Origamiancy – Page 2 – Home of my Origami

Arabian Dhow (Design by Ancella Simoes)

Arabian Dhow (Designed by Ancella Simoes)

This is a design I came up with in February 2020. The inspiration behind this model is the traditional ‘dhow’ which one sees regularly plying the creek in Dubai, United Arab Emirates and other gulf countries. These small boats usually have 1 or 2 sails and look lovely sailing over the creek by the setting sun. Having grown up in Dubai, these boats always make me nostalgic of my earliest years. Dhows usually have lateen rigging and were historically used for trade purposes – ferrying fruits, vegetables, heavy equipment and other items between gulf countries, Pakistan, India and East Africa. The dhow was known for two distinct features i.e. it’s lateen sail (triangular sail) and stitched construction in olden times. The sails powered it to its destination and this vessel was a major transportation for a thriving trade during those times. Today, tourists enjoy boat rides along the creek in this vessel. They are also used to ferry people across short distances.

My design showcases the lateen sails with two masts and I have shaped these sails a bit. It is folded from a single sheet of paper preferably duo colored, and one can use any type of paper to fold this model. A square sheet, the size of which is at least 6 inches, will work and this will result in the finished model measuring approx 5 inches in length. I have used triple tissue paper to fold this model, prepared by sticking 3 sheets of tissue paper together using MC. This was a little experiment for me since I needed duo colored paper for my fold and I had paper remaining from my previous folding project. However, this model does not require thin paper to fold – almost any kind of paper will suffice. I started folding this model with regular post it notes to get the form and shape and then moved on from there to test out how it will look with tissue paper.

Diagrams for this model are published in the British Origami Magazine #321. You can see a review for this edition here.

Violin (Design by Gen Hagiwara)

This design is a good example of the box pleating technique and is a fantastic model to fold, resulting in a stunning outcome. A complex design which requires glue to hold the neck in place, I found this one enjoyable to fold. There is a violin bow designed by Paulius Mielinis which complements this Violin. However, I am not aware if the diagrams or crease pattern have been published for it.

The most amazing part of this model is the attention to detail. It has everything from the scroll, peg box and pegs to the f-holes on the body of the instrument. I am amazed with the level of thought which has been put into designing this model by Gen Hagiwara – it is truly mind blowing. While a major portion of the folding sequence, in the beginning, is the pre-creasing to fold the basic Violin shape, the folding sequence quickly transitions to shaping the model to make it aesthetically realistic. The part which requires a lot of patience and dexterity is the neck of the violin, which includes the peg box and pegs. This portion took the longest time for me to fold. To make the scroll at the end of the neck, I used a bit of water to wet and then roll in. I have clicked a few pictures from different angles hoping to capture the complexity and beauty of this design.

The diagrams to this design can be found in Origami Tanteidan Magazine #143 (which you can back order from Japan Origami Academic Society at the time of writing this post) and you can also check out JM Origami tutorial for this. I used double tissue paper to fold this Violin – a single sheet each of brown and black tissue paper stuck together using MC. I then cut the prepared paper to the 1:4 ratio which is needed to start folding. To shape the violin, I used clips to hold the curves and folds in place and kept it overnight to set. The paper I used was Darice 100-Piece Premium Quality Tissue Gift Wrapping Paper and I used Lineco Methyl Cellulose Adhesive to prepare the double tissue paper.

You are always in my heart (Design by Andrey Lukyanov)

Happy Mother’s Day!

This year I celebrate my first mother’s day being a new mom and for it, I received a load of flowers from my daughter 🙂

I have been thinking for quite a while on what model to fold to mark this occasion and I finally settled on Andrey Lukyanov’s You are always in my heart. This is a great little design to fold and the two-toned color hearts makes it look very nice. This model has a quick folding sequence and if one is crisp in making their folds, they’ll be rewarded with a perfect little double heart model.

I used Japanese Washi Paper to fold this design and I wanted the plain color side as the smaller heart, specifically. I thought the transition from a single shade of color to a heart of vibrant colors would signify a heart bursting of love. The size of the paper I used was 4 inches and there is no requirement for a fine or thin sheet of paper to fold this model. Kami or regular origami paper works best and you can play around with the color combinations. The size of the finished model is approz 2 inches.

How to fold this model:

Mariano Zavala has created a clear and concise tutorial on Andrey Lukyanov’s You are always in my heart. He has explained the steps really well and I found this tutorial very easy to follow.

Inoshishigami – The Divine Boar (Design by Satoshi Kamiya)

I found this to be a challenging model to fold given the multiple delicate pre-creases. For this model, taken from Satoshi Kamiya’s first book of origami diagrams – Works of Satoshi KAMIYA. I used 2 sheets of tissue paper, which I stuck together using methyl cellulose.

This was the first time I prepared paper using MC and I was quite happy with the outcome. I used a 3 inch brush to apply the MC paste across the tissue paper and kept the papers to dry for a couple of days before I started folding this model. The paper is still thin and delicate, which made the initial pre-creasing a bit difficult for me. However, given the multiple layers involved in this design, especially for the limbs and the ‘pleats’ on the boar’s back, I would still recommend a thin paper. Once you prepare the MC mixture, if you have any remaining after preparing your double tissue paper, you can store it for your next use.

This is my first fold of this model and it took me about 2 weeks to complete it since I work on it only at nights for a few hours. I wanted to try preparing my own paper for complex models and folding Satoshi Kamiya’s Divine boar gave me the opportunity to test it with intricate folds. I liked the outcome of my first fold and enjoyed folding this design. The paper I used was Darice 100-Piece Premium Quality Tissue Gift Wrapping Paper and I used Lineco Methyl Cellulose Adhesive to paste two of these tissue papers together. The size of the paper I used was a square sheet measuring 20 inches. The size of the finished model is approximately 5 inches by 8 inches.

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Instructions to prepare double tissue paper:
Sara Adams of HappyFolding has created a detailed video on preparing double tissue paper. I found this easy to follow and clear with instructions.

How to Fold Satoshi Kamiya’s Divine Boar:
The diagrams to this model can be found in Works of Satoshi KAMIYA. Mariano Zavala has created a fantastic instructional video for this model, too. I have used it as a reference for some of the tricky folds for this model and found it to be very helpful. He has painstakingly explained the intricate folds and is very clear in showing the steps. It is a 2 part instructional video which you can find on his YouTube channel.

Zoe’s Swirl (Design by Ancella Simoes)

I had taken a rather long break from folding origami and I hope to be back more regularly this year. We had a baby girl in September 2019 and my husband and I are absolutely thrilled. As you can imagine, with a baby, paper folding was on the back burner for a bit.

This model – Zoe’s Swirl – is one I have designed myself and named after my daughter. I came up with this design playing around with post it notes, which has now become a habit of mine in my very less spare time that I have.

It’s folded from 8 sheets of square paper and I have used Japanese Washi Paper which you can find on Amazon. This paper is plain on one side and printed on the other which makes a nice contrast when folding this design. The size of each of the sheets is 4 inches and completed model is around 5 inches in diameter. Since the folding sequence involves a sink, I have marked it as intermediate. However, the rest of the folding steps are relatively easy.