Things have been busy, lots happening in the real world so it is sometimes nice to get lost in a fold or two:
This lovely fully 3D skull, designed by Naito Yukata and wrangled from a 3:1 rectangle has been quite a journey.
The pre-creasing was fiddly but laid in landmarks that then aided the staged collapse. I found it easier to collapse parts of the model separately, then open the sheet back out to do the next section, laying in the final resting creases as I went – this meant that the “all at once collapse of the top part of the skull was easier.
The teeth introduced a lovely layered pleat structure I had not seen before and the overall shaping is a bit of an art I think.
Determined to fold something, I came across some diagrams in Origami Dan (an origami-focussed Discord) and figured I would give it a go:
The idea behind the the fold is interesting – making, from a square, a 3×4 matrix of “pixels” that can be colour changed either whole or in part. From this base you then strategically reveal colour to form letters of a typeface.
Designed by Jason Ku, it is a clever and flexible shape and I then set out to form all the letters of the alphabet and digits of basic numbers.
Some of the letters represented more challenge than others – some had little fiddly 1/4 triangle components, others had reverses contrary to the underlying structure, requiring some strategic swivels and reverses. the more observant among you will realise I stuffed up the colour conventions and got a few letters in reverse colours to the others (I, J and L for those that did not notice) – meh.
The most time-consuming part of this fold was compiling the photo record and stitching it together – happy I managed it however.
There are many models I just HAVE to have in my folio – David Brill’s “Double-Star Flexi-Cube” is one such model:
I first folded this back in my first 365 origami project (the original reason for this blog). At the end of the first 365 I held a charity auction and the original white DSFC provided a rather nice amount for my nominated charities.
I have only just got around to folding it again. This model requires A-series paper proportion, so I decided (insanely) to use A7 sheets, and chose 2 bold colours (red – yes that is RED, my phone camera seems singularly unable to photograph it, and purple) because I had 4 sheets of each. Each A4 sheet is cut into eighths – 64 sheets (32 for each cube)
deliciously, you fold 2 identical stars then, by the magic that is geometric topology and strategically placed “hinges” you can morph a star into it’s own negative (a cube with a star-shaped hole) then nest them inside each other.
I love this to bits, but must admit to having (again) to cheat on this model – the “locks” are not very positive, it tries to pull itself apart and there is little locking it together (bar some overlapping edges, simple flap tabs into pockets etc) – this is a bit of a pity. I used small strategically placed glue spots to stop it exploding every time I even looked at it suddenly.
Flexi-geometry is remarkably satisfying to play with, the geometry of this cluster is delicious.
Just before the Origami Marathon this year, Fergus Curry dropped a free access download to a new hedron that I knew I had to try. I cut the 30 papers and then ran out of time to actually fold them prior to the marathon:
Returning to this fold recently, I went into production-line mode to ensure I had fold consistency for each module given angle construction was a core requirement (ie. there is no “template”, you make the angles fresh each page, twice).
The resultant module have a pair of hinged triangles as faces, and deep pockets and twice bent tabs that, when together, make a really positive join.
Construction was at times painful – seating the modules inside their nearest neighbors requires you insert a tab around a corner that is being pulled closed as you seat it. Early on, mating modules is ok but as you lose access to the inside of the solid, it becomes more and more awkward. I resorted to a symphony of tweezers near the end to close it up.
When tidying my JOAS Tanteidan Magazines, I discovered a special edition that members used to get – one issue in particular has 2 terrifyingly complicated models I have not (to my surprise) ever tried:
This is Hideo Komatsu’s glorious “Shore Crab”, an amazing but intense design that is described in a fascinating sequence of diagrams. They are involved, number 194, and involved many advanced techniques, and in retrospect I probably looked at it at the time I got it and mentally added it to my “try later” pile.
I started with a 50cm square of crispy Kraft, and adopted my usual fold it until it either fails or finishes.
