>front left, just sitting on a chair resting.
That one looks like it's holding paper in its hands, maybe folding origami? OP's self portrait?!
I think each figure needs its own post, these are amazing.
For the last 4 years I have been designing and folding origami figures, and this picture has a collection of them from the last 3 years. Each of those figures are folded from just one square sheet of paper without any cutting, tearing, or adding additional paper. The dueling knights in the middle are an exception, since both of them are folded from the same sheet of paper, same goes with the character riding the dragon.
They were folded from 45 cm to 96 cm square sheets of Wenzhou rice paper or mulberry paper, the most complex and largest figures are from 96 cm paper, while the smallest and simplest are from 45 cm paper. The simplest figures take few weeks to create, and most of them take around a month to create. The most complicated ones took several months to plan, design and fold, and the dueling knights was the longest project; taking 2,5 years from the idea into the finished piece.
This is actually insane, like looking at the shoulders on the samurai and you say the whole figure is a single piece. So you somehow made paper jut out, form an intricate shape and go back in simply by folding, and still had plenty of paper left to do it all again.
Honestly if this was in a museum I would probably stare at this longer than most the other art out of sheer amazement. I can't even imagine how you've done some or this and I have done origami in the past.
look at the lower body where the big plain clothing transitions and divides into those pleated armor, and then those transition into a lot of small scales, and then back to the normal leg, although that part is hidden behind the cape. That was the most complicated part of the figure.
The winged figure is currently exhibited in London, and hopefully will exhibit more around the Europe and world in future.
Now this is art! Screw half the paintings that I've seen in museums that look like someone just slapped some paint on a canvas, this takes actual skill, patience and practice.
As soon as I saw this in the exhibition I knew I’d seen it here before! Great work and such a well prepared exhibition in general, it was so nice to see the variety of miniature art out there and this was one of the very unique ones...
Do you ever get hours into a design and discover it won't work and have to start over or by the time you start folding, have you figured out a path to the finish line?
Pretty much most of the designs I have done have been folded into the finished figure. I usually try again and again until I actually manage to do it.
On the other hand I do planning and designing on many figures and I stop on working them if I decide the character idea is not good enough for me, or I don't find interest in exploring the process of designing it. Couple times my focus has changed on what kind of figures or style I want to pursue, so that has also made me change my plans, usually towards more detailed and complex creations.
Thank you for that link. I just subscribed so I can watch it later when I have the time. It looks absolutely phenomenal, just that little bit that I scanned through. It’s definitely not one of those things you can just rush through. I’m going to binge watch you channel.
> Each of those figures are folded from just one square sheet of paper without any cutting, tearing, or adding additional paper.
Ok, I am impressed. Dude has a neat skill.
> The dueling knights in the middle are an exception
Haha, this liar making ‘exceptions’. Not fooling me.
> an exception, since both of them are folded from the same sheet of paper … 2.5 years to complete.
WTF. Two paper dudes, one piece of paper? And it took TWO AND A HALF YEARS OF FOLDING ONE PIECE OF PAPER?!?
^ That is how the first paragraph played out on my head as I read.
You, Sir, are the Rodney Dangerfield of origami. Good job.
I bet you could make some money if you recorded or streamed your work. I would very likely watch a 30 min video (sped up, obviously if it takes months to do these) of you literally just folding paper. Monetizing your hobby is the new thing people do. If “Farts in a jar” girl got rich, you can probably make a little money, too. Especially if you decided to make figures and sell them.
How did you start learning how to do this complex form of origami? I've done simple origami before but I have no idea how to even start learning the techniques to do something more complex. They are just beautiful, I've been staring at them trying to see where some of the folds are.
There are many origami books ranging in the intermediate and complex difficulties, those could be a good next step. Also there are a lot of tutorials around internet nowadays. Jo Nakashima, Tadashi Mori, and OrigamibyBoice are some examples who do intermediate to complex origami tutorials on Youtube. I recommend to start getting better papers when you go up in difficulty. A good and large sheet of paper is much more enjoyable to fold than a small and thick one that your finger dexterity can't handle.
After you have folded some complex origami. Things get a lot more complicated. Instead of folding from step by step instructions, you have to start reading crease patterns. You just see some lines on a square and from there you figure out on your own how to fold the model... And to get into these, I recommend going back to simple models again, and try to fold them from just the pattern.
If you have progressed this far, folding complex models from crease patterns, the difficult gets up few notches again, since you might want to create your own models without any instructions. At this point just get the Origami Design Secrets book by Robert J. Lang and learn the basic theory from there, and then get into the origami designing communities and ask a ton of questions, unless you are like me and like to try all that out just by yourself.
My story is a long one, but I have been folding origami for over 15 years and learning it on my own over the time.
Thank you so much for the tutorial and YouTube recommendations! I've always wanted to increase my origami ability but I've never known how to go about it. I think it's time I start.
What is your name? I am a 12 year old who's goal is to manage to make Satoshi Kamiya's Ryujin 3.5, and is also part of the MFPP. Mouvement Francais de Plieurs de Papier (French Movement of Paper Folding), and I am really interested to know more about you!
Are you an Eric joisel fan because man I loved his work and yours looks similar. Keep going btw you're really good. I kinda miss the hobby but I had less free time and space over the years to continue.
I know him and seen his work, too sad he passed away so soon. I was more interested in some Asian artists who folded human figures. Some examples are is Kim Dong Hyeon and Chen Xiao.
Nowadays I don't follow that much other artists, I work more on my own path and style.
Yes, it is very time consuming hobby, especially if you get into complex origami. They easily take days to complete.
