Author: wonko

822: (272/365) Excalibur

| wonko

“The Lady of the Lake,… [angels sing] …her arm clad in the purest shimmering samite, held aloft Excalibur from the bosom of the water, signifying by divine providence that I, Arthur, was to carry Excalibur. [singing stops] THAT is why I’m your king!”:

“Listen, strange women, lyin’ in ponds, distributin’ swords is no basis for a system of government. SUPREME executive power derives from a mandate of the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony.”

“Shut up!”

“You can’t expect to wield supreme executive power, just ’cause some watery tart threw a sword at you!” Continue reading →

821: (271/365) Satoshi Kamiya’s Ant

| wonko

After re-subscribing to JOAS, in record time my back-issues of the Tanteidan magazine arrived and along with one of them, a really challenging diagram:

About 170 steps, extreme paper torture and, as a project, something truly terrifying but I knew I needed to try it. Continue reading →

820: (270/365) Their Lives in Our Hands

| wonko

Recently I had the privilege to see Humpback Whales lounging and playing in Hervey Bay:

I was determined to fold a Humpback, but only really found one designer that had designed something that even remotely looks like a Humpback. Highly tapered body, hooked dorsal fin, soft bellows-like throat, tail fluke – this model has it all.

Made for duo paper, this model has white bits in roughly the right places but none on the underside of the tail, oddly. Continue reading →

819: (269/365) Jassu’s Dragonfly

| wonko

I am finally back up to date with my 365 project after an unavoidable hiatus. This fold is taken from “Drawing Origami – Tome 2”, a charming figurative representation of a dragonfly:

I like that the designer has distilled the essence of the critter down into it’s most recognisable features – body, head and wings. I decided to fold this using a square of Japanese Foil, I think that highlights the body nicely (although it makes it hellishly difficult to photograph). Continue reading →

818: (268/365) Simple Bat

| wonko

Amazed as I was with the postal response rate from Origamishop.com in France, my “Drawing Origami Tome 2” hardcover arrived before I got back from holidays. It is full of models for me to try, this is the first one in the book:

A simple bat, made for duo paper, it looks a little more like the “bat signal” from classic batman days, but is none the less cute. Continue reading →

817: (267/365) Double Helix

| wonko

Being a bit of a closet Biology nerd, when you see a design that combines love of folding with something biologically interesting you jump at the chance to fold it:

This modular is made up of a bunch of bent arrow-shaped modules that slip together in 2 strands that then, rather satisfyingly, intertwine in much the same way as worms do when they are mating. Continue reading →

816: (266/365) Spring Solstice

| wonko

For purists, today marks the Spring Solstice, the “official” first day of spring (as per lunar cycles). 

As a member of OUSA, I was asked to participate in the “Annual Gift”, which consists of contributing a fold to be used as a Xmas tree decoration at The American Museum of Natural History. Apparently this has become something of a tradition. Continue reading →

815: (265/365) Pez 3

| wonko

Browsing through Eduardo Clemente’s “Papiroflexia”, I am amazed at how prolific a designer he was, and how many variations on models he published:

This is Pez#3 – a rather handsome fish with lovely colour changes. Continue reading →

814: (264/365) Complementary Modular Octahedron

| wonko

Having recently realised I had forgotten to re-subscribe to JOAS, I hurriedly did so then went on holidays, fully expecting the back-issues of Tanteidan to not arrive for weeks:

Due to the miracles of Australia post (or was that Japanese post and a courier?) they arrived while I was away, fortunately kept dry in my mailbox.  Continue reading →

813: (263/365) Llook out, there are Llamas!

| wonko

PART 2: THE LLAMA, LIVE FROM GOLDERS GREEN
The llama is a quadruped
which lives in big rivers like the Amazon.

It has two ears,
a heart,
a forehead,
and a beak for eating honey,
but it is provided with fins for swimming.
Llamas are bigger than frogs. Continue reading →

812: (262/365) Tiny T-Rex

| wonko

This rather adorable tiny dino is designed cleverly by Eduardo Clemente:

I am so impressed with the body morphology of this model, position and proportion of limbs seems really well considered. Continue reading →

811: (261/365) Stink Bug

| wonko

My citrus trees have a problem that starts about now in the season:

Infestations of stinkbugs arrive and soon they are thick with debilitating sucking insects. It would not be so bad but I seem allergic to their secretions, making getting rid of them difficult.

I have tried garlic, chilli spray, soapy water, using an old vacuum cleaner to suck them off but to no avail. Poisons are not something I want to use but seem to have no choice. Continue reading →

810: (260/365) Pez

| wonko

In catch-up mode, this is Eduardo Clement’s “Pez”:

A delightful fish fold that is designed for paper that is the same colour both sides. A charming fold from his book Papiroflexia.

relevant because we recently spent time on the waters of Hervey Bay (yes, we did see whales, but yeah)

809: (259/365) Un Tergo Del Cubo

| wonko

I am constantly amazed by the variety of techniques on display in Jun Maekawa’s designs, and this cube is no different:

Based, in principle at least, on an acute windmill base, folded asymmetrically, it locks into a geometry that confuses the eye. Continue reading →

808: (258/365) Gettin’ Crabby

| wonko

Now I know I am a few posts behind my fold a day schedule, and will eventually catch up, but thought I would start with this fold:

Designed by Phạm Hoàng Tuấn, this charming little crab was presented on my Fakebook feed as a photodiagram sequence. Continue reading →