1hr

420: Kamiya’s Diamond

| wonko

I have been exploring folded regular polyhedra, but came across this, a brilliant cut faceted diamond by Satoshi Kamiya and thought I would give it a go:

As a first fold, this is pretty sloppy to be honest – only after finishing it did the geometry I was laying down in pre-creases make sense. I have no doubt that when i re-fold this it will be much nicer.

This fold is a very clever bit of geometry, based on an octagonal piece of paper, making many facets and that classic jewellery diamond shape (this one would be a few hundret carats at that). The top face facets are locked in place by tiny closed sinks (making this very difficult I suspect to fold really small).

It is a pity there is no real locking mechanism to keep the model closed (I cheated and used a little sticky tape) – the bulk of paper does swirl in place but tends to spread when left – this might be different if made with a foil paper.

I seem to be folding a bunch of Kamiya models at the moment – prolly inspired by my latest Origami book purchase

418: Kamiya’s Golden Retriever

| wonko

As soon as I knew Satoshi was due to release a new book, I knew I had to have it:

This is the first fold of my first model from “The Works of Satoshi Kamiya 2”, and it is quite recognisably a Golden retriever/labrador. 

For anyone who has been blessed with a lab in their life, you realise how wonderfully gentle, soppy, stupid and plain lovely they are.

This model is dedicated to the memory of “Missy” and “Raffy” – two much missed pets (one of my in-laws, the other a mates family pet).

I love how this model is demonstrative of form without necessarily capturing every detail. The fold technique is odd, but interesting and each time I wrangle the head/shoulders, you get a slightly different aspect, expression and posture – lovely use of a sheet.

I used lithography paper for this, but have also folded it with a piece of double-sided kami, with good results.  I think I like the white fold, however sandy/buff would be more demonstrative of the actual dog’s colour.

This is the first, of a series, taken from this wonderful book – some serious challenges ahead – bring it on!

412: Satoshi’s Coelophysis

| wonko

I have many designs for dinosaurs, few more elegant that the Coelophysis designed by Satoshi Kamiya

This raptor has a marvellous stance, gracious body proportions and a menacing appearance – quite a feat given it started as a square cut from A3 copy paper.

A very well designed model indeed, quite dense in places but very economical with paper, I like this chap a lot – it was a good challenge. At this scale it is more like a Compsognathus.

I had forgotten how much fun Satoshi’s models were to fold, must try something harder.

 

402: Washi Hex-Box

| wonko

This model combines two things I love about Origami:

The geometry of Fujimoto’s Hex box is wonderful, it provided me the perfect excuse to do that which I have put off for far too long. A colleague (thank you Mrs Erizabreth) gave me a roll of hand-made Washi she brought back from Japan many years ago. She had never worked out what to do with it, having fallen in love with it in a shop, bought it on impulse and had it squirrelled away in a cupboard packaged up as new.

She asked if I wanted it, I said yes (having no idea what I was in for). When she left it on my desk and I unfurled it for the first time I was speechless – hand-made, hand-block-printed, with gold and silver foil, the front face is glorious. Flipping the “paper” over, the texture of fibres is also glorious – both sides a work of art.

I have AGONISED about what I would do with it, and today I finally cut it – it was an important moment in my life. This might sound melodramatic, but I have another piece of washi I bought myself 3 years ago, black with gold calligraphy, that I can still not bring myself to cut. there is a special sort of reverence in beautiful things I think.

Anyway, I decided to fold a lidded box from the first cut pieces for 2 reasons – the hex box is my favourite and the paper makes it sparkle like a jewelled box.

I had a little panic, so mocked up the fold with some scribbled on copy paper – it occurred to me that I had NEVER folded this model with coloured paper – I just sort of assumed it worked itself out and the coloured side would show whilst the non-coloured side would hide itself away. Thank goodness, with a little tweak all worked out well.

There is so  much to love about this fold – it is teachable (I taught my Origami Club how to do it – year 9 boys managed it admirably); all it’s raw edged tuck away inside the body of the model, it’s top and bottom are folded slightly differently but nest inside each other beautifully; the top hex twist is lovely – with this paper it appears puffy and sort of quilted.

I am very happy with this, my first really expensive paper box. It is a gift, I envy the receiver but at least I have more of this lovely paper to obsess about.

398: Los Hombre

| wonko

I have been exploring the wonderful work of Victor Coeurjoly, in particular his human figure (hombres) work which is very distinctive.

I came upon a crease pattern in his Flickr stream and knew I had to try it. I have been exploring these guides more and more as I find super complex models exist only in this form sometimes – doing the whole instruction/diagram sequence is hard work if you are busy and creative:

I am pretty sure he uses tissue foil (really thin, metallic-backed paper) and methyl cellulose (an “acceptable” paper stiffener and setting agent) to keep the limbs thin and posed but the style is amazing.