To my delight, the logical sequence and time to be accurate and careful resulted in a clean fold which I absolutely love. The resultant crab is plucky, has bulk (indeed, most of the paper is folded inside) and is just so anatomically crabby.
It takes great skill to design a model that closely resembles the silhouette of a figurative subject. It takes a special sort of genius in design to ensure that the model looks like the subject all the way around – the underside has all the features of a crab also – just brilliant.
I made a little clear acrylic stand that snugly slots into the crab’s carapace, enabling it to stand up like it is either walking or challenging and, I added some tiny spots of glue to keep seams from gaping all that was necessary to present the fold.
One of many things I like about being a subscriber of JOAS’ Tanteidan Magazine, is the little modulars that usually start each edition. Leafing through #191, I spotted a series of cubes designed by Jun Maekawa:
My pick of the cubes is his “Binding Cube”, a delicious little 6-piece modular whose layers lock so completely and tidily, the cube looks like it is one piece.
Folded from 3 squares of Tuttle duo each split into 2:1 rectangles. The module is relatively simply folded from thirds, the lock has layers of adjacent modules interleaving in such a clever way. Some of the modules were hard to place because the lock has very little clearance if folded accurately.
I like this model a lot, and am also happy with the colour choice.
Cleaning my desk is an important psychological activity, it helps me “move on” and, oddly, I had not cleaned my home desk since well before I retired … I am not sure why, but I just was not ready:
The cleaning process also de-clutters, re-homes and generates a pile of detritus headed for the rubbish bin. Among the accumulated layers of life I discovered a printed diagram from Pham Hoang Tuan for a lovely ornate goldfish.
I remember being sent a bunch of printed diagrams with a paper pack from him (I won it for … something I cannot remember), and realise I have yet to fold most of that hand-made and hand-coloured paper … must do something about it.
I approached this model like most – I first grabbed my goto test-fold paper (Kraft), decided to try a 30cm square and set of, reasoning that I will either finish it or fail trying – both are useful journeys.
Like many diagrams from Pham Hoang Tuan, I found some inconsistencies between what was being asked and what you had to do that with, but as a reasonably experienced folder I was able to “creatively” step over those weirdnesses.
This model is lovely, and screams for pretty, textured, thin paper – so I must re-visit it with the same. Like Ronald Koh’s Goldfish, this model is volumetric (it is chubby), has a profusion of fins and the shaping requires a deft, delicate touch. I love the formation of the eyes and separation of the fins, a symphony of bizarre genetic engineering designed to create fan-tailed delicate ornamental goldfish.
It contains a number of seemingly impossible closed-sinks to shape the body and create volume, but the net result is quite beautiful – one I will return to.
I have recently completed the mammoth 50hr+ live fold-along festival called The Origami World Marathon. I folded as many as I could physically attend, and it is a super rare privilege to be actually taught by such world class designers.
I managed about 14 models live, slept some and can complete those missed because, as part of the purchased ticket I gain access to video tutorials from the designers for the next year – win, win.
Nothing makes you feel old like stumbling across a delicious, simple new design from an 11 year old:
This is Bảo Long’s design, which appeared on one of the Fakebook groups I am a member of (https://www.facebook.com/groups/366246184054415). I am amazed this did not exist before as the separation of legs and abdomen/cephalothorax is so natural.
Folded from a 20cm square of Tuttle indigo duo paper, lovely sequence, terrific and pretty quick also.
EDIT: I just noticed it only has 6 legs (pretty sure I can find more), I guess 11yolds cannot count these days 😛
Browsing the current Tanteidan magazine, as you do (if you are a paid up member of JOAS), I saw a curious design for a “yummy” rounded unit, designed by Miyuki Kawamura, and decided to fold one:
The fold sequence is simple, the collapse creates a volumetric, rounded, colour-changed “eye-ball” like unit that holds itself together using paper tension. Like most unit designs, it has flaps and pockets, so I had to fold another 2 to see how they connect.
