Exploring the wealth of designs Akira Yoshizawa left us with, I sumbled across this delightful snail:
Simple yet the very essence of the critter – much modelling potential also, as the shell could be coiled, the foot textured etc.
Sometimes simple is necessary – busy day, lots of other folding going on, you get that.
Akira Yoshizawa continues to surprise and delight – his folds are simple, elegant and have much modelling potential:
This is one of a series of person studies, and is a novel use of the frog base.
Busy day, lots to do, much being put off, you get that.
I have never been able to discern the difference between a tortoise and a turtle:
Sure there are superficial morphological differences but they both are reptiles, both carry their shell around etc.
This is Robert Lang’s turtle and it is a lovely, simple, figurative model that abounds tortoisness. I like the simple curve of the shell, the hint of claws and the expressive neck/head.
I deliberately folded this small scale for two reasons – (1) I used to have a “penny turtle” called, sadly enough, “Myrtle” – I actually found her in a creek near home (I grew up in Maleny); (2) shits and giggles – you get that.
Slow and steady wins the race is where I was going here – hare and tortoise/turtle/whatever – so much to do, so little time, procrastinator set on full and we are away.
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 todayImagine 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 peaceYou 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 oneImagine no possessions I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger a brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing for the worldYou 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 oneYou 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”.
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.
I liked this modular when I first saw it and knew that it would look wonderful in colour:
An interesting elbow bend, tubular construction and odd folding in fifths make this model interesting to make
You start with a split A4 page, box pleat and lock the tube, then slide one inside the other to make a rectangular hoopy thing, then nest another inside that one, then lock a third over the top of that one and you end up with a lovely sort of impossible looking shape
I like this a lot, the illusion of intersecting shapes in well designed and although a little time consuming it is satisfying and a keeper I think.
Now in my quest to fold 365 models, one a day for a whole year, it seems like I have been doing this forever already. Not having an infinite amount of time, I thought I wold fold an INFINITY in paper:
this is a rather ingenious pair of interlocking rings, the whole of which (hole … a ring joke there, lol) was folded from a single square, no cuts, no glue.
This ingenious fold is from Jeremy Shafers book “Origami to Astonish and Amuse” and is the first step towards achieving a snarly fold that features EIGHT rings (again, from ONE piece of paper)
A lovely accordion fold and some tidy end pleating and presto, an infinity symbol which I think is splendid. Even the wife did not believe it was only one sheet until I unfolded it and proved it was.
This week is designated “Child Protection Week” so I looked for a model that was for me the essence of the message:
Education is where I went – kids educated by older people is one of the best forms of protection around and this group of figures shows the careing and respectful relationship betwixt teacher and student to me.
I like how the elder teacher is balding (but in denial as he has comb-over side tusts of hair on an otherwise bald head), the student looks up hopeful from a book for guidance – just wonderful.
Folded based on a David Brill pair “Gippetto and Pinocchio” from the aptly named “Brillian Origami” book, I like this grouping and hope you do to. The teacher is folded from a 2×1 and the student from a 2×1 that is 3/4 the size of the teacher. The book is a Brill book also (a spelling book, that only has 3 pages between a lovely bound cover), adding to the scene I think – the student’s hands looked empty without it.
Some lovely figurative folding, suggesting detail without folding every last nose-hair of it; the teacher’s head is a staggeringly complex box pleating trick and the student features a torturous collapse, but overall I can see the models are related, their bases were similar and the folding style of one compliments the other nicely I think.
Davor Vinco has made many elegant models, most with simple lines – I particularly like his fish:
The beautiful eyes have featured on an earlier model but I like the body shape of this fish, the way the fins lock and gill line makes the nead a different colour to the body (if using duo colour paper)
A fairly simple fold to give my tired hands a rest from yesterday, nice none the less – 3d enough to consider filleting.
It is child protection week so I must chase some design for that.
Now yes, I will be the first to admit this is NUTS!:
But you only know half of it – this is my SECOND centipede folded today – you see I learned a general principle: how to tease legs out of a straight edge, and I got … a little … carried away. I should have been taken away for doing this twice in one day – 2 HOURS each creepy crawley, and some sore hands to finish with but it was so totally worth it – hahahaha.