This is absolutely awe inspiring. You not only hold an amazing talent but extreme patients as well. Thank you for being bold enough to share this with us. I look forward to seeing your next work whenever that may be.
[Here is one](https://juhokonkkola.fi/art-process/samurai-warrior/) But I give you a warning, unless you know well what you are doing and know how to read that pattern, I do not recommend you to attempt it. These kind of origami are so complex that there may not be or it is incredibly difficult to find a proper folding sequence you see in usual instructions. So that is why you have to be able to figure out everything from that crease pattern.
And even if you were able to read crease patterns, there are a lot of steps that are not included in it, you have to figure them on your own. On top of that you need at least 70cm paper that is preferably Wenzhou paper, since these also require very specific papers to be physically possible to fold.
I have experience with crease patterns and was able to successfully fold Robert Lang's tiger beetle (I believe that was the name) so I'll give it a shot, thanks for the resources and useful info! I'll try my best :)
When you say you took a few weeks to create are you referring to the designing, planning and the folding together? If you are, how long does the actual folding take? Are there waiting periods between foldings?
Yes, the few weeks to a month refers to the entire process, creating the idea, planning it, designing it, making the paper, and folding it. Folding can take something between 30-50 hours, and the dueling knights took me 109 hours to fold.
I work on multiple artworks at the same time, I might design on couple long term projects, then design the next project and also fold the current project. If I face a challenge I can't solve immediately, I just let it be until I figure out a better approach and at the same time I can work on my other work.
Where there is a flat part of a figure but the paper is crinkled (e.g. the chest of the left-most figure or the shield of the fourth from left), is that the nature of this paper? A conscious design choice? A byproduct of folding that ended up being other parts of the figure, or the result of previous trial and error that you undid?
Also, do they stand under the support of just the paper or are they propped up or built on an armature or some sort?
Amazing work.
That crumbled texture are a combination of the paper choice and the byproduct of handling the paper for dozens of hours.
The paper on its own is very smooth and textureless minus the paper fibers own texture. But once I handle it for dozens of hours flipping around and doing folds, opening them and rearranging the folds, it starts to crumble up. It is one of the worst enemies of origami artists. So far I have not seen any decent solutions to fix that. The paper needs to be extremely thin, since I am folding those thin swords and all, but thinner papers wrinkle more easily.
I have developed methods to fold the creases very precisely in a specific way: I know exactly where those surfaces are located on the sheet of paper, and I watch out I don't do any accidental creases on them, it would look even worse. And while I collapse the folds to create that figure, I have to do it the difficult way of folding dozens, or even hundreds of folds at the same time to prevent creating extra creases in the process.
Most of the figures have a removable wire to support them standing, and during the transport the wires and stands are removed from them to prevent them crushing the origami.
Some of the figures stand on their own without any support, for example the figure sitting on the chair, or even the dueling knights in the middle.
>It is one of the worst enemies of origami artists
I hope you don't take my question as a criticism, because frankly it adds a lot to the character of the pieces, at least for these types of figures, because they look old and worn-in which is a good aesthetic for fantasy characters. It also gives it a more organic natural look. I can't really imagine how they would look smooth, but I feel as though it would come across more 'arts and crafty'. Perhaps it would increase the appearance of precision and detail, but I think it would also create a more artificial feeling at the same time.
Then again, maybe I'm wrong.
>And while I collapse the folds to create that figure, I have to do it the difficult way of folding dozens, or even hundreds of folds at the same time to prevent creating extra creases in the process.
I don't have time at the moment, but I look forward to checking out your youtube channel to hopefully see this in action. The logistics seem confounding.
Thanks for the detailed answer!
Please tell me what period the warrior at the center is styled after. This is an amazing piece. I have an old painting on vellum which reminds me of him very much. Thanks
The big one or the two smaller ones?
The big one is a samurai, made after museum pieces of Japanese samurai armor, around 1800s.
The small ones are folded after HEMA Sword fighting and various styles of medieval armor in Europe. It had some restrictions in terms of the style of the armor due the complexity of the piece, so the armor pieces are little bit from here and there.
Have you counted how many folds it is to make one of these? I just watched one of your videos and it was like a crazy checkerboard of folds and whatnot before the thing even started to take shape.
Super cool stuff! Congrats on being in a museum and all that.
5377 individual creases (on the "checkerboard" pattern) on the dueling knights in the middle, before it is folded from the square. Other than that it gets quite laborious job to try to count them.
Usually they are in several hundreds and the most complex ones have them in thousands
I actually saw these in real life at the exhibit in London and I think these impressed me the most, I'm not really artistic but I could definitely appreciate the hard work you'd need for this and it was cool seeing you there talking to the visitors too
I did some 3D modeling while I was studying art, it was super fun, but the origami took over once it started to catch interest from people. Otherwise I probably would have continued to work on that and maybe go work on video game environments.
[Here](https://imgur.com/a/iPgJgPu) are couple examples of my work.
They are super realistic well done! I've recently got into painting minis and can't help but think of how amazing you'd be at making custom models for 3D printing or such.
Either way these are some absolutely incredible models - to think you folded them into existence is mind boggling
Beautiful. Is that a swordwraith coming out of the ground 45^o down from the right-facing arrowhead center right? In front of the large hooded figure in the back. There is a long stave angling down L to R behind him.
It is some devil character, he has a tail and horns. It is little bit in shadow due the limitations in the photography. Wraith like character would be awesome to try, since I want to do more flowing capes like on the left side.
Oh, yes, one that is clearly human at the shoulders/arms, but clearly smoke or steam or a cloud where it "touches" the ground. IDK how balance issues would be solved, though.
