Deer Animal

There’s No Creature You Can’t Make With Animal Origami

Animal origami bases are a set of simple, yet abstract folded figures. And although the paper itself may not look like anything after being folded into a base, it is just the starting point from which to make other origami animals. Learning the traditional animal bases, like the preliminary bird and frog, make it easy to complete a wide array of other origami projects. The list of what animals you can recreate with paper just goes on and on, and includes dogs, horses, cats, rabbits, bears, pigs, deer, giraffes, elk, elephants, panthers, bats, squirrels, lions, goats, monkeys etc.

Once you have built the animal origami base you need, you will have the foundation of something that, with just a few other folds, can create numerous other shapes. When beginning to build a project, choose a simple origami pattern which is less complex to construct. After you have a better feel for it, you may begin to choose more difficult and fascinating folds, such as with mythical dragons or centaurs.

Here are instructions for how to make a dog using this Japanese art form. First, you will begin with a square piece of paper. If it is colored, put the colored side face down on the work surface and then fold along the diagonal to create a triangle. Next you’ll bring the corners together to fold the paper in two, and then open it up. This step makes a crease. Now you’ll position the paper so that two points are at the top and one point is facing down. To make the dog’s ears, you’ll turn down each of the two top points, making use of the center crease line as a guide. Lastly, you will fold the top and bottom of the dog’s head away from you.

This is a very simple piece of origami. Many children who make this like attaching googly eyes on it in addition to drawing a mouth and nose to make it more true to life and individualized. For a good selection of excellent origami critters and more, visit the website of Robert J. Lang, at www.langorigami.com.

There are a few thoughts to keep in mind while you are learning how to construct animal origami pieces, if you want to make the process run more smoothly. First, make use of crisp paper that will allow you to make the kinds of creases required. Do not use any old piece of paper, but at the same time, don’t buy really expensive paper to begin as you may be wasting a lot of it. As well, choose paper that is colored differently on each side, so that you are immediately aware of which side is the front and which side is the back.

Origami paper folding is an ancient Japanese art. But for many people today, learning how to make origami is still a highly enjoyable pastime.

Key Deer