mammal

1186: Year of the Horse 2026

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When I bought the book “Potential Origami Collection”, there were a few models in it I slated as “yeah, you are not good enough to fold that, yet” – this model was one of those:

This is Jeong Jae Il’s glorious horse, and it may be my new favourite origami horse (bumping Dave Brill’s triangle-based horse off the top spot – sorry Dave)

The exacting and unforgiving early pre-creasing is difficult (I did not photograph it because I was so lost in what I was doing) – and challenging to be accurate as it involves a LOT of constructing angles on long diagonals – with my chosen 90cm square those diagonals were really long (leading to a little inaccuracy). A 90cm sheet led to a finished model that stands, rearing, just over 30cm high.

The actual collapse and folding is different to most diagrams – once the BASE of the model is arrived at – a roughly horsey shape with flaps for heat, tail and 4 legs articulated more or less where they need to be in the final model, the designer then COMPLETELY develops each feature before moving on to the next. Head, front leg, the other front leg, tail, back leg, other back leg.

Other designers scatter finishing details (do a little here, move somewhere else and do a little, return here eventually to do a little more etc.). Some models have inter-area dependencies I know, but it was refreshing to see each bit refine in my hands – very satisfying folding indeed.

I will fold this again, and use nicer paper, but, in my opinion a GOOD model looks good with plain paper – this one does – it is just so “horsey”.

I really enjoyed folding this model, just got lost in the process. I decided not to wire it to a base internally as it would disrupt the lines too much, so stabilised the open seams and then added a central clippy-stand thing that grips the internals up near the neck, allowing the model to balance in the rearing pose pretty naturally.

1185: Bodo Haag’s Giraffe

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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.

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Hedgehog Algorithm

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Eric Joisel was a genius – his sense of fun and play was amplified by his seemingly accidental discoveries. He typified himself as a “bad folder”, but no one breathed life into paper quite like him. When cleaning out my display case, I chanced upon an ancient and beleaguered fold of an “adult” hedgehog, based on Joisel’s iconic design, and decided to fold a replacement:

Looking through notes Eric himself left about the “Baby Hedgehog”, I discovered his “design” was really an algorithm – do it on a 16 grid and you get a baby, do it on a 32 grid and you get an adult – it is an algorithm because the method of raising a quill is repeated along a row. The method of adding another rank of quills is the same. Baby hedgehogs have 5 ranks of quills, an adult had 9. The leg formation, head and tail formation on both models is the same … the instructions are algorithmic.

I set about using some of a red roll I bought off Amazon (for something else, then changed my mind) – it is a scant 60cm square. It is red both sides, and takes folds quite well. You lay a 16 grid or alternate mountain/valley folds. then Diagonal grids alternating mountain and valley – this has the side-effect of, mostly, orienting all the creases you need for the base correctly. Nice.

The first rank of quills to set is the middle line. You lay as many pre-rank pleats as the model dictates before forming the first row of quills, then, it is a simple zig zag squash/collapse. Raising subsequent ranks all use the same method – popping points by liberating an internal pleat and reversing a point that is hugging the previous line of quills.

I remember being bamboozled by the collapse back when I first did it over a decade ago, but with experience you can see the process, anticipate what needs to mode and achieve each point without stressing the surrounding paper- very satisfying. Once all ranks of quills are raised, the side fans are box-pleated in half to form front/back legs. You then do something Joisel terms “True 3D”, where the body is curved via gentle stretching of the points – this subtly alters the inner gussets and locks the body in a domed shape – it takes time and a gentle tough not to distort and damage the paper – the effect is lovely however.

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1168: Cotton-top Tamarin

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As a once obsessed biology teacher, I am very interested in critters that are distant relatives – in this case the group of “New World Monkeys” contain some astonishing and cute members – few cuter or more critically endangered than the Cotton-top Tamarin:

Origami primates are fairly rare, but the more exotic specimens hardly ever get a representation. It was wonderful to see that in a soon to be published book “Origami Oddities”, by Kunsulu Jilkishiyeva that this Tamarin was designed so thoughtfully by her.

Test folded from a 45cm square of peach/natural matt Damul Kraft paper from origami-shop.com, the sequence is fun, tricky and contains some very satisfying collapses.