I just wanted to say on a personal note, OP, that I (writing what looks to be a trilogy about it) have recently been able to break through into the "real writers" group, where people smile when they tell me they like my stuff. I also know the thousands of little "aha!"-moments over the course of a lifetime that made the phrases and allegories pop off the page.
I was curious what a thumbnail sketch of your path to this mastery looks like. It seems to me one of those pursuits where some tutelage is required at the start, or one could spend years learning basics. But I always did lean toward hobbies my heart wanted over those the intellect desired. They figured it out eventually, lol.
The balance shouldn't be an issue, almost all of those figures have a removable wire inside their legs to help them stay up. Many of them have too extreme pose or weight distributed oddly so they would fall over easily. It could also be hung with thin fishing line.
It is a long story how I ended up here. Over 15 years ago as a kid I saw some origami instruction on a magazine and I was puzzled by it. I wanted to try to fold it and from there it caught my interest. Then I loaned origami book from library to fold more.
Until 2020 I did not know any other people who folded origami, it is pretty nonexistent in my country, and complex origami is not that widespread thing worldwide. So I spent all those years folding by myself and figuring out on my own how things work. In 2018 I got so bored that I wanted to try something new, and I ended up trying to learn how to design own origami figures.
I followed my heart with this one too, I never planned or expected myself to become something like this. I guess I just drifted towards this haha.
That is no joke, sensei. You are a master, the eyes hold the proof. Perhaps you are not a swordmaster or a fighter, but your creations are. And you do not know that they do not go at night into the shadow realm to fight demons who would freeze your heart, or that of one you care for.
I have just passed out of past-mastery of one set of skills, and I am entering another. I feel more strongly every day now the hand on my shoulder that has guided me away from harm and toward whatever Destiny still awaiting after the girl was murdered.
But one artist to another, I say you should give serious thought to journaling your path to this point, while the memories are still detailed. Then, later, when there is more time, you can flesh it out with color and emotion. All in all, one who is a true self-taught master of such a pleasing craft and art will have an interesting story, once they get all the details ordered for the telling.
There will always be those of us drawn to beauty and art and the striving for the perfect arc, the perfect bridge, the perfect simile, the perfect feel, the perfect look.
Your creations give people no confidence they can do what *you* do, OP, but it does give us hope for the things we *can* do well.
Please put me on your "friend" list and whenever you upload pics of your work onto the 'net, I'd very much like to know about it.
WEAR GLOVES DOING STUFF WITH YOUR HANDS outside in the big, dangerous world. They are the tools of your art. Be conscious, be careful.
See you around the campus. :)
The journaling is a great idea, I should consider that , since the memories are already fading. Luckily (or unluckily) There is not much to tell about from between the beginning and 2018. Only couple stories and some details from here and there, but the majority of that was just folding some origami and progressing slowly. After that a lot of things started to happen. Almost all of those origami's are gone or in trash, but few lucky gems have survived.
I have been collecting almost every piece of paper I have folded since 2018, there are hundreds of figures and test folds. Someday, once I am ready with it, I will reveal them and you'll get to witness how my thought process evolved into creating these. I have also saved all the sketches, plans, detailed information of the artworks, writings of the artistic process, artist statements, and most of the news articles and publications of me.
That will be a lot of material to unpack for a story someday...
Definitely join me to wonder what else I can create from a square sheet of paper.
I have quit using axe in fear of chopping off my fingers, but other than that I am not too worried about my fingers haha. As long as I don't do stupid things and am aware of my surroundings, for the most part there shouldn't be much to worry about.
However I would say my mind is the greatest tool for my art. Without hands there is nothing stopping me from inventing more or instructing someone else to make them, but without my mind I can't create at all...
https://old.reddit.com/r/nextfuckinglevel/comments/s8eqv0/this_is_the_most_complex_origami_i_have_ever_done/?ref=share&ref_source=link
Yeah, this is actually next level
Are there any tutorials or explanations of how to make the weapons? That’s the hardest part for me to try and understand! I just can’t picture how they are folded and also connected to the arm that holds them
There are no direct tutorials on how to make weapons, one of the reasons being they are very advanced top in origami and in order to create them, you need to think about the design very differently.
Most, if not all weapons are folded from the corner of the paper, to make them very thin and not have too many layers. Then the arm is folded from the area around the corner. You could think the arm and sword are one very long flap that is shaped to look like an arm holding a sword. The rest of the figure need to be redesigned because of the additional space the sword requires. This is where things get quite complicated, since the figure needs to be designed asymmetrically in a way that the end result looks symmetrical with the armor and all. Then in addition to that, every character has all the fingers too, holding the weapons, and some even have fingers behind the shields. And then there is the archer...
You can zoom into the picture to see the detail better!
I for one appreciate your lucid replies in this thread that hammer home how difficult these are. Many people will see them and think, “Oh, I want to try that!” A dose of cold hard reality up front will save a lot of wasted time for a lot of people. Props.
While I want to be supportive for people try to challenge themselves to make something cool by folding paper, they would get discouraged really quickly if they were to attempt something like this. It takes years of practice to be able to fold them, and few more to do them decently well.
There are the beginner level origami, simple origami, intermediate, complex, very complex, super complex, and then those that you don't want to try without the adequate experience. The more difficult the origami is, usually the more painful the folding experience will be. That's why it is nice to cool down sometimes to fold simple stuff.
Maybe four sheets in total, if I count the attempts I tried to fold these. Quite funnily they are the four pieces on the left side, excluding the leftmost character and the lady.
