Paper Modeling Intro

 In the coming Object Design class, we are going to learn about modelling in the 3D program Rhino.

Rhino is however a very advanced program, so before the class works on Rhino, we are studying about

Paper Craft as a Media for Modeling

I believe a decent amount of western people don't think that paper is not a common medium of modelling. Paper is extremely common in people's daily lives, but most people only use them as a utility to put imprints like sketches, ink or paint on. However paper is still on its own is overlooked for its ability to model and make art. Our design professor gave us some articles to delve into to research and explore the paper modelling medium to get us inspired for the coming projects. 

Although there are many different and interesting ways in which paper has been used to model, I personally am attached to the traditional media of origami since I grew up with it. 

I have done a lot of origami as a child, and I have enjoyed making basic toys and fun models as best as I could. I still remember several of my favourite models to make by heart. The most complicated origami I can make is the four kissing cranes. This is made by almost dividing the paper into quarters with scissors and then folding the cranes while they are attached to each other. 

https://www.instructables.com/Origami-Senbazuru-Cranes-Kissing/

Although this can be seen as fairly impressive, the articles that the design professor shared showed some more impressive work. The design professor shared an article about Hoang Tien Quyet. He uses a special technique called wet folding to be able to make dynamic movements and round shapes on his models which were often animals

https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2015/05/wet-fold-origami/

I found these works very enjoyable with the dynamic curves giving character to the models. However, there was another origami designer that had inspired me when I was young.

 Satoshi Kamiya

He was given the title of the world's hardest Origami with his Ryuji Dragon

http://www.wonko.info/365origami/?p=4143

This work took memorized me as a child. This piece of origami was given the world record of the world's most difficult origami. One other thing to note is that this is not made with any of the wet folding techniques, but rather curved and asymmetric creases. Another more surprising fact is that Satoshi claims he creates his origami by imagining a flat piece of paper and the creases that would be put on the paper instead of the model itself. I was in awe of learning that there was origami that excited in technicality and beauty compared to the basic ones that I only knew about.

He is what I believe to be a pure genius of origami, and his dragon brings back nostalgic memories.

The next blog post will be my introduction to using paper as a moulding tool, I hope to enjoy the process and enjoy paper as a medium for modelling.