10th May 2008

A Humble Guide To Origami

posted in General |
by Chris Channing

One of the oldest art forms in existence is origami, which was created by the Japanese over a thousand years ago. This centuries-old art form is a craft created by paper folding, although this art form is much more complex that it would seem.

The basic concept of origami is simple: fold a piece of paper into planar and geometric shapes in order to create some type of figure or object out of the piece of paper. This is all done without glue and many types without cutting or ripping the paper in question. Out of all the examples of origami present, one of the more popular is the crane, which nearly everyone should have experience in making.

Today, Origami is usually used in two instances. One instance is as a fun craft for less experienced origami makers, and the second is for artists who develop amazing pieces of origami art work.

Many people enjoy origami as a fun craft. For this reason, pretty much everyone has tried making origami or has at least seen it. Beginner’s origami pieces are usually things like the origami flower, origami stars, and origami balls and boxes. Probably, one of the best beginner’s origami pieces to learn how to make is the origami ball. At the bottom of this article you will find some sites with origami guides, such as for the origami ball.

The beginner will not take long in learning the complexities of the origami art form. In no time flat, it’s quite possible that a beginner can start making difficult origami such as the swan, which is actually only a medium grade of difficulty. If one is to advance in the arts of origami, practice and time will both be necessary in order to develop the skills needed to shape paper to one’s liking.

Origami is a fun occasional experience for most people, but a small group of artists have really taken origami to the next level. Origami was previously created by just guessing how to make folds and getting lucky when an interesting shape was created. However, in our post scientific revolution world, mathematics is now being used to design origami pieces.

Final Thoughts

Using mathematics, origami pieces can be planned out before even starting to fold the origami paper. The new age technical origami, aka. origami sekkei, has truly turned into its own art form. Crease patterns, or CP, are used to make truly amazing pieces of origami artwork. While an origami swan will have much less than a hundred folds, a technical origami piece will usually have upwards of 1,000 folds!

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