The Best Origami Fish and Sea Creatures from 2018

We're back! I've been super busy over the past several months with work and family stuff which is why I haven't done any work on the site in a while. I've got a bit of time again so I'm going to try to finish up this Best Origami of 2018 feature hopefully before the end of 2019...

I've got the winners of the past categories all saved and will be announcing the winners once all the categories are done and voted for.

Also, to make up for the lack of activity I'm going to be giving away two copies of Origami Design Secrets by Robert J. Lang to the people signed up for my newsletter. You can find the link to sign up for that at the bottom of the site. I'll be sending out an email soon with instructions on how to increase your odds of winning.

So with that out of the way let's get started and check out the best fish and sea creatures that I saw during 2018. You can vote for your favourite at the end of the post and voting will be open for 2 weeks until September 4th just like the other categories.

Kei Watanabe designed a ton of fantastic fish in 2018 and we'll start things off with amazing life-like chum salmon.

1) Chum Salmon, Designed and Folded by Kei Watanabe

Instructions not available

Winston is another amazing designer who's a master at creating fish designs. Here is a fantastic Humphead Parrotfish and if you look up pictures of the actual animal you'll see how perfect this paper version is.

2) Humphead Parrotfish, Designed and Folded by Winston

Instructions not available

Next we have this excellent octopus that's all folded from a single square of paper. I'm quite impressed how you can get 8 legs out of that and this model is folded beautifully.

3) Octopus, Designed by Yojiro Sakai and folded by Hiroaki Kobayashi

Instructions not available

Here's another incredibly life-like fish design from Kei Watnabe. He did design quite a few fish in 2018 and I had to pick a bunch of them for this post. I'll let you all vote on which one you think is the best.

4) Japanese Sea Bass, Designed and Folded by Kei Watanabe

Instructions not available

I also had to featured several amazing fish designs from Winston as well. It was too difficult narrowing it down to just one or two. Here's a Threadfin Butterflyfish that looks exactly like the real thing even down to the colour changes in the design.

5) Threadfin Butterfly Fish, Designed and Folded by Winston

Instructions not available

This is an absolutely beautiful photo of a beautifully folded clown fish.

6) Clown Fish, Designed by Yoo Tae Yong and Folded by Adriano Davanzo

Diagrams available in Origami Pro #4 - World Ocean Origami

A not so exciting fish in real life but this paper version is incredible and so life-like.

7) Pacific Bluefin Tuna, Designed and Folded by Kei Watanabe

Instructions not available

This is a pretty cool and a little bit ominous looking Hatchetfish. The photo here definitely captures the deep-sea nature of this fish and I really like the slightly 3-dimensional mouth.

8) Hatchetfish, Designed by 涂开明 and Folded by CaptainMoon

Instructions not avaialable

Another incredibly life-like design from Kei Watanabe. I really love how soft this fish looks and the rock in the photo is a really nice touch.

9) Japanese Fluvial Sculpin, Designed and Folded by Kei Watanabe

Instructions not available

And here's another super realistic looking design  from Winston of an Atlantic Cod.

10) Atlantic Cod, Designed and Folded by Winston

Instructions not available

This goldfish might not be as complicated as some of the other designs here but it's definitely one of the prettiest fish I saw in 2018.

11) Goldfish, Designed by Ta Trung Dong and Folded by Agnieska (Agne) Mackonyte

Diagrams available in the 22nd Tanteidan Convention book

This is kind of an uglier looking fish but the amount of detail that went into this paper version is very impressive.

12) Inimicus Japonicus, Designed and Folded by Kei Watanabe

Instructions not available

Nguyễn Ngọc Vũ's shark design is probably the best shark design I've seen. This version looks amazing. It's expertly folded, especially all those individual teeth and I really love the wave and how it adds a touch of bright colour to the overall photo.

13) White Shark, Designed by Nguyễn Ngọc Vũ and Folded by Nguyen Nam Son

Diagrams available in VOG 2: Origami.vn

Here's another gorgeous goldfish design that, like the previous model, is also from Vietnam.

14) Goldfish, Designed and Folded by Phạm Hoàng Tuấn

Diagrams available from Phạm Hoàng Tuấn's Etsy Shop

I've got one more awesome design from Winston for this post, this time of something a bit different, a stingray. I really like how organic and "floaty" this looks.

15) Stingray, Designed and Folded by Winston

Instructions not available

Here's another fantastic butterfly fish design, kind of different this time but again with a really great colour change.

16) Butterfly Fish, Designed by Red Paper and Folded by Nicolas Terry

Diagrams available in Pure Origami by Red Paper

Next is this cute little pair of orcas. The design is excellent and I really like how each one is folded slightly differently so they look like they have slightly different personalities and are in different positions of swimming.

