This fish, designed by Davor Vinko has the most splendid eyes, and a nice 3D body, most impressed.
Why a fish? Well, it is the School Swimming Carnival today and I am at home being beaten up by a middle ear infection so I thought I would get as close to the spirit of the event whilst staying quiet and dry.
You can have a go at this model yourself, it is actually pretty easy once you get the 1/6ths sorted out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUcp0EiZ2xU
Robert J Lang is a living treasure in the origami world for many reasons. He is a mathematician, artist and seeming magician (for he can do with paper the seemingly impossible) but more importantly he specialises in realistic Origami models.
It is my Mother-in-law’s birthday today and I thought I would attempt a hideously difficult model of Lang’s which attempts to accurately represent a bloom from an orchid called a “Phalaenopsis” as a suitable birthday present.
These lush beauties have 5 petals, often frilly or oddly beautiful throats or slippers at the nectary.
All my reading and advice to folders suggested the model was not for the faint-hearted and boy, was that understating it – so many folds, so much folding, pre-folding and unfolding then bending into new shapes.
I am amazed the photocopy paper I am using actually did not tear or just disintegrate. This model would benefit from a “wet fold” where you wet the paper as you fold it, the shapes are softer and hold when the model dries.
I must admit to being completely chuffed and proud I could actually make this model, first time fold, and love how beautiful the end result is.
It is amazing that it started as a plain square cut from an A4 page, it ended up so organic with such bulk of paper tucked, crimped, sunk, and pleated in exotic ways.
I must try to find some of Robert Lang’s books – they are considered “bibles” of form, technique and contain so many iconic models.
You can have a go yourself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-UPR_HIyQo
Sometimes simple designs are beautiful – this rowboat, whilst folding-wise is not challenging, it is proportioned correctly and perfectly seaworthy, with a neat stern and a nicely locked bow
Why a rowboat? Well, I figured the Victorians could use it in the light of floods they are having right now – gotta love a sunburnt country – hot, bushfires, floods and cyclones (not to mention the wildlife) – wouldn’t live anywhere else for quids.
Thanks @ackygirl for the loan of the book with this in it, I like it, a lot (at 8 folds total it is such a nice respite from the complex models of late)
New Zealand has a national day celebrated variously but often on the 6th February called “Waitangi Day”. One of the species endemic to that place is a small, nocturnal and alltogether odd flightless bird called a Kiwi:
A very difficult model on a bunch of levels, designed by Roman Diaz. The feet were fascinating, and made from straight edges crumped into 3 toes each (curiously a Kiwi has 3 toes/claws on each foot it uses for digging with). Amazed with this first time fold as I was convinced it was going pear-shaped at a number of junctures.
I had to cheat with a couple of blobs of blutac under the feet to get it to stay upright for the photo, the balance is a bit out of whack. I would prefer the models to be free-standing but you get that sometimes; very happy with the body shape (morphology) however, clever.
You can have a go yourself (good luck understanding the person doing the tut, swarthy Latino accent and directions are unclear) kiwi
All cities have them, that anonymous dissociated youth that lurk on the periphery, just outside the light pool, wearing a hoodie (hooded fleece/jacket) plunging their face into deep shadow.
I really like this model (having been a bit nervy to try it), and am so completely chuffed that, first time fold, it turned out so nice – down to the elbows and shoulders … and it is free standing also – wow. ONE square of paper, no cuts or glue, very neat indeed:
The construction principle is actually pretty simple: fan-fold to 16ths horizontally and vertically, crease the corner to corner creases both ways and it just collapses into this wonderful base from which you can tease arms, legs, body, neck and head; crimp elbows and knees, rabbit-ear feet and hands and presto, done.
Have a go – not so much a challenge as it looks, so long as you are neat and accurate in your pre-folding.
When bad weather beats up the tropical coast, we have a banana shortage. When Cyclone “Yasi” ripped through Cairns, Townsville, Innisvale and further afield we lost crops – I am doing my bit by making my own banana (the ultimate low calorie, high fibre snack):
Quite a cute, sort of 3D model with a partially peeled fruit, quite appropriate for a “banana bender” like me.
You can try this also: banana
…also kinda hoping the OTHER 365’ers keep going, else it is gonna be real hard for me to keep going also
When I was a kid, we had chooks – poulets that were egg layers in a pen in the back yard of our country farmhouse. It was decided that we needed a Rooster to keep the chickens happy so we bought a black Bantam for the job (later nicknamed Mussolini because he turned out to be a control freak psychook*):
This Model reminds me of the stature of young, brave, cock-sure Mussolini. His incessant crowing was the reason that he became a quite decent casserole not too far into his hen-servicing career.