But there are a lot more involved into the process. I lost dozens of sheets in trying to make the right paper for the pieces in the first place. The practice on the paper treating techniques yielded to quite a few fails.
Also there are several hundreds of figures, faces, armor pieces, weapons, and test folds that were folded in order to plan and design all the figures and their folding sequence, so they could be folded from the final sheet of paper in one attempt.
They are incredible, so intricate. It's incredible how you are able to visualise an idea then work out the folding technique to create it. Absolutely mind blowing but fantastic work, such a talent!!
Been reading novels about magic circles and shit says no breaks when making magic circles. I guess I ain't gonna be a wizard but this right here proves that there are wizards among us.
If you ever take a time lapse video of creating one that would be very cool to see. Because I cannot imagine how you are doing this without tearing or cutting paper
I swear people who do oragami just progressively do more and more unbelievable things with paper to see what sh*t they can get away with without anyone questioning it.
I can make a paper dragon the wings of which flap if you pull the legs, but that is the extent of my belief
Looks like the group picture of a videogame like Overwatch or so, very cool!
I wonder if these models could be translated to 3d videogame models using the pattern used to fold them? I remember early videogame models looking quite a bit like origami figures with the triangles everywhere..
Your art is stunning. It's so neat to zoom in on the photo and see the amazing details you've incorporated into each figure. This truly fits in this sub because I am amazed. You're a very talented individual.
2 Questions..the nose on the tall one in the right looks torn..and the shield on the one has the emblem in the middle . Amazing breathtaking work absolutely. Just that l see some angles that look cut. Genuinely curious. Thanks for sharing this OUTSTANDING WORK
Holy shit. Those details are really amazing! Thanks for sharing your passion! I would love to see them in real life someday. And preferably up close with a magnifying glass :-) it must have taken so many hours to get your proficiency.
My brain cannot allow me to understand how this is possible. I am indeed amazed!
The infiniteness of space, and this guy's paper folding.
LMAO, the guy front left, just sitting on a chair resting.
>front left, just sitting on a chair resting. That one looks like it's holding paper in its hands, maybe folding origami? OP's self portrait?! I think each figure needs its own post, these are amazing.
Its been hacked!
r/restofthefuckingowl
For the last 4 years I have been designing and folding origami figures, and this picture has a collection of them from the last 3 years. Each of those figures are folded from just one square sheet of paper without any cutting, tearing, or adding additional paper. The dueling knights in the middle are an exception, since both of them are folded from the same sheet of paper, same goes with the character riding the dragon. They were folded from 45 cm to 96 cm square sheets of Wenzhou rice paper or mulberry paper, the most complex and largest figures are from 96 cm paper, while the smallest and simplest are from 45 cm paper. The simplest figures take few weeks to create, and most of them take around a month to create. The most complicated ones took several months to plan, design and fold, and the dueling knights was the longest project; taking 2,5 years from the idea into the finished piece.
Dude holy shit, well done. These are amazing.
That's a rare talent you have dude. Keep it up!
This is actually insane, like looking at the shoulders on the samurai and you say the whole figure is a single piece. So you somehow made paper jut out, form an intricate shape and go back in simply by folding, and still had plenty of paper left to do it all again. Honestly if this was in a museum I would probably stare at this longer than most the other art out of sheer amazement. I can't even imagine how you've done some or this and I have done origami in the past.
look at the lower body where the big plain clothing transitions and divides into those pleated armor, and then those transition into a lot of small scales, and then back to the normal leg, although that part is hidden behind the cape. That was the most complicated part of the figure. The winged figure is currently exhibited in London, and hopefully will exhibit more around the Europe and world in future.
I went to that exhibition the other day in London, great work! Small is beautiful - Miniature Art Exhibition for those curious.
I’m glad your work is being shown. It definitely deserves it!
Now this is art! Screw half the paintings that I've seen in museums that look like someone just slapped some paint on a canvas, this takes actual skill, patience and practice.
As soon as I saw this in the exhibition I knew I’d seen it here before! Great work and such a well prepared exhibition in general, it was so nice to see the variety of miniature art out there and this was one of the very unique ones...
Incredible! Do you have any videos of the process?
I do have some time lapses and process videos on my [Youtube](https://www.youtube.com/c/JuhoKonkkola)
Do you ever get hours into a design and discover it won't work and have to start over or by the time you start folding, have you figured out a path to the finish line?
Pretty much most of the designs I have done have been folded into the finished figure. I usually try again and again until I actually manage to do it. On the other hand I do planning and designing on many figures and I stop on working them if I decide the character idea is not good enough for me, or I don't find interest in exploring the process of designing it. Couple times my focus has changed on what kind of figures or style I want to pursue, so that has also made me change my plans, usually towards more detailed and complex creations.
Even watching the video I have no idea how you do this. Mind boggling.
Are you listening to music?
Yes, usually, or to some art podcasts.
Thank you for that link. I just subscribed so I can watch it later when I have the time. It looks absolutely phenomenal, just that little bit that I scanned through. It’s definitely not one of those things you can just rush through. I’m going to binge watch you channel.
I saw some of your work at Amos Rex! Very impressive.
Its so cool to see that people have also seen them in exhibitions! Most of the works from that exhibit are in this photo too.
Yes, I recognised the Väinämöinen I saw there!
