371: Mortimer Greenoak

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Ladies and Gentlemen, may I introduce Master Mortimer Greenoak Esq. A young but not inexperienced forest dwarf who has a particular talent with timber:

This lovely fellow is destined for greater things but I am thrilled with him, my second Eric Joisel-inspired dwarf.

It was hot, I needed to get out of the house for a couple of hours so took a large square of paper and the ourPAD to out local library and sat, and folded. Interestingly I also conversed with complete strangers who gathered to watch the paper mangling – they were interested and I was relaxed enough to explain what I was attempting.

In the end, I made Morty slimmer and so made him look younger, and played around with the face a bit – another step closer to mastering the face, will keep at it. he is quite tidy apart from his beaten up face – I ended up modelling a pendulous nose and pushed out his cheekbones to suggest eyes under the brim of his hat. Quite happy with the beard and mouth though.

His posture called for a walking stick, and I envisaged a base that would allow him to be displayed easily. The name? It just seemed to work, and references his eventual owner in interesting ways.

He is not free-standing, I do not know how to make them so (the ankles and feat are so thin that they defy attempts to support the weight above. All versions of this model I have seen are plastered with methyl cellulose (apparently the Origamist’s goop of choice) but I think that is cheating a little.

Determined to solve the display issue, I cut a rectangle of timber (shock, horror, I picked up a SAW), covered it with the same paper he was made from (the sheet off-cut actually), drilled a small hole nearly all the way through and then made a wire brace that fits inside him neatly and exits down one leg, so he is pose-able now. I added a bent paper clip amongst the folds of his elbow to keep it bent – it kept wanting to straighten because of the thickness of layers there – all acceptable cheats I think for the longevity of the model.

370: Permanent Reminders

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Now I must confess that 365 has changed me, made me more creative and allowing me to see the beauty in the everyday.

I decided to look for something that would be a more permanent reminder of the amazing year that was 2011. Continue reading →

369: A Wren

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Took a leisurely walk through some rainforest and noticed these perfect blue wrens, flitting from trunk to vine:

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Exploring a new book called Origami Essence by Roman Diaz, this little beauty was amongst the models I have decided to try.

I like the “wrenny”ness of this model. Some lovely techniques here for this keeper of a freestanding bird model

368: Brent The Unicorn

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Now I am aware that a certain “Brent” recently had a birthday, and on that birthday I folded a creepy crawly, so thought it appropriate to counter the scary with “unicorns and rainbows”:
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This is Roman Diaz’s Unicorn, lovely thing – mane, tail, beautiful ears, splendid horn.

Happy Birthday (all be it belated) Michael the Brent – may you live long and prosper. Folded amidst the rainforests of northern NSW

367: Lang’s Tarantula

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Now that the 365 challenge is over, I am free to fold (or re-fold) whatever takes my fancy:

This lovely critter is Dr Robert Lang’s Tarantula. I had a go at it earlier, using copy paper, and disliked the result so was determined to make a better one. For this fold I chose a 60cm square of brown paper and, over the course of the day, amongst other things, folded the spider.

I am constantly amazed by brown paper – it is tough, takes folds well and is so lovely and thin – making the legs and those torturous accordion pleats are that much easier with the right materials.

No paper fatigue, I like this attempt much better – lovely legs, great abdomen and thorax and some shapely pedipalps and fang-like mouthparts.

Ephemera

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The 365 Project now over, I can concentrate on folding when the mood takes me.

It occurred to me that Origami creates ephemeral artefacts – short lived, made of materials not designed to last:

I am playing with a name change – the intention of this blog to document origami I have tried remains the same, but the one a day pressure is now gone and I can branch out and use more appropriate materials than plain copy paper.

366: A Brand New Day

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Established habits take time to break – even positive ones that have just run their course:

I woke early this morning (partly because of the second howling of the “wolf alarm” next door) and partly because a nagging, insistent NEW voice in my head (yes, count them, there are now 13 – a bakers’ dozen) told me to get up and get on with my fold for the day.

Without thinking, I cut a square and … sat and looked at it … for ages.

