Solid Li'l Dragon

Yes, by popular* demand, Boston Origami is back! You remember our friend, the Happy Li'l Dragon. This creature is two-toned, not by design, but by accident. Traditionally, origami paper is colored only on one side, and models only use this side of the paper. (I don't know why.) Some models very cleverly use the white side of the paper to make a two-toned effect. Some, like this one, are two-toned because that's the only way the designer could get it to work.

Last week, I put my mind to a puzzle. Is it at all possible to make the Happy Li'l Dragon solid-toned?


Yes, apparently. This Solid Li'l Dragon contains quite a few more folds than his predecessor, but follows essentially the same pattern. Those folds consume more of the paper, however -- he is about 20% shorter than the two-toned dragon above. Unfortunately, much of that extra paper ends up in the head, making it very thick and difficult to fold.


* You know who you are.

Dragon Hatchling

Peep!

We finish up Dragon Week -- er, Dragon Month, I guess -- with this baby dragon hatching from its egg.

About a year ago I received a fun kit from my buddy Mike entitled "Make Your Own paper Dragons", by Sean Brand and Ivan Hissey. The kit consists of instructions for drawing, painting, and folding dragons, accompanied by a small pait kit and some origami paper. This charming model (by Nick Robinson) was contained within.

The model was folded from a 5 7/8" square of red/yellow duo paper. The egg measures about 3 1/8" wide.

Why a yellow egg? I thought it looked cool. A second hatchling, emerging from a white egg, may be seen below. Which do you like better, yellow or white?

Happy Li'l Dragon

Rowr!

This clever fellow swooping in from the sky is Lassie (short for "Velassieraptor"), one of a collection of hideous beasts given a good home by my friend Marci. The design is my own, developed one afternoon when I tried to see how much of the KNL dragon I could fold from memory. (Answer: not that much.)

As with my shrimp design, the happy li'l dragon has not been published anywhere, although I plan to do so at some point. The head is a traditional fish base grafted onto the body of a traditional crane. Lassie was folded from a 7" square of dark green/light green duo paper. He (she?) measures 5" from snout to tail and has a 3 1/4" wingspan.

KNL Dragon

RUUUOOOOOAAAAARRRRRRGH!

This happy fellow is the Kasahara-Neale-Lang Dragon. We see him in his native habitat, hunting for prey along the fertile plains beneath the majestic Orange Couch Mountains.

This beast is an adaptation of dragons by Kunihiko Kasahara and Robert Neale by Robert J. Lang. In Lang's own words:

...some years ago a composite (multisheet) origami model had become quite popular by combining the head from a dragon by Kunihiko Kasahara (itself a three-piece composite model) with the body, wings, legs, and tail of a simple one-sheet dragon by Robert Neale.... The combination became known as the Kasahara-Neale Dragon.

Lang uses a technique called grafting to create the critter with a single sheet of paper. Essentially, a large bird base and a small bird base are embedded in a larger square of paper, such that both bird bases touch at one point. The extra paper is used to give the dragon larger wings that the original. Unfortunately, it also produces a strange two-toned effect, but with the right paper, this isn't a problem.

This model was created from a square of 13 3/4" standard origami paper. The completed model is 8" from snout to tail, with a wingspan of 6". Diagrams and folding directions may be found in Origami Design Secrets by Robert J. Lang.