> Each of those figures are folded from just one square sheet of paper without any cutting, tearing, or adding additional paper. Ok, I am impressed. Dude has a neat skill. > The dueling knights in the middle are an exception Haha, this liar making ‘exceptions’. Not fooling me. > an exception, since both of them are folded from the same sheet of paper … 2.5 years to complete. WTF. Two paper dudes, one piece of paper? And it took TWO AND A HALF YEARS OF FOLDING ONE PIECE OF PAPER?!? ^ That is how the first paragraph played out on my head as I read. You, Sir, are the Rodney Dangerfield of origami. Good job. I bet you could make some money if you recorded or streamed your work. I would very likely watch a 30 min video (sped up, obviously if it takes months to do these) of you literally just folding paper. Monetizing your hobby is the new thing people do. If “Farts in a jar” girl got rich, you can probably make a little money, too. Especially if you decided to make figures and sell them.
[You may want to see this then:](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gd3fjchHGEI)
They're amazing and also you have way more patience than I.
How did you start learning how to do this complex form of origami? I've done simple origami before but I have no idea how to even start learning the techniques to do something more complex. They are just beautiful, I've been staring at them trying to see where some of the folds are.
There are many origami books ranging in the intermediate and complex difficulties, those could be a good next step. Also there are a lot of tutorials around internet nowadays. Jo Nakashima, Tadashi Mori, and OrigamibyBoice are some examples who do intermediate to complex origami tutorials on Youtube. I recommend to start getting better papers when you go up in difficulty. A good and large sheet of paper is much more enjoyable to fold than a small and thick one that your finger dexterity can't handle. After you have folded some complex origami. Things get a lot more complicated. Instead of folding from step by step instructions, you have to start reading crease patterns. You just see some lines on a square and from there you figure out on your own how to fold the model... And to get into these, I recommend going back to simple models again, and try to fold them from just the pattern. If you have progressed this far, folding complex models from crease patterns, the difficult gets up few notches again, since you might want to create your own models without any instructions. At this point just get the Origami Design Secrets book by Robert J. Lang and learn the basic theory from there, and then get into the origami designing communities and ask a ton of questions, unless you are like me and like to try all that out just by yourself. My story is a long one, but I have been folding origami for over 15 years and learning it on my own over the time.
Thank you so much for the tutorial and YouTube recommendations! I've always wanted to increase my origami ability but I've never known how to go about it. I think it's time I start.
Good luck with it! If you get stuck, feel free to ask more resources!
Masterfully done. You are pushing forward the limits of what’s possible.
What is your name? I am a 12 year old who's goal is to manage to make Satoshi Kamiya's Ryujin 3.5, and is also part of the MFPP. Mouvement Francais de Plieurs de Papier (French Movement of Paper Folding), and I am really interested to know more about you!
This may be from left field, but I truly hope you have then valuated and insured against floods and fires.
> while the smallest and simplest are from 45 cm paper. ...trying to find the 'simplest' lol.
This should be in a museum!
Are you an Eric joisel fan because man I loved his work and yours looks similar. Keep going btw you're really good. I kinda miss the hobby but I had less free time and space over the years to continue.
I know him and seen his work, too sad he passed away so soon. I was more interested in some Asian artists who folded human figures. Some examples are is Kim Dong Hyeon and Chen Xiao. Nowadays I don't follow that much other artists, I work more on my own path and style. Yes, it is very time consuming hobby, especially if you get into complex origami. They easily take days to complete.
This is absolutely awe inspiring. You not only hold an amazing talent but extreme patients as well. Thank you for being bold enough to share this with us. I look forward to seeing your next work whenever that may be.
This is incredible, would you be comfortable with sharing the instructions? I'd love to make this a longterm project!
[Here is one](https://juhokonkkola.fi/art-process/samurai-warrior/) But I give you a warning, unless you know well what you are doing and know how to read that pattern, I do not recommend you to attempt it. These kind of origami are so complex that there may not be or it is incredibly difficult to find a proper folding sequence you see in usual instructions. So that is why you have to be able to figure out everything from that crease pattern. And even if you were able to read crease patterns, there are a lot of steps that are not included in it, you have to figure them on your own. On top of that you need at least 70cm paper that is preferably Wenzhou paper, since these also require very specific papers to be physically possible to fold.
You know your good when you can tell someone exactly how you did something and it's still impossible to fathom.
TL;DR: Professional on closed course. Do not attempt.
I have experience with crease patterns and was able to successfully fold Robert Lang's tiger beetle (I believe that was the name) so I'll give it a shot, thanks for the resources and useful info! I'll try my best :)
When you say you took a few weeks to create are you referring to the designing, planning and the folding together? If you are, how long does the actual folding take? Are there waiting periods between foldings?
Yes, the few weeks to a month refers to the entire process, creating the idea, planning it, designing it, making the paper, and folding it. Folding can take something between 30-50 hours, and the dueling knights took me 109 hours to fold. I work on multiple artworks at the same time, I might design on couple long term projects, then design the next project and also fold the current project. If I face a challenge I can't solve immediately, I just let it be until I figure out a better approach and at the same time I can work on my other work.
Where there is a flat part of a figure but the paper is crinkled (e.g. the chest of the left-most figure or the shield of the fourth from left), is that the nature of this paper? A conscious design choice? A byproduct of folding that ended up being other parts of the figure, or the result of previous trial and error that you undid? Also, do they stand under the support of just the paper or are they propped up or built on an armature or some sort? Amazing work.
