30min

193: Yoshizawa’s Bat

| wonko

There is great beauty in simplicity sometimes:

With relatively few folds, few landmarks, you form the suggestion of character as much by what you leave out as what you fold in – I like this model a lot.

Lovely ears and expressive wings that are posable, lovely fat tummy makes this little model a gem.

Why a bat – did I mention that MARKING makes me batty? Well it does, beyond measure and I have had a hellish few days racing to meet a deadline meaning that I MUST mark on my holidays (doesn’t seem fair, does it) – never mind. I love deadlines, particularly the sound they make as they whoosh by.

190: Yoshizawa’s Sumo

| wonko

Considered by most to be the “father of modern origami“, Akira Yoshizawa created many artistic models and invented the system of diagramming we now use as standard. He also, it seems had a wonderful sense of humour:

This model is as much a character study as a comment on Japanese society, and I must admit to a giggle when I first found this model nestled near the back of Yoshizawa’s seminal work “Creative Origami”.

Initially, the model is folded asymmetrically, then as features emerge it is obvious this character is “fully equipped” and ready to rumble (although I was sure sumo usually wore some form of ceremonial “nappy” – for some reason Yoshizawa decided to omit that detail).

A simple fold that would benefit from thinner paper (the shoulders and neck were very difficult to fold with an A4 copy paper square). Quite cute however and I would imagine shocking in the day (but these days we would probably suggest steroid abuse will do that to a man 😛 )

181: Piglet

| wonko

I have a lot of pig models, all have their charms – it is interesting that it is a much-folded animal:

This figurative model is quite a simple fold, a nice change of pace on a busy day

An interesting twist on the waterbomb base, it’s body proportions are ok, it has a good snout that could be further modeled as there is lots of paper there, and a fab curly tail.

172: Life, But Not As We Know It

| wonko

Spock from Roddenberry’s Star Trek is famous for many things – wooden acting, pudding bowl haircut, extreme eyebrow waxing, pointy ears and green blood:

But his lines of dialogue are what does it for me: “It’s a type of space madness we have not seen before”, “Fascinating, Captain”, “It’s life, Jim, but not as we know it” …

A fairly effective caricature of Nimoy as Spock – may you live long and prosper.

You should have a go at this one yourself – http://www.spiraclemusic.com/webwalk/spock1.htm

167: A Hyena

| wonko

Hyenas get a bum rap by the general public, They are seen as garbage collectors and, whilst it is true that they will eat stuff already dead, they prefer to hunt.

This is a difficult model to get the posture right – I like the base however and can see a rande of quadrupeds that could spring from it.

A “jackall” I think, and a dog are closely related. Hope you like it.

165: Sugar Plump Fairy

| wonko

I once shared a house with 3 other uni friends – much happened, most memorable. Late one night, instead of finishing a due-next-day assignment, Mark was seen flitting and pirouetting through the house:

We coined the expression “sugar plump fairy” after the dance he was attempting, it stuck. Happy Birthday Mark!!!

I like this model, simple folds, precise creasing that gives form from flat surfaces – very clever Mr Brill.

This model is designed to be a Christmas tree topper – I can see how that would work given the convenient pocket at the back. It is not free standing (although I could mangle the lovely minimalist legs into feet and knees I guess – that would ruin the lines however.

Hope you like it.

164: Queen Anne Table

| wonko

Now I put my hand up as a staunch REPUBLICAN – I have never seen the sense of a colonial country holding on to a token monarchy. It would be different if the monarchy were actually USEFUL to us, like a table:

Strong, supportive, present, made of something sustainable and central to daily life, a table is central to any home. This is a “Queen Anne” style table, designed by Robert Harbin, folded for our celebration of the Queen’s Birthday (a public holiday for us – one good, tangible thing that benefits us I suppose).

Nice exercise in petal folding, there are a few variations possible to transform it into a square table – quite like the polyhedral form however. Folded from “Secrets of Origami” by Robert Harbin, a treasure trove of old-school origami designs.

160: Joisel’s Penguin

| wonko

For those people not in Brisbane, it is unseasonally cold today so I thought that it might be appropriate to try a Joisel model:

This delightful model has very few folds, yet emerges with a fairly normal posture, plump belly, lovely fins and figurative feet.

Joisel is a master, each fold well thought out and I always enjoy folding his models – this model is a nightmare in thirds – most divisions are thus, and really difficult to get right.

On a day like today, this little penguin would be well at home.

154: Draft Donkey

| wonko

…so I am marking Drafts, dozens of the things – life goes on hold for a while and I feel like a bit of a work-horse:

This is supposed to be a donkey reading a paper – I sort of get it, hope you do to. ears and head are nice, I like how the paper is held also but would remodel the “hands” to hoofs if I were to fold this again

153: Shiri’s Snail

| wonko

Now I stumbled across this recipe for a snail, only problem was all the instructions were in Thai:

Quite by coincidence, we are having home-cooked Thai tonight (I make a mean beef and basil) but NOT cooked with snails

So I gave it a whirl – in the end I had to work from the way diagrams looked, think I nailed it, difficult to tell – this snail has a lovely shell, head/feelers and foot – quite my favorite mollusc so far
I really like how the shell becomes 3d, with some tweaking and some textured paper this would be really beautiful (well, as beautiful as a snail can be at least)

146: Bambi

| wonko

Now I saw this “donkey” model and had a go – I think the diagrams are a little inaccurate because my first fold ended up looking a lot like Bambi

Beautiful head, strong forequarters that could withstand some more modelling but the back quarters and weedy tail are in need of work – they cannot all be gems

143: Moped

| admin

Now it is my brother-in-law’s Birthday today (Happy Birthday Robert!!!) and he loves all things Motorbike (especially high powered zoomy ones), so I thought I would make him a Moped:

This is doubly hilarious because this little dinky model looks like it would be slower than walking

Made with some simple (if compact and intense) box pleating – no cuts nor glue, this is a well proportioned and fun to fold model.

You should have a go at this yourself – take care, 32nds are a pain to fold on a small piece of paper – Instructions are in Austrian but the diagrams make plenty of sense.