The Origami Forum

I'm wanting to make a new version of my hippocampus design and I want the horse half of the model brown and the fish half green, as there is no way to get colour changes from the base of the model im starting to think about painting the paper. I don't mean I would draw the diagonal line and paint only one half, that seems too fake, unnatural and I don't think it would be widely accepted by the origami community. I mean I would start in the corner and make one colour fade into the other, which to me seems a lot more natural and the textures created would be interesting. So now comes my real question: how would you feel about me doing this? Would you accept it as 'pure' origami? Or would it be shunned for life like using scissors or starting from an irregular shape (which is pretty much anything that isn't square to an origamist)?

EDIT: if it were accepted it would be quite a cool way to make three coloured models.

The idea you mentioned seems to be similar to a technique I've heard of called paper marbling. Personally, I would accept it, but I wouldn't necessarily call it purist.

What is accepted and what not is up to you. Everyone has to decide in his own what rules apply. Some people that are known for super complex models are fine with using glue (f.e. Satoshi Kamiya, Brian Chan,...). I guess making a paper like this would be okay for many purists and you can mention it when showing the model, that you painted it like this.

I'm pretty far from a purist (I use glue, rectangular paper, etc.), so I'm not the best to answer whether it would be 'pure'. Regardless, you certainly wouldn't be the first to do something of that sort. Someone on Flickr posted a 3-color flag that I can't find right now using one color on one side and two colors on the other side. Going even further from 'pure' origami, I've done a series of pieces where the paper is painted with designs that add interest to otherwise not that exciting pieces (see http://rebecca.gieseking.us/artwork/painted/). And there are lots of other origamists who paint interesting patterns on the paper (Hilli Zenz, Joel Cooper, Peter Keller, just to name a few I remember from Flickr).

Sure, some people might not consider it 'pure' origami to incorporate paint, but is that really such a problem? As long as you don't deceive people, I think it's up to you to decide how far you're willing to push the boundaries of origami.

eric madrigal paints many of his folds. if i could do it like him, i'd do it consistently in a heartbeat.

Thanks for all the replies! It's interesting to hear other people's opinions on folding ethics.

Unless one is committed to only using paper with uncolored natural fibers (so no true white even), then I fail to see why painting paper is any different than dying pulp and making colored paper.

Ethics is that point where the mind, heart and conscience comfortably meet .
Personally, I enjoy the creative results of using the various supplemental methods of enhancing paper.
That being said, ethics tells me that pure origami is relegated to one square, no paint, no MC, no cuts , no staples and no thumb tacks...
The choice to utilize or abandon " pure" origami always rests on our own individual shoulders.
The key might rest with minimal use of supplemental aids when possible.