ORIGAMI
UNDER CONSTRUCT
I
ON
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
R
GAMI
O
GILES T OWNINGM
Models & diagrams © Giles Towning 2000-2007
BOS booklet 74
First published by British Origami Society, September 2008 Printed in the United Kingdom. All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted,
Origami Under
Construction
Dedicated to my boys, Lewis and Michael.
Introduction
One of the great things about origami is it that it has an international language. You can pick up an origami book from any country, and begin folding immediately. Or, you can fold with someone who does not have a clue what you are saying. (No remarks, thank you!)
Origami is not always an easy thing to do, and I find that most people who practise origami are experts at puzzles and problem solving of one type or another.
My inspiration comes from all corners, and from all folders at BOS conventions and in the BOS magazine. Together, the list is endless. An example is that I have used a variation of Max Hulme’s folds in my Light Bulb . In fact, you will kick yourself if you miss one of his folding sessions at a convention, because you will know that you have missed something substantial.
Sometimes I have dreamed of an origami creation, and woken up knowing exactly how to fold it. Also, you can create by trial and error, stumbling upon something unexpected. Some of my creations are done with the attitude that while it seems that something can’t be done, I shall attempt it just to prove myself wrong.
I hope that you enjoy these ideas, and appreciate the extreme sacrifice of my giving up Sudoku puzzles in favour of the hard discipline of working on these diagrams until the booklet was finished.
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Creasing
Origami diagrams are a bit like examination papers, varying from easy to hard. Some of the more advanced folders enjoy folding from flat crease patterns. Some take more time to fold a clean model, which means that the final model has got only the necessary creases and no more.
A model with no excess creases can dramatically change the finished shape as the paper has to curve and bend rather than buckle on an unwanted crease line. The Kawasaki Rose is a very good example of this, although I’m not too sure if this idea can apply to Joel Cooper’s Babylonian Head .
Conversely, I thought that creasing in extra lines could add a little detail here and there. Like feathers on a wing, or doors and windows on a house.
You could even go the whole hog and scrunch fold Vincent Floderer style to see the outcome. I usually scrunch fold when I’m half-way through a model, and I make a mistake, and after that it is slam dunked in the bin.
Having had schooling on technical drawing, I appreciate the excess lines, which tell you how a model is put together: a bit like an artist’s preliminary sketch giving you a more analytical insight into the final result or enjoying the mathematical formula as well as the sum.
Diagramming
It is always best to keep up with your origami diagrams: that’s what I tell myself now when I have done no such thing. And now the task seems enormous. Ahhh! However, if you’re lucky enough to use your computer for diagramming, then it will save you lots of time and energy. Unfortunately I do not posses these skills and I have enquired upon the price of decent programming and it’s astronomical compared to my fibre-tipped pens and the retractable pencil I’ve, er, borrowed from work.
So I’ll just have to stick with freehand sketching. Which is not too bad, considering that the majority of the origami books that I love most feature hand drawings. Good hand drawings I feel have something of the designer in them that computer diagrams need to catch up on. Sounds convincing! I feel better already.
When diagramming it’s up to the artist to use a mix of either a flat plan, two-dimensional (2D) image, or an isometric three-dimensional (3D) image. Both are good, and both have their disadvantages. (See Optical Illusion page 34.) A 2D image helps you concentrate on one particular part, but too much of this can make the drawings a bit dull. A 3D image takes a bit more skill and can impart much more information, but it takes up more room on the page. You can make a 2D image look more like a 3D one by adding lines to show what’s behind the outside edges.
The angle at which we look at the model is also important. For example, it would be easier for the folder to look at the model from the same angle from start to finish with the minimum of turning over, to avoid confusion.
Often it’s quicker to fold one way, and it may not be possible to diagram exactly the same sequence steps you have folded. I’ve made my preliminary drawings by placing a layout paper over the top of my rough notes and choosing the best lines, moving it around for spacing and sizing, tracing over the diagrams until I’m happy with the final result.
The good thing about diagramming is obviously the end finish, but also sometimes you can see something extra that you didn’t see earlier, and so you end up enhancing the final outcome.