There is heaps of opportunity to go nuts with the shaping here, as the head is expressive (yet has no facial features – yet), the hands are fully fingered, the back legs in the original design were points (I rendered them more as paws), the tail is lovely and lively, the “cotton top” is fun.

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1167: Aye Aye

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Primates are a diverse collection of animals that contain us hominids, apes and a variety of “monkey-like” critters. One of the most primitive, obscure and endangered is a type of Lemur, native to Madagascar, called the Aye Aye:

Largely nocturnal, and generally feared because of it’s slightly crazed appearance and creepy long fingers, apparently it uses its fingers to reach into decaying wood to pluck out juicy grubs – yum. I had never seen anything like it rendered in origami until I was proofing a soon to be published book by Kunsulu Jilkishiyeva titled “Origami Oddities”. I knew I had to try it.

Using a 45cm square of Damul Kraft (from Origami-shop) in brown/natural, the pre-creasing was fairly straight forward, the first collapse is complex (an “everything at once” style collapse I love). Isolating the features is pretty straightforward, but this is not a beginners fold, it contains some deliciously complicated maneuvers.

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Kangaroo

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As part of an Aussie animal series, it would be wrong to not include a Kangaroo:

The best Origami Kangaroos are designed by Gen Hagiwara – this is Gen’s 2013 design, a lovely mother ‘roo with a joey in her pouch. Fortunately it featured in Tanteidan Magazine #147 – part of my growing collection of JOAS origami magazines.

Starting with a 50cm square of rust Lokta paper – a Nepalese paper made from the inner bark of a species of Daphne, a remarkably durable paper that has natural resistance to bugs, mildew etc.

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Short-Beaked Echidna

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There are only a few origami figures I MUST have in my collection – Steven Casey’s “Echidna” is one of these:

This adorable little monotreme is covered in one of my favourite square-grid tessellations, but skillfully crafted to allow all the other body bits to be where they need to.

I bought the British Origami Society booklet describing how to fold this treasure as soon as I knew it existed, and have folded it a few times now. Some sequences are nightmare fuel – this one is just so enjoyable to fold.

I recently received a shipment of paper from Origami-shop.com and in it was a 65cm 11 colour pack of the NEW Shadow Thai paper. I last bought it in 40cm square form but it was THICK so to my delight this version is thinner and takes complex folds really nicely. I chose this fur-like colour because it most closely matched the quill and hair colour of an echidna.

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1152: Platypus

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Browsing a Korean Origami Convention book (the 6th – 2015), as you do, I stumbled across a Platypus I had not seen before:

Designed by Fernando Gilgado, this genius design uses duo paper to isolate the beak, tail and legs from the body in a really interesting way.

After some simple pre-creasing, you collapse to a base that looks really useful for all sorts of long critters with head/tail and 2 pairs of legs (like a crocodile, say)

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1151: Riccardo Foschi’s “Rabbit”

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There were many standouts from the epic Origami World Marathon (OWM5), the rabbit taught by Riccardo Foschi was one such:

So much character teased from a 16×16 grid, this delicious comic rabbit stands on its own and is dry-shaped, without the need for any glue or MC.

My first fold used Tant paper, and was smaller but useful to explore the structure. In this model’s case, a thicker more robust paper actually helped with the shaping – I managed a lovely plump belly and rounded face, arms and legs with toes/fingers implied by subtle divots.

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Display

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My annual origami display at Holland Park Library was installed this morning:

Cabinet 1 views

Included is a broad range of origami styles from a huge and diverse collection of designers, folded from a varied collection of papers.

Cabinet 2 views

I am trying to get better at not crowding the display cabinets – sometimes less is more to allow individual models to shine – let me know how I went.

If you visited, I would love your impressions, comments and suggestions for future displays.

Get directions here

1144: Gilmore Davidson’s Platypus

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It is a well known fact that Australians MADE up the illogical collection of animal parts we then called a Platypus:

Ducks bill, fur, poisonous spines, webbed feet, lays eggs, feeds young milk, lives under water … LOL … then only people silly enough to believe this are tourists, right?

One of many benefits of networking at an origami conference is that you get to mix in the real world with talented designers – if you are lucky they share their designs with you.

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Future Folds: Panel discussion and Exhibition

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Coupled to 8OSME, RMIT Design Hub is currently hosting an exhibition of important origami works called “Future Folds”. The opening event featured a panel discussion with Tomoko Fuse and Robert J Lang.