I set about using normal paper, failed miserable because there are 4 places where the creases become so intense that the paper just disintegrated. I tried a chunk of litho paper and it was better (if a bit thick to do the final limb and torso modelling, but demonstrative of form none the less. Continue reading →

357: Get Folked

| wonko

‘Tis the season when thoughts of old hippies (and new-age trendies) shift to prepping for the Woodford Folk Festival:

I am old enough (and formally a resident) to remember when this gathering was held at Maleny, and how the locals hated this time of year because of the huge influx of afore-mentioned hippy-hopefuls.

Folk guitar is one of my pet hates – I fantasise about “tuning” a folk guitarist’s acoustic guitar with an AXE. I am not ashamed of this viewpoint. Lord knows it was difficult enough to cope with whilst stoned and off your tits on ‘shrooms. Whining, newage plucking and tie-die are the bane of a modern existence – there, I said it!.

This is Robert Lang’s “strumming guitarist” folded from his brilliant “Origami in Action” book. There is much to like about this ingenious model, including a body AND guitar from one square, uncut.

It is an ACTION model – in that it is specially designed to MOVE – you grab the legs, and jiggle the head in and out and he strums the guitar entusiastically – very neat.

I would like to say the instructions were flawless – I am convinced there are 3 errors, having unfolded, re-folded and swore a lot at a couple of junctures. Still, in the end I improvised and it worked fine.

305: Melbourne Cup

| wonko

I have had the privilege to fold many beautifully designed models over the course of this project – David Brill’s “Horse” is right up there with the best:

Wonderful proportions, amazing use of material, lovely face and ears, fantastic body, legs and tail – everything that is needed to look horsey infact.

Today apparently a horse race stops a nation – not sure why. I guess the nation is used to being stopped given the recent airline strike but no one celebrated that so -go figure.

Unusually, this model starts with an equilateral triangle – yeah, weird, right? Somehow from that shaped paper the designer manages to tease the right number of stickey outy bits and I, frankly, feel honoured to fold this one. I cut the largest equilateral triangle I could our of an A2 sheet, but bigger would have been better.

There are lots of places where variations in pose are possible, had I the time (and a HUGE selection of paper) I think a group of these would look beautiful. So glad, as a first fold, this model turned out so nice, given the heavy head cold I am currently drowning in.

301: Miyajima’s Bat

| wonko

When looking for a suitable model for Halloween, I sumbled across this delightful model from Noburu Miyajima:

The bat is a much maligned critter, particularly in the light of the Hendra Virus here is Queensland, but this model is lovely (in a batty sort of way)

An amazingly well designed model that makes good use of paper, the resultant model being not that much smaller than the original sheet yet containing surprising detail.

Lovely wings, cute little pot belly and legs, fantastic face and ears and those majestic wings – wow.

This is not my first fold – I almost screwed this up once at work but I wanted to get the head right (the original attempt was mutilated and torn),  so sue me 😛

298: Violinist

| wonko

When I saw this design I knew I had to try it:

Made, oddly, from a “T”-shaped box pleat, designed by Neal Elias in 1971 to celebrate the then popular violinist Yehudi Menuhin, this is a masterpiece of miniature modelling.

We have a violin perched on a shoulder, being held by that hand, a bow hand complete with bow, a serious head tilt, trousers, coat and even shoes! He also free-stands, which is all the more remarkable.

Seriously happy with this fold, I was convinced it was going to hell in a hand basket at 3 junctures when the instructions did not patch what the model had (flaps and creases in different orientations), but in the end it just sort of worked.

Interestingly, it was not all that hard, well, it seemed that way to me – given I had never attempted box pleating before the 365 challenge, I guess my skills have improved, which is a good thing.

296: Pas de Deux

| wonko

In ballet, a pas de deux (French, steps of two) is a duet in which ballet dancers perform the dance together. It usually consists of an entrée, adagio, two variations (one for each dancer), and a coda:

In origami, few designers have mastered multiple figure folding like Neal Elias – this is his “Nureyev and Fonteyn” model designed in 1973 as a tribute to the then “toast of the town” couple as they became an on-stage sensation.

This is a relatively simple box-pleat with some elias stretches to form arms. I found the flrming of her legs the most challenging, tucking it tidily into his trousers so the join between them is less obvious. At this scale, shaping is a challenge, hence her “thunder thighs” and their angular faces. I am happy however with this figurative fold, taken from my copy of the British Origami Society’s publication of Elias’ selected works.

Folded from a 3×1 rectangle (scrap litho paper from yesterday’s squaring), the only pity is that it is not free-standing (but boy would lit look pretty on a card) so I cheated and blu-tacked a paper clip on the back for display purposes.

I was looking for an easier model (because yesterday took so long) -this one fitted the bill admirably.

