Origami: Octopus


An octopus made of paper

Octopus, by Sipho Mabona.  It’s about 2 inches in diameter.

This model is a foray into “one-piece” origami.  Or at least, I like to think of it that way because I usually use multiple pieces of paper.  More specifically, this is the kind of advanced origami where they no longer give you instructions.  Instead, they simply show a square with all the folds (a “crease pattern”).  Check out the image below the cut.

crease pattern for an octopus

This image is literally the only instruction provided.

The reason I picked this model is it looked particularly simple.  I can’t fold anything too complex without larger paper.

Although what gets me is not the folding, but the “molding”.  After you fold it, you’re supposed to poke and prod it into the right shape, and basically no one can explain how to do it right.  The instructions have a cartoon image of the final product, and it looks better than mine but let’s not dwell on the comparison.

Okay, I lied, I also picked the model in hopes of appeasing the cephalopod gods.

Comments

  1. kestrel says

    Oooh I have to try that!

    Normally I fold dollar bills. If I am folding regular paper I like folding boxes. But the octopus looks really neat and it’s interesting there are *no* instructions! Yours turned out great!

  2. says

    @kestrel,
    If you’re interested in trying this one, I suggest first starting with the “hypar” (you can look that up). The octopus is basically 4 hypars chained together.

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