A blank square, like a person, is surrounded in boundless potential. I can see the 8 legs and ribbed thorax, imagine the swivels necessary to raise a sail, lament the accordion pleating necessary to shape a hoof, anticipate the stress that a common vertex will experience and know when to nurse the brittle paper through that difficult last bend before the collapse, ready my still bruised finger tips for the tough folds through many layers to reveal ….

… something other than a plain, flat, square.

Today’s fold is no fold at all – there is a Zen beauty in that – if a tree falls on a mime in the forest will anyone care … sort of thing.

Do not panic, I will not abandon you, my fold following fans – it has been a fun ride, great to have had you along but I am a little saddle sore right now so might just take a breather … if I can get that 13th voice to speak a little quieter that is, because at the moment she is screaming hysterically at me, but she will eventually calm down, I am sure.

POSTSCRIPT:

Lindy, a friend, suggested the page is calling for some words, she offered a poem she wrote, it is lovely, here it is:
…perfect, thanks Lindy.

December, Done and Dusted

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December done and WOW, what a huge month this has been. Because this month corresponded with my holidays, I sunk some extra time into some amazing (and a little dizzying if I am honest) models.

This table full of bent paper represents a quantum leap in my skill set – most of these models I could NOT have done at the beginning of the challenge.

I have learnt a lot about myself over the past 12 months, and spent inordinate amounts of time enthusiastically bending paper – even when there were many things much more important to do.

Some of these models will soon have new homes, some not – you get that. I thank most sincerely those that have encouraged me along the way – sometimes that was the difference between giving up and keeping going.

I am proud to say that I did not miss a day, had a total of only 9 model fails (in 365, that is an amazing hit rate) and now have an arsenal of paper bending skills that I can use moving forward … to whatever – yeah, cannot imagine what yet but I am sure something will turn up.

I hope you have enjoyed the ride. It will not end here – I will keep folding, but do not expect one a day, or necessarily one a week – I will just let it happen and we shall see. This blog will remain, I will keep adding to it, but might change the name – suggestions that encapsulate paper ephemerata would be appreciated.

365: Turn a New Leaf

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Our lives are a lot like a blank sheet of paper – WE decide when to put creases, who adds folds, how permanent they are and we are constantly given a fresh sheet to start over:

This is my interpretation of Eric Joisel’s “Self-Made Man”, a little origami man that is folding himself and I am stoked that this worked, given how little information I had to go on and the scale of the materials.

I started with a 78x130cm rectangle (3:5 for those trying to do the maths) and then transferred a crease pattern (the only clue I had as to how to actually achieve this model) on to the sheet.

The “collapse” was an exercise in self control really as the paper was really brittle and there were some complicated accordion pleats that seemed to turn in on themselves. The aim was to leave a square of paper (26x26cm) unfolded and build the little man (arms, legs, head) to seemingly appear from behind this sheet.

In the end, the layers were thick, it weighs a ton but more importantly he has loads of personality and is a fitting end to my 365 Origami Challenge.

In retrospect, this is an amazing fold and with some careful planning, patience and ample cups of tea I am so very proud to have folded it. Hope you like him too.

This little fellow has a special purpose, so will not be auctioned, sorry.

364: SNOWY!

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When I was a kid, my parents gave me Tintin Annuals to read – the adventures of a young ginger and his dog Snowy:

I must admit I have fond memories for the adventures of Tintin, and had clear ideas in my mind of what Captain Haddock, Thompson and Thompson and Professor Cuthbert Calculus were like. I have just seen the film and I was delighted to say the least. What a cracking tale, told so wonderfully. You realise why they chose of do it as computer animation – most Tintin adventures would be un-filmable in live action given the pace, locations and lunatic athleticism.

At breakneck speed I was transported back to the Secret of the Unicorn, Red Rackham’s Treasure and other adventures I had – I remember 6, but wikipedia says there were 24 in total, so i only saw a small collection of Hergé stories really.