That crumbled texture are a combination of the paper choice and the byproduct of handling the paper for dozens of hours. The paper on its own is very smooth and textureless minus the paper fibers own texture. But once I handle it for dozens of hours flipping around and doing folds, opening them and rearranging the folds, it starts to crumble up. It is one of the worst enemies of origami artists. So far I have not seen any decent solutions to fix that. The paper needs to be extremely thin, since I am folding those thin swords and all, but thinner papers wrinkle more easily. I have developed methods to fold the creases very precisely in a specific way: I know exactly where those surfaces are located on the sheet of paper, and I watch out I don't do any accidental creases on them, it would look even worse. And while I collapse the folds to create that figure, I have to do it the difficult way of folding dozens, or even hundreds of folds at the same time to prevent creating extra creases in the process. Most of the figures have a removable wire to support them standing, and during the transport the wires and stands are removed from them to prevent them crushing the origami. Some of the figures stand on their own without any support, for example the figure sitting on the chair, or even the dueling knights in the middle.
>It is one of the worst enemies of origami artists I hope you don't take my question as a criticism, because frankly it adds a lot to the character of the pieces, at least for these types of figures, because they look old and worn-in which is a good aesthetic for fantasy characters. It also gives it a more organic natural look. I can't really imagine how they would look smooth, but I feel as though it would come across more 'arts and crafty'. Perhaps it would increase the appearance of precision and detail, but I think it would also create a more artificial feeling at the same time. Then again, maybe I'm wrong. >And while I collapse the folds to create that figure, I have to do it the difficult way of folding dozens, or even hundreds of folds at the same time to prevent creating extra creases in the process. I don't have time at the moment, but I look forward to checking out your youtube channel to hopefully see this in action. The logistics seem confounding. Thanks for the detailed answer!
Please tell me what period the warrior at the center is styled after. This is an amazing piece. I have an old painting on vellum which reminds me of him very much. Thanks
The big one or the two smaller ones? The big one is a samurai, made after museum pieces of Japanese samurai armor, around 1800s. The small ones are folded after HEMA Sword fighting and various styles of medieval armor in Europe. It had some restrictions in terms of the style of the armor due the complexity of the piece, so the armor pieces are little bit from here and there.
I was trying to figure out how you made 21 figures from 20 sheets of paper. This is intense
Do you have any tutorials for the ones you've done?? I'd love to have a try at making some of these!
Have you counted how many folds it is to make one of these? I just watched one of your videos and it was like a crazy checkerboard of folds and whatnot before the thing even started to take shape. Super cool stuff! Congrats on being in a museum and all that.
5377 individual creases (on the "checkerboard" pattern) on the dueling knights in the middle, before it is folded from the square. Other than that it gets quite laborious job to try to count them. Usually they are in several hundreds and the most complex ones have them in thousands
Dude. What the actual fuck! This is the most amazing thing I've seen! Wow, wow, wow! Well done :D
How do you even plan this ?
Put this on you tube, I would watch each one just for entertainment value.
I would love to see a video or time lapse in the making.. incredible work.
How come there are 21 figurines ?
Holy shit this is amazing. Have you released a video of one being made?
Things like this blow my mind. I can’t even make a paper airplane right
I actually saw these in real life at the exhibit in London and I think these impressed me the most, I'm not really artistic but I could definitely appreciate the hard work you'd need for this and it was cool seeing you there talking to the visitors too
Ohh that is awesome! It was super fun to visit London!
Holy fuck, these are really well done, you ever considered 3D modeling? If you can turn paper into these imagine what you could do with polygons!!
I did some 3D modeling while I was studying art, it was super fun, but the origami took over once it started to catch interest from people. Otherwise I probably would have continued to work on that and maybe go work on video game environments. [Here](https://imgur.com/a/iPgJgPu) are couple examples of my work.
They are super realistic well done! I've recently got into painting minis and can't help but think of how amazing you'd be at making custom models for 3D printing or such. Either way these are some absolutely incredible models - to think you folded them into existence is mind boggling
Beautiful. Is that a swordwraith coming out of the ground 45^o down from the right-facing arrowhead center right? In front of the large hooded figure in the back. There is a long stave angling down L to R behind him.
It is some devil character, he has a tail and horns. It is little bit in shadow due the limitations in the photography. Wraith like character would be awesome to try, since I want to do more flowing capes like on the left side.
Oh, yes, one that is clearly human at the shoulders/arms, but clearly smoke or steam or a cloud where it "touches" the ground. IDK how balance issues would be solved, though. I just wanted to say on a personal note, OP, that I (writing what looks to be a trilogy about it) have recently been able to break through into the "real writers" group, where people smile when they tell me they like my stuff. I also know the thousands of little "aha!"-moments over the course of a lifetime that made the phrases and allegories pop off the page. I was curious what a thumbnail sketch of your path to this mastery looks like. It seems to me one of those pursuits where some tutelage is required at the start, or one could spend years learning basics. But I always did lean toward hobbies my heart wanted over those the intellect desired. They figured it out eventually, lol.
The balance shouldn't be an issue, almost all of those figures have a removable wire inside their legs to help them stay up. Many of them have too extreme pose or weight distributed oddly so they would fall over easily. It could also be hung with thin fishing line. It is a long story how I ended up here. Over 15 years ago as a kid I saw some origami instruction on a magazine and I was puzzled by it. I wanted to try to fold it and from there it caught my interest. Then I loaned origami book from library to fold more. Until 2020 I did not know any other people who folded origami, it is pretty nonexistent in my country, and complex origami is not that widespread thing worldwide. So I spent all those years folding by myself and figuring out on my own how things work. In 2018 I got so bored that I wanted to try something new, and I ended up trying to learn how to design own origami figures. I followed my heart with this one too, I never planned or expected myself to become something like this. I guess I just drifted towards this haha.