283: Le Coq De Joisel

| wonko

It is a year since Eric Joisel passed away in Paris. The origami community still mourns his passing:

This proud and “cocky” rooster is a Joisel masterpiece, I feel privileged to fold it. I had a sheet of A2 architectural drawing paper so made a square from it (nearly 1m x 1m) and folded the rooster from that – it was a tough fold to be honest as so much paper is gathered into the body. So tough a fold in fact that the paper failed on both legs and neck – I will fold this again with more resilient paper I think.

I see so much potential in this model – given thinner, larger paper I can see you could model wing feathers, eyes and more – as it is it has a lovely tail, beautiful chicken feet (including spurs), a glorious comb and an up-turned beak mid “cock-a-doodle-doo!).

You too can have a go at this model here, and learn a little more about the life and times of Eric Joisel here. Few would argue that Joisel was the greatest character folder the world has yet seen. I hope his family and friends take solace in the fact that he added so much beauty to the world over so many years. RIP Eric Joisel.

275: Moo Cow

| wonko

It is a well known fact that I am a little obsessed with all things Cow. I used to have a plush cow (called Terry the Moo) but I loaned her to a student who cared about her less than I do and now she is lost:

A paper replacement is no real substitute but this little beauty is easily the most lovely paper cow I have seen so far.

Taken from a book by Roman Diaz “Origami for Interpreters”, there is much to admire about the ingenious design – a full set of curled horns, lovely pendulous ears, a fantastic rounded muzzle and face, strong shoulders, cute swishy tail and general cow-ness.

Folded from an A3-cut square, the proportions and fiddlyness is just about right and amazingly it is possible to nurse copy paper through this fold – the head was the most problematic and likely to split asunder, obviated by rounding the central axis rather than attempting to bend all those layers into a sharp crease.

Very happy with this model – it is a keeper and i will fold it again – I can imagine a paddock full of them, all slightly different as the model is poseable as well – bravo Mr Diaz, I am in awe of your design.

272: Cheers, Big Ears

| wonko

Now I am a little bit merry after the QSITE drinks mid way through their annual conference:

So decided to give some pleating a go to form a martini glass – the principle is based on a technique designed by Stephen Hecht and involves exhaustive pre-creasing followed by an elegant twist/collapse

The resultant sculptural form is lovely – the scale I calculated also makes it life-size and convincingly a martini glass.

QSITE Peeps are off to the conference dinner tonight – I raise my glass to a bunch of talented and enthusiastic colleagues. I hope they have fun.

Very happy with this as a first fold, it is based on a  similar technique I used to invent a trophy for my son with the only really tricksey part determining scale. Satisfied with this one however. hope you like it too (lol, kidding myself that people are actually reading this shite).

254: September 11

| wonko

For me, September 11 2001 was the day the world lost it, in a big way. Senseless acts of violence were met with years of senselessly violent retaliation and witch-hunts, government sanctioned genocide and publicly celebrated religious fanaticism. There were no winners – we as a species did little to justify our position atop the food chain:

A symbol of peace in the origami community is the crane, there is a branch of the craft that looks to incorporate cranes into other models. this intricate and often torturous craft can result in some stunningly complicated folding – this one by Jeremy Shafer is called “The Star of Peace”.

Using a technique termed “isolating squares”, you reserve unfolded squares and crumple all else out of the way and in this care we end up with a 3d star with a ring of 4 cranes flying around the top layer. The container is waterproof (like a fancy waterbomb).

I fold this with mixed emotions – the media has so skewed the events leading up to and after 9/11 that it leaves me with an even stronger resolve against war, military action and religion … you get that. I live in hope that the human spirit continues to emerge from the morass, looking for ways to help, positive actions that build the dignity of people and erase the artificial barriers of race, creed and sect.

Imagine there’s no heaven, it’s easy if you try
No people below us, above it’s only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today

Imagine there’s no countries, it isn’t hard to do
No need to kill or die for and no religions too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace

You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will live as one

Imagine no possessions I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger a brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing for the world

You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will live as one

You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
Take my hand and join us
And the world will live, will live as one
John Lennon, “Imagine”.

253: Happy 10th Birthday terraMOO

| wonko

On September 9, 2001, a virtual environment called TerraMOO was first launched.

An intersting date given a couple of days later the WORLD changed forever. terraMOO is an Encore-based MOO, it has run continuously for the past 10 years, even though boys have constantly tried to break it – name another technology that can come close?

As a learning environment I believe it is unequaled, providing chat rooms, object-oriented programming, web publishing, online interactive assessment and smart objects there is nothing that comes close.

Yes, I have played and developed in 3d worlds, yes I understand their potential also, but a MOO is unique – long may she run.

This cow I have been saving, the folding was intense but the end cow-shape is most pleasing – lovely ears, horns and a serene facial expression, good body proportions and a lovely swishy tail.