*Chooks that are tiny seem to have inflated opinions of their own ability – Mussolini would charge and fly at your face, scare the dogs and generally terrorize all other forms of life (including alienating himself from the hens he was supposed to be special friends to).
Why a chook? Well, in choir today the choir master asked us to do all manner of coordinated movements and vocalisations (including crowing of a cockerel) all of which I more or less completely failed to do correctly, yay me!
Allegedly, weasels go “pop” – not really sure how, why or the actual mechanics of it though. A snarly fold (partly invented) from a ferret-like figure, today’s model is a weasel:
Why a Weasel you ask? I am programming a “bang the weasel” game with my IPT students, and it seemed as good an idea as any for the model. It helped me realise I had no idea what a weasel looked like (thanks google for helping out) – quite happy with the model given how much of it had to be made up on the spot.
An odd tradition I have inherited is to say “white rabbits” as the first thing uttered at the beginning of a month, hence the inspiration of today’s model:
Not real sure where that came from, or why a sane, rational adult would do that, but it is ingrained and part of my monthly ritual.
This model is actually a cute variation of a waterbomb (turn it over and it looks just like one) – nice and simple, suggestive of a rabbit without the nit-picking detail of folding every whisker, which is a good thing too as I am buggered after a long day teaching.
It is my SECOND rabbit, different model, so all is fair in love and paper folding I figure.
Have a go yourself: http://www.videojug.com/film/how-to-fold-an-origami-bunny-rabbit
Boxes and containers are a branch of Origami that I find fascinating – how you can bend a flat sheet into a container has always interested me. This jewellery box, by David Brill, is a masterpiece of pre-folding
Inside, it is finished, lined, refined and tidy, has a “lip” that, if the model is made with coloured paper turns out to be the inside colour – the lid closes down on that lip smoothly, a beautiful hinge and just … works.
A hideous fold actually, based on FIFTHS, everything is folded using them, so the size of the box is 1/5 the length of the starting square, the trick is to tidily tuck away all that paper and lock it into place so it does not sproing apart. I started with a square cut from an A4 page, and the resultant ring box emerged the size a REAL one would be – nice happinstance.
Feel like i achieved something here as I had never done this fold before and there were moments when I was sure I had my first failure, because it just goes to hell and then re-emerges in an organised way.
Have a go yourself: http://www.happyfolding.com/instructions-brill-box_and_lid
The second model I learnt to make as a wide-eyed and eager 11 year old was this frog. I like that it’s proportions are correct, it has a puffy body and the back legs look right.
…so as a “getting to know you exercise” with my pastoral care group, I thought we could each make this model (as an exercise in listening and doing) and set out determined to explain this complex (lots of simple steps) model. I think we were pretty successful overall:
It was interesting because the boys sat together (year levels 8-12), helped each other out, conversed, concentrated and listened, struggled spatially and got to inflate a frog through the vent in it’s bottom (hey, it is a boy’s school).
Very proud of my boys.
Now I am going for a theme here, starting with tadpoles – yes you are correct there are TWO models here, but they are variations of each other – one without legs, the other with … look closely:
Quite cute models from a purely biological perspective because when the legs form, the tail is absorbed into the body much as the model suggests. each made from a square 1/4 the size of the largest one you can cut from an A4 sheet.
We all know a tadpole develops into a ….
“Australia, Australia, Australia, we love you, Amen. This here’s the wattle, the emblem of our land. You can stick it in a bottle, you can hold it in your hand.” (apologies Monty Python)
What could be more Australian than a Kangaroo? There are lots of designs – few look roo-like sadly (mostly folded by people who have never actually seen one), I will keep looking as I am not happy with the hind legs or head of this model, all else is fairly good.
I like that there is a Joey in the pouch and the front legs are positioned right but the bulk of paper there makes further shaping problematic, still for my first attempt at this model I am fairly happy with the outcome.
You too can fold a Kangaroo for Australia Day: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COgQlI0HzDU
Many contemporary folders have changed the face of Origami – Florence Temko is one such paper artist – this remarkably simple model is very chook-like and contains very few folds
Thanks @ackygirl for the lend of the book with this design in it – it is labelled “Rooster” but I have other models that are more “cock-a-doodle-doo” than this one, so I have labelled it a chook for now.
Arrgh, should know better than to edit a published post, the DATE of this post was yesterday, had to recreate it because wordpress plunged this post into “scheduled” mode and therefore it was not visible in the timeline – I did not cheat, you can trust me
Now I have seen a lot of dogs, some do not look very dog like, most in flat profile but this cheeky little terrier looks like it is expecting you to throw the ball for it – nice and simple, surprisingly, but lovely and dimensional (with a pudgy body and an alert expression on it’s face)
cutey little turned up nose, curly tail and the only type of dog I will let my kids have, sorry (they have asked, not in my house said I)
You should try this – really simple and delightful