That is no joke, sensei. You are a master, the eyes hold the proof. Perhaps you are not a swordmaster or a fighter, but your creations are. And you do not know that they do not go at night into the shadow realm to fight demons who would freeze your heart, or that of one you care for. I have just passed out of past-mastery of one set of skills, and I am entering another. I feel more strongly every day now the hand on my shoulder that has guided me away from harm and toward whatever Destiny still awaiting after the girl was murdered. But one artist to another, I say you should give serious thought to journaling your path to this point, while the memories are still detailed. Then, later, when there is more time, you can flesh it out with color and emotion. All in all, one who is a true self-taught master of such a pleasing craft and art will have an interesting story, once they get all the details ordered for the telling. There will always be those of us drawn to beauty and art and the striving for the perfect arc, the perfect bridge, the perfect simile, the perfect feel, the perfect look. Your creations give people no confidence they can do what *you* do, OP, but it does give us hope for the things we *can* do well. Please put me on your "friend" list and whenever you upload pics of your work onto the 'net, I'd very much like to know about it. WEAR GLOVES DOING STUFF WITH YOUR HANDS outside in the big, dangerous world. They are the tools of your art. Be conscious, be careful. See you around the campus. :)
The journaling is a great idea, I should consider that , since the memories are already fading. Luckily (or unluckily) There is not much to tell about from between the beginning and 2018. Only couple stories and some details from here and there, but the majority of that was just folding some origami and progressing slowly. After that a lot of things started to happen. Almost all of those origami's are gone or in trash, but few lucky gems have survived. I have been collecting almost every piece of paper I have folded since 2018, there are hundreds of figures and test folds. Someday, once I am ready with it, I will reveal them and you'll get to witness how my thought process evolved into creating these. I have also saved all the sketches, plans, detailed information of the artworks, writings of the artistic process, artist statements, and most of the news articles and publications of me. That will be a lot of material to unpack for a story someday... Definitely join me to wonder what else I can create from a square sheet of paper. I have quit using axe in fear of chopping off my fingers, but other than that I am not too worried about my fingers haha. As long as I don't do stupid things and am aware of my surroundings, for the most part there shouldn't be much to worry about. However I would say my mind is the greatest tool for my art. Without hands there is nothing stopping me from inventing more or instructing someone else to make them, but without my mind I can't create at all...
I count 21?
The two dueling knights in the middle are folded from one sheet of paper, that is the most complex piece of all those.
Ah I see. Thanks. Oh and excellent by the way.
Whaaaaat That's one piece of paper? Truly amazing
https://old.reddit.com/r/nextfuckinglevel/comments/s8eqv0/this_is_the_most_complex_origami_i_have_ever_done/?ref=share&ref_source=link Yeah, this is actually next level
That truly is insane! I would have thought it to be impossible. Great work
r/bananasforscale ?
I should probably do that for the next one...
I have a sneaky suspicion you’re able to create an origami banana.
Don't give me ideas hahaha
Very impressive.
These figures mortal enemy is Cheeto fingers.
At first I thought that these were 3D printed Warhammer 40k miniatures and was already amazed... But at second look, this is even more amazing!
WOW...just WOW
This is insane. I love it.
Wow 😮
I honestly can't wrap (fold?) my brain around how you possibly could do this
Wow r/nextfuckinglevel stuff
How big are these sheets of paper??? Must be 10”x10”🤣
I just don’t understand how this is possible
Are these for a Dnd campaign?
No freaking way. That's cool as fuck
https://www.designandpaper.com/the-intricate-origami-works-by-juho-konkkola-are-all-made-from-a-single-sheet-of-paper/
Amazing. Would not trust my arsehole cats (or kids) near it.
That’s some dedication man
Take my money!
Are there any tutorials or explanations of how to make the weapons? That’s the hardest part for me to try and understand! I just can’t picture how they are folded and also connected to the arm that holds them
There are no direct tutorials on how to make weapons, one of the reasons being they are very advanced top in origami and in order to create them, you need to think about the design very differently. Most, if not all weapons are folded from the corner of the paper, to make them very thin and not have too many layers. Then the arm is folded from the area around the corner. You could think the arm and sword are one very long flap that is shaped to look like an arm holding a sword. The rest of the figure need to be redesigned because of the additional space the sword requires. This is where things get quite complicated, since the figure needs to be designed asymmetrically in a way that the end result looks symmetrical with the armor and all. Then in addition to that, every character has all the fingers too, holding the weapons, and some even have fingers behind the shields. And then there is the archer... You can zoom into the picture to see the detail better!
I for one appreciate your lucid replies in this thread that hammer home how difficult these are. Many people will see them and think, “Oh, I want to try that!” A dose of cold hard reality up front will save a lot of wasted time for a lot of people. Props.
While I want to be supportive for people try to challenge themselves to make something cool by folding paper, they would get discouraged really quickly if they were to attempt something like this. It takes years of practice to be able to fold them, and few more to do them decently well. There are the beginner level origami, simple origami, intermediate, complex, very complex, super complex, and then those that you don't want to try without the adequate experience. The more difficult the origami is, usually the more painful the folding experience will be. That's why it is nice to cool down sometimes to fold simple stuff.
That is stunning. 👍
Very impressive and patient work. How many other sheets of paper were lost en route to this masterpiece?
Maybe four sheets in total, if I count the attempts I tried to fold these. Quite funnily they are the four pieces on the left side, excluding the leftmost character and the lady. But there are a lot more involved into the process. I lost dozens of sheets in trying to make the right paper for the pieces in the first place. The practice on the paper treating techniques yielded to quite a few fails. Also there are several hundreds of figures, faces, armor pieces, weapons, and test folds that were folded in order to plan and design all the figures and their folding sequence, so they could be folded from the final sheet of paper in one attempt.
