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synconi — LET'S GET FOLDING
Published: 2013-08-21 15:54:24 +0000 UTC; Views: 10863; Favourites: 83; Downloads: 0
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LET'S GET FOLDING
Many times a friend or a deviant has said to me, "oh I could never fold origami, I'm not gifted that way", but it's just not true! As part of projecteducate 's Artisan Crafts week , I'm going to show you how simple it is to find and fold something gorgeous and to present it well to your internet audience.
With just a little inspiration and a bit of patience, ANY one of us could fold something absolutely lovely. So what are you waiting for?? Let's get folding!
1) BE INSPIRED
First of all, you need to figure out what you want to fold. You need inspiration from looking at gorgeous origami, from admiring nature and the world around, or maybe it'll just hit you like a random lightning bolt. We are super privileged to have many experienced and skilful origamists on dA, many who create their own models from scratch. From personal experience I know it’s no easy thing to create your own original origami designs and am always struck by the beautiful creations I see here.
All the above are original origami designs by dA artists
After that, you've got two options. Hard: make up your model all by yourself. Simpler (but not always easier): find some existing folding diagrams or a crease pattern to follow. There are a wealth of origami books out there for all abilities and tastes, and plenty of tutorials and videos online, too. Here's a couple of ideas and resources:
- Browse the dA origami gallery and get inspired.
- Browse sites like Gilad’s origami page and Happy Folding . (They're a couple of my favourites because they have a large and varied database of models, complete with photographs and books where the models are diagrammed.)
- Familiarise yourself with some master origamists and their work. If you're a bit of an origami newbie, why not start by having a look at the beautiful works of Robert Lang , Beth Johnson , Won Park , Quentin Trollip and Hoang Tien Quyet .
- Looking for some tutorials? Try browsing dA origami tutorials or get your hands on an origami book!
- Be realistic and start with a model on your level. Don’t go for Satoshi Kamiya's Cerberus or lyrebird when you’ve only ever made a simple jumping frog!
2) CHOOSE YOUR WEAPON
Now that you've decided what you want to fold, let's think about what to fold it with.
- If you’re a beginner or have not folded this model before, practise with something like printer paper. Something everyday and easy to get hold of.
- There's LOTS of different types of paper, differing in strength and weight and texture and colour...from ordinary single-side-of-colour kami, Tant, Unryu, Elephant Hide, Tissue Foil to the coveted Origamido. There's no completely straightforward way to decide what to use as it really depends on the model. However, some things are common sense: e.g. don't use lush elephant hide for miniature origami, or foil paper for a wet-fold. If you're interested in more statistics and a deeper discussion, take a look at: www.happyfolding.com/paper-rev… and www.langorigami.com/paper/pape… . Try folding with a variety of papers to get the feel of them, and follow your intuition when deciding which to use.
- Fancy paper aside, you can use anything that folds. Pages from books, envelopes, wrapping paper, maps...use your imagination!
- What size do you want your resulting model to be? Generally, the smaller the piece of paper, the more fiddly and tricky it is to fold. On the flip side, it's often difficult and expensive to find large sheets of quality origami paper.
- I have a bad habit of using my “good” paper for my very first attempt at models, which works out for me sometimes…do as I say, not as I do, and practise with "rough" paper first!
- Lastly: dry fold or wet-fold? If you're a beginner, the answer is almost certainly DRY, but it's something to think about when you get more advanced. (Wet-folding is a technique of first dampening the paper before folding. It gives the model strength and helps it keep its shape once dry, as well as letting you have more freedom in shaping the origami, making it more realistic and aesthetically pleasing.)
LEFT TO RIGHT: using Origamido, Tant, tissue paper
3) FOLD IT
Yippee, we're finally at the folding stage!
- Remember to use your "rough" paper as you practise and perfect the model.
- Practise practise practise...
- It's easy to get frustrated and that's okay, just come back later. There’ve been a couple of models that I attempted when I was in my early teens. Due to my lack of skill or patience, I’d get stuck at the same point every time I tried it. I huffed and puffed, shrugged, had a coffee and found something else to fold. Years later, I find I can now finish these models and do it well! So you just need to give it a break sometimes.
- Get familiar with the model before you fold the final version with your “good” paper, and feel free to tweak the original design, adding your own innovations and ideas.
Then…fold fold fold!
4) SHARE YOUR CREATION
Once you've finished your final fold, CONGRATULATIONS!!! Run around and show it to your housemates and your husband and your three dogs!
For most of us now the main audience we'll get will be through the internet, so photography matters! It frustrates me to no end when I see a superbly folded model photographed on a cluttered desk with poor lighting and at an angle so you can barely see anything. DO think about how to present your finished origami.
