Secret bird

Shh...

The Secret Bird is designed by the delightfully whimsical Jeremy Shafer, and can be found in his book Origami to Astonish and Amuse as the "Bird of Peace Pop-up Card".  This model was folded from a 10-inch square of brown origami paper.

Let That Be Your Last Battlefield

And now, the classic Star Trek episode "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield", re-created with paper cranes.





*sniff* So sad.

The Kirk and Spock cranes are traditional models folded from 4-1/2" squares of standard origami paper. The Lokai and Bele cranes are variations of the traditional model, folded from 5-7/8" squares. (The variation "shrinks" the paper somewhat, making them roughly equivalent to a 4-1/8" square.) The cranes measure 3-1/8" to 3-3/4" from beak to tail, owing to variations in pose as well as paper size. Folding sequences for the traditional model may be found pretty much anywhere; a good folding sequence for the variation may be found at Origami Club under the heading "traditional".

Photography courtest of Danielle Osterweil.

Chickens

Ah, what have we here? Some sort of moonlight tryst?


These chickens are based on a very fun and simple model by Kunihiko Kasahara. Easy enough for beginners, but elegant and evocative.

Which one is the rooster? Which one is the hen? Can you tell? One of the joys of origami is in making subtle adjustments to the pattern. In this case, slight variations in the shaping of the back, tail, and underside create subtle differences in the completed model. Learning these adjustments and variantions is the first step towards origami design.

And now... cyborg rooster.*


"I'm looking for Sarah Connor."

"Ain't nobody here but us chickens!"

The rooster and hen were made from standard 5-7/8" red origami paper. The cyborg was made from 5-7/8" square gold and red foil paper. Each stands about 2-5/8" tall and is roughly 4-1/4" long (minus tail, in the cyborg's case). Folding patterns for a basic hen and rooster can be found in Kasahara's Origami Omnibus.

* Please, no "Robot Chicken" jokes.

Two cranes in flight

Today we have two cranes in flight, modeled here by the amazing Alex and Jason.

The orange crane on the left is a clever model from the "technical school", based on John Montroll's "five-sided square". (Best name ever.) It is essentially a five-limbed version of the traditional flapping bird, with some extra shaping and detailing. And yes, it flaps.

The purple crane on the right is belongs to the more "traditional school", and is incredibly elegant and fun to fold. Whereas the orange crane has two distinct, defined legs, the purple crane has a single rear flap, folded in such a way to suggest the existence of two separate legs. I find this very clever and aesthetically pleasing.

The orange crane was folded from a 9-3/4" square of standard origami paper. It measures 5-5/8" from beak to foot. The model was designed by Robert J. Lang, and folding instructions may be found in his book Origami in Action. The purple crane was folded from a 5-7/8" square of standard origami paper and measures 5" from beak to foot. This crane was designed by Kunihiko Kasahara, and folding instructions may be found in his book Origami Omnibus.

Flapping birds

Flap. Flap. Flap.

Today's post features three bird models that flap when you tug on them. Specifically, it features photos of these birds. I suppose it would have made more sense to take videos of them flapping, but hey.

The topmost bird is a traditional model based on the bird base. The bird on the left is a modern creation by Samuel Randlett, based on the waterbomb base. It has a much smoother action than the traditional model. The bird on the right is a variation of Randlett's bird by Paul Jackson.

The traditional bird has a property known as one-sidedness. In layman's terms, the entire outside of the model is derived from only one side of the paper. (Most origami paper is colored or patterned on one side, and white on the other. You will note that the model is completely patterned -- the white side of the paper is completely hidden.) The other two birds do not posess the one-sidedness property; in each model you can see the both the upper (patterned) and lower (solid colored) sides of the paper.

You will notice that the traditional bird is significantly smaller than the other two. This is a side-effect of the one-sidedness property: the usable surface area of the paper is reduced by a factor of 50%.

All three birds were folded from 5-7/8" squares of origami paper. The traditional model uses a standard patterned paper. The other models use pattern/solid duo paper. The traditional bird measures 4-3/8" from beak to tail-tip, with 3" tall wings. Randlett's and Jackson's birds both measure 5-1/2" from beak to tail-tip, with 3-1/8" tall wings.

Folding instructions for the traditional bird may be found in many books and on many websites; Origami USA offers some. Instructions for Randlett's bird may be found in Origami in Action by Robert J. Lang. Instructions for Jackson's variant may be found in Practical Origami by Rick Beech.

Be sure to check back next week, when we will take a look at another flapping beast.

Three-headed crane

Welcome,. and happy 2009! We start out the year with a traditional standby, the three-headed crane.



Actually, three-headed cranes are not in any way traditional. This model is by Jun Maekawa, designed to illustrate certain aspects of technical folding. My favorite part of this model, however, is actually an intermediary stage -- a six-pointed analogue of the traditional bird base. Using this base, I have created my own (slight) variations on Maekawa's model.

Phoenix.



Triple crane.



Folding instructions for the three-headed crane may be found in Maekawa's excellent book Genuine Origami.

Moneybird

Today's model is the ever-popular dollar bill peacock. This is a fun model to make, although some of the finer details are rather difficult to do -- the head and legs become pretty thick with layers. It's a fun trick at parties, though.

The dollar bill peacock was designed by Adolfo Cerceda. Folding instructions may be found in Practical Origami by Rick Beech.

Industrial crane

I love paper. I love the feel of paper. I love the smell of paper. I even love the sound of paper, when I riffle* through an old book or wave a large piece of cardstock through the air.

But, y'know... sometimes you want something more than just paper.

The medium for this piece is some nifty aluminum wire mesh I picked up from my local art-n-craft store. It's normally used as a framework for sculpting, so it's cuttable and bendable but stiff. This piece was originally formed from a 6" square of the stuff. It is 5 1/4" long with a 5 5/8" wingspan.

As will all the other photos on this site, you may click on it to display a larger version. Be advised, however, that this image is considerably larger than normal -- I loved the intricacies of the mesh that were caught by the camera, and I hated to shrink the file.

* Yeah, it's not a real word. You know what I mean.

Northern cardinal

Spring has finally arrived in Boston! The end of April was cold and wet, but today the sun is blooming, the flowers are singing, and the birds are shining high in the sky. Or something like that. Anyway, here's a bird.

The northern cardinal is a mid-size songbird common to the eastern United States (and elsewhere) notable for its bright red plumage and crest. It is also the state bird of Ohio (the heart of it all), which makes it inherently cool. You can attract cardinals to your yard with sunflower seeds.

But enough about real cardinals, what about paper ones? This model was designed by Michael G. LaFosse, and is probably my favorite of his. It is simple enough that a relative beginner can fold it, and it looks great! This model was folded from 1 square of 5 7/8" red/black duo origami paper (giving it a realistic coloration), and measures 5 3/4" in length. Directions for this model may be found in LaFosse's excellent book Advanced Origami.

Crane comparison

Here we have three crane-like birds. The orange bird on the left is the simple crane, or orizuru. The green bird in the center is the "crane with folded wings", or orihazuru. The blue bird on the left is not technically a crane; it is the traditional "flapping bird" -- unlike the other two, it will flap somewhat convincingly when the holder tugs on the bases of the neck and tail.

Given the similarity of all three models, it should come as no shock that the folding patterns are all remarkably similar. Each model was created from a 5 7/8" square of standard origami paper folded into a standard bird base -- variations in the final folds account for the differences in each model.

Instructions for folding the crane and flapping bird can be found in many beginner origami books or online. Instructions for the crane with folded wings appear to be more elusive -- one source is Origami Made Easy by Kunihiko Kasahara.