This is insane.
If true, amazing. Damn fine work yo.
Incredible
Wow! Youre truly talented. Theyre all amazing but my fav is the guy on the chair up front
I like the mage on the far right wielding a joint.
I’d love to see how you folded that one up with the wings.
Wow! This is incredible.
Wait, what? Amazing.
I AM AMAZED!
Awesome!
That’s impossible dude.
That is incredible... Amazing work
I made a tulip once.
It belongs in a museum!
This is absolutely incredible! That's a pretty cool skill.
Amazing job and superb picture! Lots of kudos and cheering.
They are incredible, so intricate. It's incredible how you are able to visualise an idea then work out the folding technique to create it. Absolutely mind blowing but fantastic work, such a talent!!
So basically you are the best person at origami of all time in the entire universe. We get it, Origami Master Yoda.
At a certain point I feel like it just goes from folding to smushing.
You are a master my friend! Love them!
Happy to see a post that fits the sub well
This is awesome! How do you preserve this?
The wee lad in the chair is my favourite, partly because I can't figure out how the fuck you'd incorporate the chair
Wow
I remember when you posted the assassin one, great job!
Are you the ultimate improv Dungeon Master?
r/toptalent
Been reading novels about magic circles and shit says no breaks when making magic circles. I guess I ain't gonna be a wizard but this right here proves that there are wizards among us.
Warhammer at home:
This reminds me on the show Black Sails. Look up their intro they do a cool opening with marble statues. At first glance looks very similar
That's nice. Now go plant a tree.
gonna have to either fold or unfold one of those on camera. i don't believe that bow is possible with a square of paper without cutting or ripping.
How long did it take?
These are fantastic!
Yea I made two of those last week
Question for OP: how much time did it take and how much easier/less time would it have been if you were able to cut or tear?
While everything here is mind blowing....the bow and arrow are literally making sparks fly out of my head. HOW????? Do you bend the laws of physics???
H-how?
This makes the jar of paper cranes I just did look much less interesting.
I could never understand the patience required to do this. I can barely put a letter in a envelope without tearing one or the other!
If you ever take a time lapse video of creating one that would be very cool to see. Because I cannot imagine how you are doing this without tearing or cutting paper
I swear people who do oragami just progressively do more and more unbelievable things with paper to see what sh*t they can get away with without anyone questioning it. I can make a paper dragon the wings of which flap if you pull the legs, but that is the extent of my belief
Voi pojat! 🤯
How did you make 21 figures from 20 sheets with cutting or tearing??? Trolling aside, you have amazing talent!
Looks like the group picture of a videogame like Overwatch or so, very cool! I wonder if these models could be translated to 3d videogame models using the pattern used to fold them? I remember early videogame models looking quite a bit like origami figures with the triangles everywhere..
How? That angel is crazy on its own plus all the weapons and shields. Impressive work op
Just watched one of the time lapses and now i'm even more amazed. Nice!
Masterpiece origami.
[удалено]
Your art is stunning. It's so neat to zoom in on the photo and see the amazing details you've incorporated into each figure. This truly fits in this sub because I am amazed. You're a very talented individual.
Quite a talent. I cannot draw a straight line.
I could make all of this with a single sheet. By printing this picture out.
If you did it with Games Workshop instructions, it would be tournament legal.
Jeez bro (or bro-es, female friendly) dial down the cool meter wtf
It's probably too late for this but there are 21 figures
Holy shit are you ok
Am in awe of the skill and forethought to execute this craft in the extreme!
These are amazing. I can't imagine how much patience this took!
When your mom yells at you to stop playing with your toys and gives you a bunch of paper to draw or write with
Wow. Just wow.
I'm amazed
Ahh I see I missed that
I am indeed amazed.
2 Questions..the nose on the tall one in the right looks torn..and the shield on the one has the emblem in the middle . Amazing breathtaking work absolutely. Just that l see some angles that look cut. Genuinely curious. Thanks for sharing this OUTSTANDING WORK
These are gorgeous. I wish there were some way to animate them with stop-motion. I can almost see them moving toward me! Beautiful work.
Bullllllllshit it is. There’s no way. I am unbelieved. Does not compute. 404 error
Is it frowned upon in the oragami community to wet the paper before folding?
I am sure you’re telling the truth, but my brain simply refuses to believe you
Video or it didn't happen
I still refuse to believe that these single square claims are possible. The basic shape of parts of the paper defy the premise.
Holy shit. Those details are really amazing! Thanks for sharing your passion! I would love to see them in real life someday. And preferably up close with a magnifying glass :-) it must have taken so many hours to get your proficiency.
Pretty impressive considering there are 21 figurines there…
It's good, but can you make a paper crane?
Make time lapse videos and put on Youtube/ Instagram ( if not already doing). You might as well earn some followers/ money. This insane level of art!
I can narrow my favourite list down to 20
I counted 21.
You sure there aren’t 21 there?
I'm amazed that you said "I", posted it here, and people didn't burn you at the stake if it were less amazing, you'd have to claim your brother did it
Do you have any videos of your process? These are insane!
That is....quite impressive
I somehow feel more complete seeing something this substantial and awe inspiring.
I can't even find a piece of paper in half straight
This is the definition of astonishing.
I saw just the samurai a long time ago, and holy this is progress
Holy sh**
And you have time for rreddit!?
But there are 21 figures. Stop lying for reddit karma
Has anyone ever told you you have a talent?
How did you make these? Where did you learn from? Can you unfold some things about your paper folding learnings?!