I want to pretend that I have the skill level to master a fold first go, but in truth, sometimes it is not as simple as that:
This Rhino appeared in the current edition of the JOAS magazine Tanteidan and I was determined to try it – an hour or so and it would be done – right? Continue reading
Now I am not really one for card-based rpg/gattle games – Pokemon, Yugioh, Magic the gathering, but I know they have a huge and passionate fan-base. Trolling through a Tanteidan I found a curious little skeletal character and decided to fold it:
A modular, in 3 bits (head, shoulders, knees+toes … everybody sing..), it struck me as a cutie little skeleton.
I then went on the interwebs only to discover this character is part of a vast universe collection of macabre boney critters that battle each other, almost certainly have anime series dedicated to them and a number of animated series in Japan. Continue reading
“He’s not a messiah, he is just a very naughty boy”. “Crucifixion? Good. Line on the left, one cross each”:
In my opinion, “Life of Brian” by the Monty Python team is close to perfect, such a beautiful play in an otherwise familiar ancient world, full to the brim with some of their cleverest work. If you take nothing else from that move, “always look on the bright side of life”. Continue reading
Trolling around in my collection of Tanteidan magazines, as one does, I came across a little 6-piece modular designed by Jun Maekawa:
Oddly named until you notice that each of the modules is a little “house” shape, complete with pitched roof. Continue reading
Those who know me realise I am a little obsessed with paper folding, some would say to excess. The truth of the matter is I am constantly amazed what you can coax a flat sheet to do. I think I missed my calling as a materials engineer:
I like models that I can visualise, as I am folding. Equally, I am fascinating when there is a tangle and then, out of the mess, something wonderful emerges. Continue reading
I was casually puddling around in origami blogs, as you do, and came across the one page diagram of this little charmer and decided to give it a whirl:
8 pages, sort of a spectrum, combine in a whirl not unlike the leaf garland popular in Roman times however the locking mechanism leaves a small hole in the middle rendering it unwearable.
I could imagine folding these in red/green/gold/silver, pimped out with baubles and glitter (in a craft project from hell) that would make a lovely seasonal wreath – something to consider I guess. Continue reading
Not quite sure how I missed this little beauty in the flurry of folding fishies, but Sensei Koh messaged me on fakebook and asked why I had not folded it. Truth is I was dazed and confused (and just a little fished out) and must have just missed it:
That is a pity, this little charmer is one of my favourites in the collection. Lovely aquiline body shape. flowing find and well formed head. Continue reading
I have been a fan of Star Trek since it was possible to be so, love the franchise, movies, series, the lot. I saw a diagram that resulted in an ATAT (All-Terrain Armoured Transport) – one of many fairly silly designs from The Babylon 5 universe, and with some shaming from a friend (thanks Dodes) I decided to give it a whirl.
If you were making a vehicle for battle, the last thing on the design bench (apart from a 2 legged chicken-like bipedal mobile gun turret) would be a quadruped.
Any Browncoat worth his part of the ‘verse would be able to ride their Viper Mark II with cables attached, tangle the legs and bring the thing down, like a heavy, falley-downey thing.
A work colleague is going on Long Service Leave – lucky bastard! It appears he had no end of trouble buying a camera for travelling, so I thought I would make him one as an hooroo gift:
Designed by Won Park, this little SLR Camera is tiny, but has a viewfinder, winder lever, shutter button, pop-up flash and lovely lens all sticking out of a lovely boxy body.
Genius design, if tiny and torturous, I hope he likes it. Continue reading
…so I am folding this crazy big dragon at the moment – insane 2mx2m square to make something ridiculously time-consuming. A work colleague of my wife gave me a pair of raggedy USD$1 greenbacks and asked if I could do anything with them:
I ironed the notes to crisp them up and flatten the worse of the existing crumples (they are old notes, one nearly falling apart) and began bending a Won Park creation I had been itching to try.
The fold is very dense, helped and hindered (in equal measure) by the robust note paper, and the level of detail here is nuts – the head has 3 sets of horns, eyes, 2 fangs, bottom jaw. Each foot has a set of claws, the body has dorsal spikes and the tail has an ornate tuft. Continue reading
Early morning catching up on Facebook, I saw a friend had posted a link to a Youtube clip of a woven ring:
I took 8 11cm squares (left-overs from the torus project) and split them into quarter strips (making a total of 32 strips of paper), then folded each strip in half longways then in half shortways – nice easy folding. Continue reading
I am old enough to remember the “good old days” when partners dance WITH each other as opposed to the modern trend of dancing AT each other:
Flicking through a yellowed and falling apart copy of “Origami 4” by Robert Harbin, I came across a Neal Elias figure I had not remembered nor tried.
Using duo coloured paper, from a simple bird base, we tease a dancing belle and her suave suited partner as they “cut a rug” together. Continue reading
Most parents know little girls go through the “I want to be a Ballerina” stage:
This is a wonderful thing; dance, culture, beauty and movement are all things that make our lives richer. Few go on to be professional ballet dancers (more’s the pity, few fit the fragile stick-insect archetype) but learning dance improves coordination, flexibility and overall fitness.
A lovely little lady called Kit has started ballet – she is gorgeous and will be fabulous, so thought it appropriate to celebrate by designing an original model inspired by the work of Stephen Weiss (girl in a dress) and Claudio Acuna (hoodie) that captures the special elegance of a child and her first tutu.
As a teacher, I look for activities, particularly in the establishment phase of a year, to engage. Nothing says engagement like a hands-on physical activity and, as my wont is origami, I went for a modular project:
The themes for this were many, the metaphors a plenty – “many hands make light work” and “the sum is greater that it’s parts” being central.
I have folded a few elephants – most concentrate on the head and ignore the rest of the animal – not so this little beauty:
This model has much solidity about it. It looks like it has bulk yet uses little paper to do this, an interesting haunch locking mechanism and a tight little bottom (ahem).
Taken from Works of Satoshi Kamiya Volume 2, this is the most elephantine figure I have yet folded and uses some lovely techniques to use the paper very efficiently, yet result in a free-standing, locked model.
The hind quarters, particularly, are well formed, with a cutesy tail and toe nails and all – very nice Mr Kamiya.
I think this model would work on a much bigger scale – maybe when a sufficiently large sheet avails itself I might give it a go.
I am enjoying working up to some of the more challenging folds in this book – some are just plain bewildering to me at the moment but that confusion too shall pass eventually I hope.
