377: Balthazaar Quercus

| wonko

So, it emerges that Dweezil has a little brother. Ladies and Gentleffolk, if I may introduce Master Balthazaar Quercus, aged 6¾:

I was asked to liberate this cute little chap from the flat sheet of lithography paper he was trapped in as a parting gift for a colleague. Aware this may create precedent, this is my first COMMISSIONED dwarf (my charities will be well pleased with the extra injection of funds).

I took what I had learned from wrangling Dweez’ and refined the model – this is free standing, on a base (a bit of wood covered also in litho paper offcuts – like the one I used for Mortimer). I liked the sitting on a stack of books idea, so pierced a stack of three with some structural wire that goes into a hole in the base and goes up Balthy’s bottom, carries on up his back and across his shoulders to support him.

The result is charming – I think I nailed the facial expression (although how a 6¾ year old dward has such a full beard is something only another dwarf could answer) and am getting quite good at the whole pointed, curley shoes thing.

There seems a demand for dwarves, they are all different indeed and this one was folded entirely by memory (quite proud of that, given how unreliable my memory is). If YOU want one, have your people call my people, we can agree on the finances (charity days are numbered, once ALL the 365 origami debt is cleared then I guess the funds should be redirected to the paper wrangler).

378: Be My Valentine

| wonko

So today is Valentines Day, and rather than buy into that commercial thing, I thought a more personal touch was required:

Using 4 2×1 rectangles, some tight pleating and curling, and some florist’s wire to keep them together we have some rather lovely roses.

I happened to have some lustrous red metallic paper from a “going out of business” craft store sale and it does look rather pretty. I also fashioned some calyxes out of a dark green stock paper to complete the look (and hide the wire twist).

Fiddly but shapely, and a little cheaty (the wire and a dob of tarzan’s grip to keep the calyx up) but all is fair in love and paper folding, right? I must investigate some foliage to fill out the arrangement. She liked them, that was the main thing <3

376: Langton Willow III

| wonko

Ladies and Gentleffolk, if I may be so bold as to introduce to you Mr Langton Willow III:

…so I bought a lovely book about an Origamist I worship, Eric Joisel, and was scanning pages prior to an in-depth read and came accross what seemed like an impossibility – a dwarf in a box. There were some photos of a couple of versions of the finished model and some sketches of crease patterns that might have been used to make it and nothing else …

So I decided to give it a whirl. The crease patterns gave no clues on what were mountain and valley folds (fairly important if you are going to make the model) so I sort of “guessed” most, and added a bunch of lines that would make the folding easier later, so I thought. I chose a large format paper – 1.2m x 0.6m, and in brown paper – thank goodness as even laying in the creases (a 2.5 hour job) put massive strain on a number of key points.

When it came to the collapse I must admit to being nervous – odd in retrospect but I had pre-announced to the social notwerks that I was attempting it and that was a mistake because psychologically that meant I could not fail in my attempt.

Studying the illustrations carefully, it became clear that when Joisel had his first try, there were odd gusset pleats on the OUTSIDE of the box that the dwarf sits in, I figured with some deft folding I could remove them and tuck that paper inside the box.

I must admit to grinning ear to ear when I worked out how I could do that tidily. This model was a fascinating exercise in not rushing to set a crease. After getting up, making another cup of tea, doing something else, coming back, leaving it a while then returning to it etc. I found a tidy method of tucking away what seemed like acres of paper inside the box to leave … well .. the box.

Conceptually we have split a dwarf – the head/arms and the legs/feet are split apart and the paper for a box is inserted between – the only difficult is ensuring a box-like remnant that lets you also tuck the dwarf-bits inside.

Oddly, the proportions of the dwarf necessitate lanky legs and a gaunt head, but that is in-keeping with the overall feeling of the model. It is like the dwarf is trying to get out of the box – what he was doing in there in the first place is a mystery, but there you go.

I have to admit to being very proud of achieving this model – the result is delightful, there is an astonishing amount of paper tucked away to reveal a lanky dwarf with real character.  I have no idea what I will do with this chap – it was originally going to be something I tried for shits and giggles, fully expecting to fail but the grinning has not stopped. I have “cheated” by using a few paper clips to keep the box corners together but I think Joisel would forgive me that.

375: Bugatti Royale

| wonko

I am not normally a fan of fiddly modular figurative models, preferring geometrics instead but this design by Halle caught my eye:

Made from 41 tiny bits of paper, various sizes and fold techniques, it turns into a 3d jigsaw from hell near the end. Amazingly however it all slots together (although I needed to use a little double-sided tape to stop it from popping apart again due to paper tension).

You can see radiator, bonnet, wheels with hubcaps, mudguards, cockpit and canopy – amazing really.

I like that it is an attempt at a fairly faithful rendering of a real car – car geeks agree it looks a lot like the actual model and my rendition, first fold, is a lot like it should have turned out.

The ingenious system of interlocking cubes, half cubes and trays that slide inside each other is a masterpiece of design. Scale and accuracy is a problem and I fear copy paper is the wrong material because it wants to unfold – I guess something like tissue foil would be better because once folded it stays put. I have done another Halle model – the computer guy for Chris the computer guy and it too was a lot of different bits of paper assembled later.

374 Dweezil Quercus

| wonko

I have pleasure in introducing to you Master Dweezil Allegory Quercus Esq, or Daq to his friends:

Dweezil loves to read, and can often be found with his nose in a book, idling the day away. Fond of mysteries, amazing adventures, current affairs and other dwarfish literature, subscriber to “Rolling Stonework”, “Wood Working Monthly” and “PlayDwarf” (but only for the articles), he is very well read.