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BOS publications
1 History of Origami John S. Smith 2 Origami and Mathematics John S. Smith 3 History of Origami in Britain David Lister 4 Origami Instruction Language John S. Smith 5 Teaching Origami John S. Smith 6 Geometric Division Mick Guy
7 Chess Sets of Wall, Hulme & Elias Mick Guy & Dave Venables 8 Napkin Folds John Cunliffe
9 Origami and Magic Ray Bolt 10 Neal Elias: Selected Works 1964 - 1973 Dave Venables 11 Flexagons Paul Jackson 12 Martin Wall: Early Works 1970 - 1979 Martin Wall 13 Orikata Thoki Yenn 14 Pureland Origami 1 John S. Smith 15 Max Hulme: Selected Works 1973 - 1978 Dave Venables 16 18 Of My Paperfolds Paul Jackson
17 Origami Games Mick Guy and Paul Jackson 18 Philip Shen: Selected Geometric Paperfolds Paul Jackson
19 Tony O’Hare: Selected Works 1973 - 1982 Daniel Mason 20 Origami Christmas Tree Decorations Paul Jackson 21 The Silver Rectangle John Cunliffe 22 In Praise of the Bird Base John S. Smith 23 Index: BOS Magazines 1 - 100 John Cunliffe 24 Index: BOS Magazines 101 - 120 John Cunliffe 25 Envelope and Letter Folds John Cunliffe 26 Animal Origami Edwin Corrie 27 Origami Jeff Beynon 28 Structural Reconstruction Ricky Wong 29 Pureland Origami 2 John S. Smith 30 Paper People and Other Pointers David Petty 31 Mor’igami Jeff Beynon 32 Patterns in Paper John S. Smith 33 Animal Origami 2 Edwin Corrie 34 Neal Elias: Miscellaneous Folds I Dave Venables 35 Neal Elias: Miscellaneous Folds II Dave Venables 36 Neal Elias: Faces and Busts Dave Venables 37 Jeffori’ 3 Jeff Beynon 38 Four ‘igami Jeff Beynon 39 Animal Origami 3 Edwin Corrie 40 Genius of Jan Willem Derksen David Petty 41 Index: BOS Convention Packs David Petty 42 Larry Hart: Selected Works (1971 - 1991) Larry Hart 43 Pureland 3:Smith John S. Smith 44 Multiplication Jeff Beynon 45 The Origami of Stephen Palmer David Petty 46 Modular Construction and Twists David Petty
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55 Sink or Swim with Ted Norminton Ted Norminton 56 Petal Folds and More Ted Norminton 57 Pureland 4 John S. Smith 58 Owrigami Francis Ow 59 10 Pop-Ups John S. Smith 60 A Medieval Court in Origami Julia Pálffy
61 Decorative Boxes from Single Squares Arnold Tubis and Leon Brown 62 Animals and Birds Tony O’Hare
63 Ship-shape and Bristol Fashion Tony O’Hare 64 Faces’n’Fings Tony O’Hare 65 Planar Modulars (CD-rom) David Petty 66 The Nativity - An Origami Scene Lore Schirokauer 67 Selected Works of Quentin Trollip Quentin Trollip 68 Which Came First? Robert Neale 69 3D Masks and Busts Eric Joisel 70 Philip Shen: More Geometric Paperfolds Boaz Shuval 71 Origami Construction Giles Towning 72 Darwinism Ted Darwin 73 Selected Works : A Second Selection Max Hulme 74 Origami Under Construction Giles Towning 92 My Fundamentals Kuni Kasahara
Occasional Booklets
Paperplay John S. Smith Bibliography: Origami in Education and Therapy John S. Smith COET (Editor) John S. Smith
Other Booklets
Fold With Feeling Nick Robinson Hearts 3D David Petty Origami Favourites Edwin Corrie
For information about:
Buying BOS publications [email protected]
Joining BOS [email protected]
Origami in general [email protected]
Submitting material for publication [email protected]
BOS website www.britishorigami.info
New projects wanted
Why not become an author yourself? You could make a booklet of your own work or of another folders (please ask them first). Before you do too much work, please contact us for an initial appraisal:
Every effort has been made to ensure this booklet is fault-free. If you notice any errors in this booklet, please let us know.
If you see this booklet for sale elsewhere or in any other format, please let us know.
Acknowledgements
A very special thank you to Colin Rowe for sharing his great awareness of origami,and helping me in my origami drawing apprenticeship. An equal thank you to all on the BOS Council for unselfishly answering all the origami questions you can think of, and for making the conventions so enjoyable to attend.
A particular thank you to all the creators, diagrammers and folders from home and abroad that attend the BOS conventions. Seeing everyone’s old and new origami makes my head buzz with ideas, which really helps with creativity, and this book would not be possible without it.
Finally, a large salute to and in no particular order Erica Thompson, Colin Rowe, Alex Bateman, Nick Robinson, Joan Homewood and Ian Harrison for proof reading and seeing the job through.
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Origami or Paper Folding: it’s very much your choice. It is a much-debated subject. There are many styles, techniques and folding materials, as well as numerous interesting subjects and attitudes to apply it to. So far origami has eluded characterisation and for the time being is an unfolded frontier. Giles Towning is an electrician and, in between being electrocuted, his hobby is origami. Being in the right place at the right time, he managed to get an appearance on Richard and Judy then, later on, he got his name and diagrams on Greg Dyke’s Have I got News for You TV show. He has always tried to make his work original, and if his work inadvertently duplicates any others’ work then it is purely coincidence. (Great minds think alike!)
Once you have mastered origami, you will no longer walk the streets in fear of leaflet distributors, as it turns them into automatic vending machines for your artistry.
