The Origami Forum

Hi all, I've just joined the site. Been folding for a few years now, just started (tentatively) trying a bit of design. Hoping to pick up a few tips and ideas - seems like there is a huge amount of collective expertise on here, so please add your comments!

I've only tried a couple of designs, mostly by toying around with a particular base or fold until it looks a bit like something! This was my first attempt, it's built around a frog base.

Grasshopper, by Chris Taylor (using homemade tissue foil)

And this is the other one I've made recently. It's quite a simple design based around repeated twist folds, so I did wonder if anyone has done it before, but I've not come across one quite like it. Please tell me if this is someone else's design.

Kerry's Rose, by Chris Taylor (homemade tissue foil)

WOW! Thats really good for just starting to design! It could use a little work such as the lengths of the legs/abdomen, which just requires some adjustment. But I really ike the head, I think it looks very much like a grasshopper.

that is really good chris

Hi kevin and polistes, thanks for the comments, I'm glad you like it! I agree kevin, the back legs could do with being a bit longer, but I wasn't sure how to go about that. Is there a way to tweak a frog base so a couple of points are longer? I've read Lang ODS and I get the principles of circle packing but I'm not good at solving CPs yet so I've not had much success down that route. And that would seem to be starting from scratch again, is there something in between that could be used without completely ditching the base?

Great stuff! A bit of thinning down in the grasshopper, and perfect.

nice rose there and chris i agree with josh just thinning it a bit will make all the difference

Did you mean thinning the body Joshua and polistes? I see what you mean, although I think partly it's that the picture isn't quite side on so it's a little foreshortened. But I'll have to give that a try if I refold it. If you meant the legs, then I need to get myself some thinner paper first!

I was a bit disillusioned to find that someone else has got there first - I came across Manuel Sirgo's Langosta Migratoria (migratory locust) yesterday, which is pretty much the same thing, but a bit more polished. I guess that must happen a lot with models built around traditional bases?

Basic Beetle, by Chris Taylor (9" craft paper).

E.T. the Extra-terrestrial, by Chris Taylor
12" homemade tissue foil.
Folded for December challenge (science fiction).





I didn't have any brown tissue paper unfortunately, so he's purple instead.

My first go at a box-pleated design. I'm pretty happy with it, although the final shaping could be improved I reckon. Please let me know what you think!

Wow.... Thats your own model! It's really good. It doesn't matter thats hes purple I fold my models out of random colered paper all the time thinking I can refold them in the color If I wanted to. For some some reason I always forget how to make them

I like the detail of the color change on the finger, haha!
Looks pretty nice.

Thanks for the comments - glad you like it! The only downside of the colour change is that the orange peeks through on a few other parts of the model, like the back of the arms.

As long as you don't take pictures of the back of the model, no one will ever know
(By the way, is the color change on his hand a ring? I haven't seen that movie in a looooong time)

The idea of the colour change was to try and show his fingertip "glowing" as it does when he heals Elliot.