duo

1149: NFTs

| wonko

As far as I can tell, NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) are dumb:

On this blog, NFTs stand for “Newly Folded Things”, but in the imaginary world of cryptocurrency and blockchain, NFTs were going to be the next big thing.

…until they were linked to money laundering, and people buying them realised that all they were actually buying was an entry in some blockchain register, not the “like, really cool, next level bored ape…man” [I assume that is how “the kids” now speak]

This NFT Bored ape was designed by Viswa Sarathi, and I stumbled across the design leafing through an edition of “Origamiaze – The Indian Origami Magazine Issue 02 December 2022” (yes, I was amazed there was one also)

Folded using duo Ikea Kraft paper, it was a fun (if wildly inaccurately diagrammed) fold – on re-fold I think I would refine the expression to make the ape even more bored.

Continue reading →

1074: Little Dragon

| wonko

One of the things I am doing more and more is being involved in the editing of pre-publish origami books. I was approached by Peter Buchan-Symons on his forthcoming book “Fantasy Origami”:

Peter Buchan-Symons' "Little Dragon"

I have folded many of his models testing as I check sequences, but seriously love this little guy – such a clever use of paper.

I folded this little dragon on a 21cm duo Tuttle print (although it is suggested that the first fold should be 25cm+) and the sequence is wonderful, complex and exacting.

Continue reading →

1065: Folding the Washing

| wonko

I am always looking for folding (and prograstigami) projects, my friends often )helpfully) suggest I “fold the washing” – my question to this is always “into what?”:

Motoo Ohguchi's Shirt

This lovely little colour change model is in the latest Tanteidan Magazine (one of many advantages of being a member of JOAS.

Designed by Motoo Ohguchi, I decided to punish a lovely 21cm square of Shibori duo paper, and set about the exacting divisions, colour reversals and smoke and mirrors that form the shape and details.

The layers get really dense, so thin paper (or going large) are solutions – I tried it on 15cm Kami and struggled to shape the collar and other details at this scale and thickness.

Continue reading →

1043: Lee Jae Gu’s “Basset Hound”

| wonko

Mum had Basset hounds when we were kids – wondrously preposterous dogs with twice as much skin as any dog needs, rediculously long ears and a bark straight from the bowels of hell. We loved the “girls”; they were very intelligent, active and protective (and seemed to delight in sneaking up behind us and barking deeply once, for the effect – I am sure it amused them):

Lee Jae Gu's "Basset Hound"

This model is as close to the actual basset hound shape as I have found folded from paper, and the colour changes make this model actually closely resemble one of our bassetts named “Cleo” – lovely dog. The stance is really typical and the placement/proportion of the ears and head are spot on.

Lee Jae Gu's "Basset Hound" views

Folded from white/natural duo Ikea Kraft, it is a challenging model because of a number of judgement fold steps and some tricky shaping, but i am happy with the result (and hope mum likes it, a gift for her).

969: Little Dragon

| wonko

One of the things I have the privilege to be involved with is the proof-reading/editing of books from origamishop.com. As such, I get a chance to make changes in diagrams and instruction annotations, and test fold:

Chen Xiou's Tiny Dragon

This is “Tiny Dragon”, a beautiful little model from a forthcoming book by Chen Xiou.

Continue reading →

968: Spiny Norman

| wonko

Anyone with a decent knowledge of Monty Python’s Flying Circus, would recognise the name “Spiny Norman” – the gigantic hedgehog that haunted Dinsdale, the more vicious of the Piranha Brothers. When I saw Yudai Imai’s Hedgehog, I knew I had to give it a try:

Yudai Imai's hedgehog

I had been looking for a model to best show of some duo 30cm Thai Unryu I had bought from the Origami Shop.

Yudai Imai's hedgehog paper - OrigamiShop's duo Unryu

Although Unryu is generally tissue thin, this duo paper seemed really thick, still I thought it was worth a bend so set about gridding – This was really hard work on fingers, and resorted to a bone folder – only when I laided in creases crisply was I able to reverse them (and in many cases even then with difficulty).

Continue reading →

966: Green Turtle

| wonko

As part of an origami challenge on Fakebook, we were challenged to fold the Green turtle from Origami Pro #4, designed by Jang Yong Ik :

green Turtle designed by Jang Yong Ik

I split off a square from a 70cm roll of black/natural Ikea Kraft and started the diagonal pleat pre-creasing.

Over a period of a couple of weeks, fitting it into life, the universe, and everything, I folded this intense model, really determined to enjoy the process.

Continue reading →

448: Cutting a Rug

| wonko

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 →