Panel discussions can be wonderful if the alchemy is right – the right combination of guests and questions. I am not sure we got a stellar set of questions posed, but it was encouraging to hear the guests speak of their obvious love of origami, and interesting to hear about their differing approaches to the artform.

We then proceeded to the gallery space to view a number of precious “holy grail” origami objects. Presented as the centerpiece was a large scale installation of Tomoko Fuse’s “OROCHI” (or large snake) – beautiful organic tube sculptures that seemed to have a life of their own.

Around the walls of the gallery were astonishing things, many of which I have only ever seen in documentaries and books – Tomohiro Tachi’s “Rabbit” for example. This was posited proof that using “Origamiser”, you can construct a crease pattern to replicate ANY 3d object using folds only. An amazing demonstration that would have been a nightmare to actually fold, but entirely possible to do so.

We saw some lovely examples of Jun Mitani’s curved fold works (some I have the CP of but have never successfully folded) and some original tree-maker inspired circle-packed designs for bugs and lobster from Robert Lang.

Present also were some lovely spiral forms and tessellations by Tomoko Fuse and an assortment of other precious folded things.

It is rare for such works to make it to Australia, and I was so glad to have been able to see them.

1139: Quantum Superposition

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Schrödinger’s Cat, as a thought experiment, states that if you seal a cat in a box with something that can eventually kill it, you won’t know if the cat is alive or dead until you open the box. So, until you open the box and observe the cat, the cat is simultaneously dead and alive.

We often use Schrödinger’s thought experiment to explain the concept of superposition. The experiment states that a hypothetical cat is locked in a box with some radioactive substance controlling a vial of poison. When the substance decays, it triggers a Geiger counter that causes the poison to be released, thereby killing the cat.

Since the box is locked, and we on the outside don’t know whether or not the radioactive substance has decayed and released the poison, we can’t tell if the cat is dead or alive. So, until we open the box to know for sure, the cat is both dead and alive. Mathematically speaking, there’s a 50 percent chance the cat is dead and a 50 percent chance the cat is alive. Source.

This is Sebastien Limet’s Shrodinger Square, a delicious exercise in folding a figure then hiding it inside another structure. I folded this in baking paper, and it is a little too transparent I think (I tried it in printer paper and it was too thick and opaque).

I like that the cat is made of the body and tail at opposite ends of the 5:1 sheet, closing and locking it brings the two pieces together in silhouette. Clever.

Cat, Rat, Cheese

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I had forgotten how wonderful it was to lose yourself in a fold, particularly an Eric Joisel design:

I decided it was time to re-fold Joisel’s Cat because … the last time I attempted it back in 2011 (as part of the original 365 project) she turned out barely recognisable:

Naturally, the cat is looking at something, I decided it must be a rat. There are few more character-ful designs than Joisel’s Rat, so I folded him again – this time on a sheet 1/4 the size of the cat (to sort of get the scale right).

I reasoned the rat was around for a reason, so quickly found Jeremy Shafer’s “Cheese” design and decided the rat’s next meal would be cheese (unless he himself did not become dinner for the prowling cat). I folded the cheese with a square 1/4 the size of the rat to sort of get the scale right.

All too often a fold is completed in isolation – few designers design “sets” of models that are sort of meant to go together. Joisel’s Cat and Rat reference each other in their diagrammed sequences – I like that. Both models have challenging sequences – each with places where your judgment on where a fold goes completely changes the attitude of the model – I like that also as it let’s you infuse character into the model, and often means subsequent folds look different.

I think the only other origami artist that comes to mind for designing “scenes” is David Brill – his masterpiece “Brilliant Origami” is full of fun tableaus.

1120: Steven Casey’s “Numbat”

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Occasionally I am privileged to be asked to test-fold new models, and I jumped at the chance to fold this Numbat:

As far as I can see, this is the first depiction of this native Australian insectivorous marsupial in origami and the design captures the morpohology and proportions really well.

Starting with a preliminary base, then folding a skewed birdbase, the side stripes naturally emerge in cleverly controlled colour changes, along with the legs, neck and ant-eater-like snout, along with a lovely bushy tail.

I folded this chap from a 40cm square of white/natural Kraft paper (some of my last from the Ikea stash – I wish they sold it again, great stuff) and the fold sequence was fun – some really interesting moves and a good range of skills necessary to complete the model neatly.

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