- NO CLUTTER and GOOD FOCUS are a must: it's easy to find a clear space to place your work down, and even the most basic of cameras can still focus. You don't need a fancy camera.
- Lighting: natural sunlight always works well, or you could use a well-lit room.
Background: does the origami stand out against it or does it push the model out of the limelight? Do they complement each other well?
Colours?
Angle: how much of the model can you see? Do you want a view of the front/side? Is a single photo enough or should you have an array of angles to do the 3D-ness of the model justice?
- Be imaginative: do you want to keep the background simple to draw attention to the model? Or maybe create a little scene and a story? Some examples:
Professionally empty:
Natural habitat:
Creative lighting and innovative:
Simply appropriate:
Now you're all set to go share your lovely work on deviantART, and in groups like:
So there we have it, folks!
How to get folding in four easy steps. There's a lot more to say on each topic but whether you have never tried to fold before, or you've tried and flopped at it some time in the past, or even if you're an old hand at origami, hopefully today you'll be further inspired to go go go and fold something beautiful.
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Comments: 71
I'm just wondering, is this origami as well? girnelis.deviantart.com/art/3D…
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and stars as well right?
I'm excited to start folding!
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Indeedy, have fun and fold as you never have before!!!
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Great feature, and a really inspirational bunch of works you've selected to show off how broad the different origami techniques can be!
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Thank you! This is still a pretty narrow selection but I'm glad you like the featured models
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super late response, but nice article here gab !
i love those featured origami you use as a sample, they're fantastic
note myself to try fold something
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(Even LATER reply) Thanks, sweetie, you should fold something yes yes yes! Bet it'll be as cute as your drawings
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Holy freakin' wow! I always loved doing origami from books, but I could never figure out how to make my own folding patterns.
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I think many of us have been in the same position- only recently have I started dabbling and playing with the paper with a mind to create my own things
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When I was little, we didn't have toys at all, folding paper was one of the "handmade" toys...nope, no one taught us what and how to fold a piece of paper into a ball that we could play with (I still remember how to do it today), we used our imagination and trial/error.
This is a wonderful journal, thank you so much!
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That's an amazing story- my mum was similar, actually. She and her brothers grew up in the slums of Hong Kong and anything they found lying about became a toy. One of the wonderful things about origami is that you hardly need anything at all!
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This article is amazing. You are awesome.
Great work, very informative and beautiful!
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nice article- i totally agree with you. i´d really love to see more origami artists here on dA.
and i agree with your photography point, still working on that
folks- try it out. choose a model, take a paper.
everything starts with the first fold (:
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Once upon a time, I could not even fold a paper plane. We've all gotta start somewhere
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sometimes i keep the paper of my ferrero rocher chocolate and make mini-stars and roses, I never put anything to trash you never know when a paper can be useful !
and thanks for the tips about taking pictures of origami, mine never turn out well and the bad lightning spoils all the magic. I made a werewolf once, but my previous inexperience in photography couldn't allow me to post it.
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Awww that's a great idea! Love the ferrero rocher chocolate, and love the gold wrapper too
Oooo do you still have this werewolf somewhere? I've found even mobile phones can take pretty decent photos now, you could give it a go!
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I think i still have it ! I'll try to take a good picture of it later, now i must prepare myself, I'm beginning college
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Ah genial!!! Quel sujet vas-tu étudier? <3
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le graphic design, mais j’espère pouvoir faire des études en animation car la voix que j'ai choisis est le film animé en 2-D et 3-D !! j'ai envie de faire de la bande dessiner aussi, et, en autodidacte, je fais de la sculpture et de la peinture traditionelle.
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very impressive 
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Naww! At least it's an attempt. Practice makes perfect
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Wonderful article! 
If I ever get my hands to cooperate, I'd like to try origami...
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Thank you <3
It's a bit of a cycle- you start folding and that helps the silly hands get more skilled, which makes your origami better! You just gotta start
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You're welcome!
Lol, I've just got some problems with my hands (pain plus damage from slamming my finger in a car door, falling, typing, that kind of thing). I do need to just start though!
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Your poor, poor fingers! D:
OH WELL
You will just have to use your toes!
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Yeah.
Lol! I'm sure that wouldn't be a disaster at all.
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WOULD BE FUN
and possibly horribly frustrating.
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- All these works are amazing, this article makes me want to try something new
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- I will as soon as i get new paper
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Finally! I waited for this ^^
And great that you put the photography part too ^^
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Great article thanks for the references and tips and fold fold fold!!!!
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