John Montroll is a design genius:
In his book “A Plethora of Polyhedra” he explores the complexities of single sheet 3d-shapes, and this rather splendid prism caught my eye as something I wanted to try.
I like how the pre-folding teases of open edges up and inside the finished shape which locks itself – very clever Mr Montroll
There are some eye-poppingly complex polyhedra in this book, I shall be trying some more I think.
I realise I have not folded many flowers – in my opinion not a lot of them look like flowers:
This azalea is pretty good – yes my first fold is a little wonky but I can see how if I were to fold it again I could improve it.
A nice design using Rhodes double-bird base, I can see applications for this flower and may try it again when I am less busy.
I was playing with a modular technique that uses 6 business cards, some simple bends that create a stable modular cube:
You can then either link these cubes in any direction or “face” the sides with an additional set of 6 cards. I made these during a conference session that talked about creativity – I thought I should walk the walk.
I must consider a larger structure using this technique – a little like minecraft-style building but with paper.
The Spanish Origami Society (ASOCIACIÓN ESPAÑOLA DE PAPIROFLEXIA) feature a number of folders with unique approaches to model design, this is a cute rat:
A fairly compact model, suggestive of features rather than folding every detail.
I think it captures the spirit of a rat quite well, well a nice playful one rather than a plague-infested nasty.
Nice ears, face and tail, and a plump little 3d body combine to make a neat model for today.
Davor Vinco has made many elegant models, most with simple lines – I particularly like his fish:
The beautiful eyes have featured on an earlier model but I like the body shape of this fish, the way the fins lock and gill line makes the nead a different colour to the body (if using duo colour paper)
A fairly simple fold to give my tired hands a rest from yesterday, nice none the less – 3d enough to consider filleting.
It is child protection week so I must chase some design for that.
Now I am an out and proud “Lord of the Rings” fan – loved the books, liked the movies – the standoff betwixt Gandalf the Grey and the Balrog was such an amazing bit of cinema:
This here is a (sort of) Balrog – pity the photos do not do it justice. Nice leathery wings, a grimace on his face and sort of snarly hands and a lovely tail.
I am writing exams at the moment and the phrase “you shall not pass” is something I try to keep furthest from my mind whilst doing it – I am sure my students would hope that is the case also.
Some interesting teasing of a blintzed preliminary base that is crimped and petal folded in interesting ways – the base that results I can see huge potential in as it has 8 symmetrical flaps asking to be bent into something else – must have a play with it. I found the instructions for this critter on the interwebs and have NO idea whose model it is – anyone help me out? … anyone out there?
A Pinch and a punch (well, more correctly a sink, pleat and reverse fold – lol, origamist joke there) for the first of the month:
This nice little rabbit is a clever use of a 2×1 rectangle and has a pleasing shape – heaps of modelling potential beyond the base fold.
Designed in 2008 by Hoang Tine Quyet, it is in my top 5 rabbit models already – such a cute tail and some flopsy ears also.
It was also Helpdesk Chris’s 21st Birthday today – yay – I made him a user-friendly computer guy, because, well, Chris is a user-friendly computer guy:
Happy 21st Birthday Chris, hope you had a fun day!
Tomoko Fuse is renowned for her intricate boxes – this one is a version of her triangle box:
A modular, top and bottom each made up of 3 modules that interlock and lace together to create a curious container
I must explore these modular boxes some more, when I have more time, quite happy with this as my first fold however.
When I first saw installation art, in origami, folded and designed by Sipho Mabona, I knew I wanted to do stuff like that also – this koi is elegant and beautiful:
Lovely dorsal and pectoral fins, graceful tail and head complete with gaping mouth.
There is much to admire about this model – it is tricksey to tease the fish from a square and Mabona achieves this fiarly simply – very happy with this as my first fold, althought it was a little fiddly to do the mouth crimps at this scale (I used an A4 cut square).
I can imagine schools of these, and indeed that is how Mabona displays them – in slight size variations floating in groups as if being fed in a pond – lovely stuff, feel privileged to fold it.
You can have a go here: pdf
I like a figurative compound model, and when it is designed by a master like Akira Yoshizawa then it feels like a privilege to fold it:
This is one of his monkeys, in two pieces – I love the pose, the simple but expressive face, posture and all – very clever.
Made with 2 bird bases, then each part diverging in method yet strangely symmetric, coalescing into a top and tail that then slots together.
This is a lot like the more complex “swivel monkey” which I will torture myself with later, for my first fold I am happy with this result. Taken from “Creative Origami”, a masterwork entirely in Japanese, most models have no landmarks, you fold them by eye, making each fold unique and allowing the folder to add their own character – nice.
Tonight is Census Night – lots of demographic questions and a bunch of boxes to tick:
Naturally I wracked my brain as to what to fold on such an occasion (it only happens every 5 years or so) and drew a blank, then thought of the response style for some questions and that was my inspiration for this original fold
Fairly happy I can think of something and then make it with a reasonable resemblance to the original idea. Next time, if I had time, I would try to do this with only ONE piece of paper (via box pleating)
Apparently today is the feast for St Mary Mackillop – the first Australian who has been verified to do enough miracles to qualify as a saint.
Interestingly, I drive past the church school she used to teach in in South Brisbane. I would love to say I actually knew this, but a staff member mentioned it during a meeting so I fired up my collection of nuns for a suitable model to provide the tribute.
A relatively simple box pleating exercise designed by Fred Rhom called “Vera Cruz” this works well for the purpose.
there are a few things you can vary here as most is folded without landmark – the height of the cross, the tallness of the nun etc, nice figurative model.
Pressed with something to make and tired and shagged out after a busy week I stumbled across this model and thought I would give it a go:
I have seen kids using a mini-skateboard (tech deck I think they are called) and am amazed that this model is a fairly complete imitation of one, including wheels, trucks and deck.
Originally (the dev shots) I used a square from an A4 page – this resulted in a deck that was nearly 20cm long, so re-made it (the other shots) with a 1/4 A4 square and it is perfect in scale
I like how the wheels are made from curls of flaps formed from side sinks, it is fairly faithful – nice work Mr Trollip. You should definitely try this – you will impress the teens no end with you leet paper skills.
I remember when I was in my early teens, I used to be forced to go to a barbershop just off the main street of Nambour (yes, lived there for a while) and the barber, a Maltese man with a thick mustache and little head hair (which is about as unlucky an omen as a thin chef I think) used to cut my hair:
“Short back and sides, with a surfie front” he used to call the hairstyle inflicted on me when all my mates had the finest “mullets” you have ever seen. Those were the days.
As I get older, there is less for the hairdresser to remove, more of it grey and less of it growing on my head – you get that apparently.
I was trolling to Netherlands Origami Society website (yes, these groups of paper benders are everywhere) and came upon a suggestion for scissors based on a stretched bird base, so I thought it appropriate today as I have just had a haircut and, being winter, my head is now cold – FML.
I have been told that the difference between a good haircut and a bad haircut is about 3 weeks – we shall see.
I have been invited to a 4-person dogfight match tonight and thought a plane wold be the best model for the job, so found a rather nice Messerschmitt BF 109K:
With relatively few folds a lovely propeller-based warplane emerges from a flat sheet. I like this model a lot (so much so that I folded 4 of them – thought each of the “pilots” in tonight’s game might like one as a memento of the battle)
Nice fat fuselage, three blades on the propeller, cockpit and nice tail-plane, if anything the wings are a little short but given how they are gathered from the sheet they are good as they are.
