzhou paper to a rendering of this design.
The paper was previously Eco Dyed: Sandwiched between each layer of the folded up sheet was various vegetative matter – onion skins, tea leaves and other tannin-based plants. This bundle was boiled for a few hours in a “dirty pot” containing red cabbage and purple carrots. The cooled bundle was then carefully washed to remove all the bits of vegetation leaving subtle stains. This paper I called “Cherry Blossom” Wenzhou because the dappled pinks and muted browns reminded me of blossom trees.
One of the privileges of being on the edit team for Origami Shop is that I get to see new designs before they are in the wild:
Part of the edit process, often, is test folding the model. I do not need to do this, usually, because there is also a team of test-folders, but I like to check the instructions and how they work – it can inform better diagrams.
I have a recent stash of hand made (from plant to sheet) Kozo tissue I was itching to try on a fold.
This Koi Carp, designed by Yery J. Astroña, will be part of a forthcoming book – it is a 182 step sequence, so I thought (rather naively) … why not?
I had no idea how the paper would take folds – there are 3 pages of pre-creasing before collapse, but I figure I would fold until I finish or it failed – either outcome I can learn from.
To my delight, my paper (a 28cm square liberated from an A3 deckle-edged sheet) was completely stable – no sign of fatigue at the end. It takes creases pretty well, reverses those creases nice and accurately. It is crisp, thiiiiin, and softer than Kami, but I found it completely foldable. It wet-shapes beautifully – very satisfying experience indeed.
Last PAQ meeting I had the privilege of running the group’s Hollander Beater, processing my most recently cooked and cleaned paper mulberry pulp. In the past I have hand-beaten it, but was determined to give the mechanised processing a try (to see if I could).
The pulp floofed up into delicious clouds of softly frayed pulp after a few hours circulating in the beater. I took the beaten pulp home, rinsed it a couple of times and then pressed it into pulp storage sheets. I ladled 3 x 2L scoops of pulp into my old A3 mould and deckle, smoothing it off with my hands, then added them to my press, couching between. The batch made 6 such sheets.
After pressing, these pulp sheets were set to dry over the next week – when dry they are storage stash stable.
For the tissue session, I re-hydrated one of these sheets in a tall bucket, tearing it up until it was finely shredded. I then agitated it with my electric drill and a paint-stirrer attachment until it was separate and fluffy again. I brought the bucket of pulp and most of my sheet forming equipment to the PAQ meeting last Sunday and set up a bit of a production line.
I have a large vat (so I can easily move my A3 frame in it), and half-filled it with water. Then added 2 scoops of pulp to the water in the vat, along with half a bottle (about 100ml) of pre-prepared Methyl Cellulose (MC) gel and about 200ml of strained Okra mucilage. The MC was to act as an internal size for the paper (to help with the strength and crispness). The Okra mucilage acted as a suspension aid to keep the pulp from quickly sinking to the bottom of the vat.
After a thorough mix to fluff up and evenly distribute the relatively sparce pulp in the water, I was able to pull sheets by catching the “clouds” that so delicately hung in the water.
I have been making Mulberry tissue, and wanted a non-trivial model to test the foldability of the untreated sheets. I remember finding @taniiiii_ori ‘s Fractal Crane CP on Twitter ages ago, so decided it was perfect – based on a traditional fold, with a modern complex twist:
I picked the first sheet of tissue I pulled from my vat of freshly beaten kozo pulp – it was imperfect, painfully thin but none the less lovely. I cut the largest square I could from the most solid end and then set to laying in pre-creases for an n=2 fractal.
The CP is easily extended to add new levels, but the folds get impossibly fiddly exponentially – an n=2 was a good compromise I thought.
I was delighted to find that the paper took the pre-creases well, with no visible fatigue as I exposed the sheet to torsion and tension making the fiddly folds in the central gutter. Once creases were in and oriented correctly (mountains or valleys depending on their job) , the collapse began. The small bird-bases collapse and that allows the central gutter to form naturally around them.
One of many issues with long-term storage/display is the nature of the material itself – paper.
Most origami paper is not acid-free, meaning that over time the colours change as oxidation and UV damage take their toll on what is essentially a fragile material. Moisture and humidity conspire to “unfold” folded paper, causing it to want to return to the flat state, unless wet-shaping has been used to change the “memory” of the sheet fiber orientation.
Many models are not self-standing, so stands or other tricks are necessary to allow them to present upright – I have used both plastic clip stands and more permanent wire armature bases.
For the presentation/display model of Sampreet Manna’s beautiful new Peacock, I have used a few techniques to stabilise it in readying it for display (September – December I typically have display cases of my work in Suburban libraries).
This model is top-heavy – although the legs are pretty life-size in terms of the body proportions, they are spindly and the claws are not wide-spread enough for the model to self-support. I took some heavy gauge anodised aluminium armature wire, covered it with paper offcut from the sheet I was working with (“Earth” Tapa Duong Vietnamese fiber paper from @oritube_master ‘s shop) using PVA glue. Covering the wire with paper first makes adherence to the main model much more securely.
Once the wire segments had dried I then buried them deep in the pleats that made up the legs, closing the layers as I did using PVA glue dabs and then clamping it all in place whit it dried. The result is now that the model is help up by the leg wires, allowing me to permanently pose the “knees and ankles” without compromising the model stability.
Additionally, adding small PVA glue dots inside seams stops them from opening back up and greatly contributes to the long-term stability of the pose. I do not think this is as “cheaty” as bathing the model in MC and wet-sculpting it, like many origamists do. I have employed wet hands while shaping as a more gentle (and authentic) wet-folding technique and indeed some of the nice organic smooth curves achieved on this model were done that way. By wetting the paper, positioning it and then letting it dry the more subtle shapes become permanent,
The base this time was a white plastic lid from an empty container that was being recycled. I covered it with hand-made Kozo/cotton/day lily blend paper I made a few years ago – a lovely contrast that was interesting but not too busy as to distract from the already visually striking paper the model is folded from. Selecting a suitable base – be it a round lid or a plinth made from foam core can greatly enhance the stability of the model and give it a “finished” look.
The wires are punched through the top of the lid, bent tightly underneath and held with layers of gaffer tape and self-adhesive foam-core to make it feel “solid” and stable.
I am really happy with this piece, another model I am happy to display.