Although I have never really liked dogs, I was always taken with Snowy, Tintin’s faithful dog – I loved that he could talk to the dog and the dog actually understood – as an adult that makes no sense but as a kid there was no problem. Mind you, I accepted Lassie, Me Ed and all so my brain was already soft 😛

This is a “billfold” – that is it was originally designed to be folded out of an american dollar bill. I do not have any so I used the interweb to find the dimensions, doubled them and cut a rectangle to size. The instructions were very poor, actually, and at many junctures I merely “improvised” as I knew where we were going but could not follow how I was being told to get there.  In the end we have a plucky rendition of Snowy, and the second last model in the 365 challenge. Hope you like him.

363: Tree of Wisdom

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You know that feeling when you plan (and see quite clearly in your head) something and then it turns out exactly like you envisaged it? This is one of those moments:

I had a model fail on a large sheet of lithography paper and considered binning the resultant crumpled mess, but remembered an origami technique pioneered by Paul Jackson in 1972 called “crumpling”. You take a piece of paper (I carefully unfolded the model fail) and systematically crumple it, unfold it, re-crumple in a different place and direction, unfold and repeat. The result is a deliciously textured and malleable sheet that can then be formed, when dampened slightly, into lovely organic shapes.

I had this idea of a gnarled tree (modelled on a bonsai I have had since before my 23yo son was born) and so set about fashioning one, twisted and poorly pruned though it is. I then wet it, and bound it with a little twine while it dried.

Atop this lovely tree is the most lovely owl by Hideo Komatsu – I have held off folding this because he is designed to be perched (as in he does not stand on flat surface but rather sits astride some horizontal thing.  1+1=a million. I love this, it is still making me smile and I know the perfect thing for him – sorry, NO auction for this one.

It is so rare that an idea so perfectly matches the expression of that idea but this is one such occasion. I have learnt so much about myself and paper over the course of this year that this model seems fitting as the project winds up.

362: Young Buck

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Amongst the plethora of models I still have not yet tried, there are some beauties:

This is Roman Diaz’s Deer and it is a lovely specimen indeed. 10 points on his antlers, proud stance and a spring in his step.

This model, though lovely, was a cow to fold – hand drawn instructions that were not to scale, step 41 I missed altogether, which caused no end of peril and a re-fold (so sue me).

In the end this is fantastic – you get a real sense of the animal, the proportions and stance feel quite natural, the ingenious mangling to get enough points for the antlers amazing and the wrangling to get the majority of the paper tucked away to reveal the body nothing short of breathtaking.

Diaz has a unique style, this model features closed sinks in abundance (quite difficult to do well) and so provided me with some valuable practice.

361: Cicada

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For me the sounds of summer always include the trill of cicadas:

This is Robert Lang’s “Periodical Cicada” which is similar to the adult form we hear but rarely see. They spend most of their lives underground, emerge as wierd wingless mutants, clumb up something and moult, leaving the most beautiful exoskeletons behind.

Many a summer day was spent as a kid collecting these and terrifying my sister with them … well, kids are kids I suppose.

There is much to admire about this fold – the layer management, proportions of body to wing and ensuring there was enough for some lovely legs is one amazing design. Folded from an ebook on my iPad (why have I not been doing this before???), it was a nice way to spend an afternoon whilst an afternoon storm rolled in. I folded it big (60cm square) and cannot imagine folding it much smaller without extraordinary paper.

It is a relief to have achieve this, as I had a model fail before it (a hand-drawn set of spanish instrucitons started out a bit iffy and after 2 hours went nowhere – you get that sometimes).

360: Masu

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It is Boxing Day, and I thought it appropriate to try a box I have had in my “must try” pile – David Brill’s Masu:

A Masu is a traditional Japanese timber box that used to be used to measure rice or beans, these days it is used for sipping sake out of.

This ingenious construction is fully 3d – outer and inner edges kept apart via a nifty corner trick (must remember that sort of pleat) and the bases are sprung using a brilliant twist.

An exercise in fifths, the pre-creasing makes all the points necessary for a wonderful collapse – this is a keeper, as it’s proportions and technique have other applications – particularly like the corner collapse that I thought was initially impossible.

Folded from an A3 rectangle, I then tried an A4 (just to prove to myself it was not just a fluke) and it is even cuter – nice.