This model is based on Peter Engel’s Centipede, although I found many of the steps incomprehensible so sort of “improvised” and I think it is rather special – ONE piece of paper, 32 (yes, that is right THIRTY TWO!!!) legs, a rather splendid mandible and antennae and some of them stickey-outey-tail-things they have.
Folding on this scale is crazy (thank goodness for fingernails) – the problem is finding a piece of paper LARGE enough to make this model not torture (both times I failed, cutting the largest 4×1 I could out of an A3 sheet). At this scale the feet are very difficult to fold with fat clumsy fingers, and it was a days work just to stop the paper tearing. Just for the record, NEITHER centipede suffered paper fatigue, splits or tears – that in itself is a miracle.
The technique is extensible, and, given longer pieces of paper I can make more legs – very nifty trick that I will remember as any straight edge now is a candidate for a row of stickey outey things.
Now I have been on a mission to find and fold Alix a giraffe for her birthday (Happy Birthday Alix!) and the model had some criteria:
Voila! We have a Giraffe – I found these instructions on the interweb but no credit was given to the designer – can anyone help me here?
I rejected models by Peter Engel, Robert Lang, John Montrol for one or all 3 reasons above having folded them and barely achieving an acceptable model using plain copy paper (which is much more forgiving that the giraffe print I had).
It was an interesting investigation – there will be more giraffes to come – the challenge is to adequately represent the “spirit” of the animal rather than necessarily be accurate with the morphology as they are such an odd collection of animal bits really (almost as odd as a platypus). No model I found had the lovely long knobbly kneed legs and the vaguely trapezoidal body for instance but various models had aspects that looked correct.
To get the long neck and distant body when using a square so much paper has to be tucked away that it gets really dense, but it ends up with lovely ears, and vestigial “horns” which I have never worked out what they do.
Hope Alix likes it;
Happy Fathers Day also to all those Dads out there, hope you also have a good day.
There is a yellow bird that features in Final Fantasy called Chocobo:
Satoshi Kamiya calls it a “yellow bird” and advises not to attempt this model in anything other than tissue foil – reviewing the instructions I figured I could (maybe, perhaps, possibly) nurse copy paper through the torturous process and so set about to push an A3 cut square to it’s limits
I am so chuffed that I succeeded, managing to complete all folds, using plain copy paper – yes, that IS an achievement and yes, you should applaud now!
Based on some interesting box pleating, sinks and swivel folds, the tweety bird shape evolves rapidly – look at the feet, even beautiful claws, feathered wings and a tail, very pleasing
This is the second model I have folded from “Works of Satoshi Kamiya”, I am working my way towards the “Ancient Dragon” (yes Josh, soon, soon, sheesh!). I had my good paper out for when I finally admitted defeat but, who would have guessed it worked first fold – yay me!
Now I am an out and proud “Lord of the Rings” fan – loved the books, liked the movies – the standoff betwixt Gandalf the Grey and the Balrog was such an amazing bit of cinema:
This here is a (sort of) Balrog – pity the photos do not do it justice. Nice leathery wings, a grimace on his face and sort of snarly hands and a lovely tail.
I am writing exams at the moment and the phrase “you shall not pass” is something I try to keep furthest from my mind whilst doing it – I am sure my students would hope that is the case also.
Some interesting teasing of a blintzed preliminary base that is crimped and petal folded in interesting ways – the base that results I can see huge potential in as it has 8 symmetrical flaps asking to be bent into something else – must have a play with it. I found the instructions for this critter on the interwebs and have NO idea whose model it is – anyone help me out? … anyone out there?
A Pinch and a punch (well, more correctly a sink, pleat and reverse fold – lol, origamist joke there) for the first of the month:
This nice little rabbit is a clever use of a 2×1 rectangle and has a pleasing shape – heaps of modelling potential beyond the base fold.
Designed in 2008 by Hoang Tine Quyet, it is in my top 5 rabbit models already – such a cute tail and some flopsy ears also.
It was also Helpdesk Chris’s 21st Birthday today – yay – I made him a user-friendly computer guy, because, well, Chris is a user-friendly computer guy:
Happy 21st Birthday Chris, hope you had a fun day!
Another huge month, some super snarly models and good riddance to winter:
I am finding it easier to select models based on a cursory glance at their diagrams but shudder to think of the time used here when I am sure I should be doing something else – there are worse habits I suppose.