My attempt at an original Joisel Gnome, using the crease pattern from my newly purchased Joisel treasury book, I wanted this little chap to appear bookish, nerdy and absorbed. I folded 4 hard cover books – it seemed natural to have him perched atop a stack of books.

I fashioned a set of glasses, because all that reading underground, with poor lighting would play merry hell to even the keenest of dwarf eyes. He also has cutie curly toed shoes, a necessary fashion accessory for the dwarf about town.

In the end, I like this little chap a lot, he seems full of character and life. I think he might be a worthy addition to the School Library for their year of reading theme because it clearly shows that it is not just humans that like a good tale. I crowd-sourced the name – Quercus is the genus of most OAK trees, a continuing theme and “Allegory” because it is cool – thx Lindy and Julie for your help.

I vodcasted some of his genesis on Kondoot, if you are interested.

Dweezil will live, strangely enough, in the School Library, at least for a while. Our RE Department had a timber lantern they were throwing out so I purloined it as a suitable dwarf-enclosure and now have him ensconced within. I fashioned labels that make him look like a preserved museum specimen, and have placed “Warning, do not feed the dwarf” labels on the outside to warn the young people who are likely to try and mess with him.

All in all, a nice character study – it is interesting because, although his base fold was similar to all the other dwarves I have folded, his personality became apparent as I folded him – as though the paper knew how it wanted to end up and I merely channelled it. I do not understand that process but am constantly delighted by it.

373: Mermaid

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When I first saw this pattern, I thought “oh no, more cobra pleating” and relegated it to the “not before counselling” pile:

At the moment the weather is wet, hot and the humidty is such that you could cut it with a knife and I got to thinking who would be at home in this sort of weather – the answer was obvious, a mermaid.

I have some offcuts of lithography paper, they just so happen to be as near as anything to 2×1, so this model works well on them – mind you, at this scale, the tail pleating is close to as fine as I can actually do with that paper – folding 24ths down to 4mm is not fun and the paper did not like it, humidity not helping at all.

In the end, we have a lovely figurative mermaid – slightly fishy, lovely flowing hair, hand modestly covering ample bosom and calm face. Her posture suggested reclining – I believe they “moon-bake”, not sure where I got that from but anyway I made a rock for her to luxuriate on and it sort of works.

I learned a lot folding this for the first time, and will probably fold it again, I think I can improve the upper body a little – we shall see. Happy with the result none the less. You would get a decent fillet off her I would guess – the other other other white meat?

The instructions (well, actually a fairly rough folding guide actually) were in French, with odd proprietary annotations but it was fairly obvious what was going where from the outset – ingenious and not dissimilar to something I was working on myself but abandoned because it got busy last year.

post-script: In talking to Eric Vigier on Facebook, he had this to say:

Yes it’s mine , and you’re right in your comment : “odd proprietary annotations” but for my defence it’s my first diag , made at hands in 2002, i’m always happy to see that I drew it for something , so thank you ! For the story, I met Eric Joisel in 2002, we became friends and met regulary at his home at this time and when he saw my mermaid he said me that he would like to do one since a certain time , so I gave him my diag and the result is the magnificent mermaid you try actually , that is the sharing way i like to see in the Origami world !”

How wonderful is this Internet-encircled world I ask you?

372: Satoshi’s Wizard

| wonko

Now I hate it when things get the better of me. Mid year I tried this model only to have it disintegrate in my hands half-way through amid a flurry of swearing:

This is Satoshi Kamiya’s Wizard – well, my rendition of it at least. It is fairly faithful to the instructions and I am totally stoked I actually made it to instruction 159 with paper largely intact and the resultant tortured mess looking even vaguely wizard-like.

This is a breathtakingly difficult fold – take ONE square of paper and from it fold a man (face, hat, hands with 5 fingers each) in a pleated, swirling robe, and make she he has a full-size staff as well. He free-stands, one hand grips his staff, the other is in mid-conjure and there is a sense of movement and authority about his pose.

Wow!

This has taken me an age, I have tried not to proceed until I actually understood the next instruction (no mean feat near the end when judgement is more important that reference creases) and for my first successful fold I am totally stoked. I videoed a 1.5 hour section near the middle of this model, last weekend, and thought Australia day (today, a public holiday) was as good a time as any to finally finish it. I did not take into account the effects of the stifling humidity of the paper, making it very brittle, so care, attention and only a little bit of swearing was necessary.

Now I know what ends up where, I suspect the next time i fold this (and yes, I think I will) will go more smoothly I suspect.

“Rexy” Revisited

| wonko

You _may_ remember I folded a TRex Skeleton a while back, and I am pleased to say he finally has a new home:

As part of a science display, outside a science lab, he is now resplendant, mounted on a dowel with fishing wire (go team), he looks mean and hungry.

The display contains some info about the dino, and some fossils etc and I hope it provides interest for the punters.

The “Other” Seven Dwarves

| wonko

So I have this idea for a tableau … “I owe, I owe, so work is where I go…” where we are in an alternative animated future and it is populated by an ALTERNATIVE seven dwarves.

They could be Jumpy, Deafy, Dizzey, Hickey, Wheezy, Baldy, Gabby, Nifty, Sniffy, Swift, Lazy, Puffy, Stuffy, Tubby, Shorty and Burpy – I will CROWDSOURCE the seven best names.

They must NOT be Doc, Sneezy, Sleepy, Dopey, Doc, Happy, Bashful or Grumpy.

Each successful “other” dwarf will be made and suitable attired with a SYMBOL or ARTEFACT that suits them soo….. how can YOU help?

I need YOUR help to decide what are reasonable names for the 7 not so nice, polite nor socially acceptable dwarves – name and characteristics please. The BEST 7 will be made.

Comments to blog please.

371: Mortimer Greenoak

| wonko

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

| wonko

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

| wonko

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

| wonko

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

| wonko

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.