Again, by the miracle of paper tension 3 units unite into a lovely cube corner, so I had to fold another 3 units to make the smallest solid kusudama, again positively locked and, boy, the geometry is fascinating.
Nestled in among the eyeballs is a perfect cube. I may fold more of these (however I will fold using a smaller paper (I used 15cm square, but can easily fold smaller) as I think the 30 module is the pinnacle of weird but interesting kusudama.
Although (technically) a re-fold, the last time I attempted to fold this I had a partial crease pattern and a broken incomplete set of instructions in Russian, and just muddled along. I am not sure the resultant model even looked like Wall-E, but I was happy to sort of nut out a scheme for making his tracks.
I stumbled across a set of partial diagrams by “Tosummerny” in Chinese that seemed to surface more of the actual process, so decided I had to have another go.
I went big – 90cm square – seems excessive …but … I have another exhibition pending and thought this might make a good display piece if it ended up tidy enough.
The diagrams clarify the construction of the pleats necessary to form the main body, and how they cleanly articulate to make the beautifully treaded tracks, and also simplified what I had in my previous attempt mangled together to form the eyes.
It is a wonderful thing when designers share their processes, crease patterns and diagrams. Boice Wong is one that readily shares the CPs of his amazing designs, and when I saw “Sword and Shield V2”, I knew I had to give it a go:
Although I have been folding for decades, most of what i have folded has been from DIAGRAMS (step by step folding guides). By far the MAJORITY of origami out there does not exist as diagrams, but a larger proportion exist as CPs (crease patterns). I have been, over the last few years, working on my crease pattern solving skills.
This model is based on Boice’s 24 grid CP, and the collapse is relatively straight forward. Sometimes CPs give you crease orientations (red=mountain, blue=valley), sometimes not. The skill comes with deciding which creases to impose first as part of the collapse. Sometimes it does not matter, most it does, some you can derive based on “knock on effects” on one crease that causes the orientation of a sequence of subsequent creases. Sometimes it is pure witchcraft.
For the last few years, over what was the Christmas holiday school holidays, I have gone lap swimming at a 50m pool near(ish) me. I always intended to continue into the year, but work and lane availability (due to squad training) at the times I could go always got in my way:
Having recently retired, I have been able to continue right into winter (the pool is indoor, it is heated) at a time that suits me, and choose to do it as one of my activities on Wednesdays. It is part of a broader activity set that is hopefully keeping me fitter and a little less fatter.
I first saw this lovely, simple, perfect design on Joseph Wu’s Facebook feed. It is a rare privilege to have one of Joseph’s designs shared step by step, and knew it was something I HAD to fold. It perfectly captures that delicate balance between clawing through the water, and drowning. The model is taking a breath on the left-hand side. This is something I struggle to do due to neck vertebrae fusion (for some reason right-hand breathing is easier). Swimming is a gentle exercise that is gradually giving me back some of the movement lost since the neck re-build.
I folded the model from a piece of Tuttle indigo dye duo paper that has a pattern that closely resembles the ever-changing abstract water caustics I swim through every time I get in the pool. I love the simplicity but also the accurate depiction of that, a very human act of swimming.
This model has been on my “must fold” for ages, but I had only ever seen a CP and could never make head nor tail of the design. I saw a rendition on Origami Dan Discord and, after an enquiry it turns out there exists an unofficial diagram, drawn by Hua Ge that guides folders through this terrific insect:
I split a sheet from a new 60cm roll of medium weight Kraft and began folding. There is a load of pre-creasing, primarily setting up the high-density collapses to make the long thin legs, so accuracy early on pays dividends later.
Uncharacteristically, this model uses loos pleat structures to bulk out the body, define the wing covers and head/thorax/abdomen, with a deliciously complex un-sink to make the head-thorax join. Interestingly this model also has a super-detailed head/face – it reminds me so much of the hoppers in “A bugs life”, and it has real “cute” personality, as much as a locust can be cute.