17) Orcas, Designed and Folded by J.W Park

Instructions not available

Satoshi Kamiya probably has the most famous octopus design and this version looks fantastic.

18) Octopus, Designed by Satoshi Kamiya and Folded by Kim Ju Hyun

VIdeo instructions available from Mariano Zavala B.'s YouTube Channel

Closing things out for this post we have one more pair of super life-like fish from Kei Watanabe.

19) Opsariichthys Platypus, Designed and Folded by Kei Watanabe

Instructions not available

Which one of these do you think is the best origami fish or sea creature of 2018? Vote Below!

Feel free to vote for your own model and to encourage other people to vote as well. Voting will be open for 2 weeks and close on September 4th.

by Peter

The Best Mythological Origami Creations of 2018

We're back with the next installment of the best origami of 2018 this time featuring mythological creatures, beings, etc. All of these images were uploaded to the Internet during 2018 which was pretty much the major criteria for their selection.

I picked my favourite creations and you can vote for which one you think is the best at the end of this post. Voting will be open for two weeks until Monday March 11, 2019.

Let's get started!

1) Yebisu, Designed and Folded by Kei Watanabe

Yebisu is one of the Seven Lucky Gods from Japanese mythology and this super expressive model is folded from a single sheet of paper! I love the facial expression as well as that fishing rod.

Instructions not available

2) Yatagarasu, Designed by Satoshi Kamiya and Folded by Ji Woo Han

Yatagarasu is a 3-legged crow also from Japanese mythology. This design by Satoshi Kamiya is pretty popular but this is easily the cleanest and best looking fold of this model I've ever seen. The three feet and claws look fantastic and I love the pose here as well.

Diagrams available in Tanteidan Magazine #157

3) Unicorn, Designed and Folded by Daniel Chang

Here we have a fantastic unicorn by Daniel Chang. It's all folded from a single square of paper, the overall shapes of this model as well as the post are excellent.

Instructions not available

4) Scaled Winged Kirin, Designed by Satoshi Kamiya, Folded and Modified by Nguyen Nam Son

This model is absolutely incredible. It's folded from a single 80cm x 80cm square of paper and must have taken forever to fold all the individual scales which aren't part of the original design. The head is probably my favourite part about this model but the wings, tail, legs, body and whole thing looks incredible.

Instructions not available

5) Kyubi (Nine-Tailed Fox), Designed and Folded by Quentin Trollip

Quentin Trollip used his fantastic animal designing skills to design this great little nine-tailed fox, another creature from Japanese mythology. It's folded from a single square of paper and I really love the colour changes in the design, especially on the head.

Instructions not available

6) Ghost, Designed by Oriol Esteve and Folded by Terry Nicolas

With this model Terry Nicolas took Oriol Esteve's kind of cute looking ghost and tried to make it look a bit more scary. He added a nose since cute ghosts don't have noses, this led to freeing some hidden flaps of paper which became a vampire cape. Then he added claws, reversed the 3D belly which put it into a more frightening pose and finished it up by giving it a more snake-like tail.

Diagrams for the original design can be found in Stop Thinking - Start Folding!

7) God of Thunder, Designed by Hojyo Takashi and Folded by Vít Masopust

I've always loved this model of the thunder god Raijin from Japanese mythology and it's folded absolutely beautifully here. It's all from one 60cm x 60cm square of paper and I have no idea how you can make a ring around the head like that.

Video instructions available from Mariano Zavala B.'s YouTube channel

8) Cerberus, Designed by Satoshi Kamiya and Folded by Maxi Purewal

This is a fantastic, beautiful and clean fold of Satoshi Kamiya's excellent design of Cerberus, the 3-headed dog creature from Greek mythology that guards the gates to Hades.

Diagrams available in Works of Satoshi Kamiya 2, 2002 – 2009

9) Yatagarasu, Designed and Folded by Kei Watanabe

Kei Watanabe also designed an amazing and super complicated Yatagarasu model. Everything about this is super impressive.

Instructions not available

10) Hell Hound, Designed and Folded by Choi Ju Young

I really like this Hell Hound design, especially the head. The paper used here is great and I also quite like how it almost looks like there are flames on the back.

Instructions not available

11) Winged Kirin, Designed by Satoshi Kamiya and Folded by Kim Ju Hyun

Here's Satoshi Kamiya's original Winged Kirin design. It's folded absolutely beautifully and looks super majestic the way it's posed here.

Instructions not available

12) Kirins, Designed by Li Changqi and Satoshi Kamiya and both Folded by Icarus Zhao

There are two more incredible kirin designs, this time without wings but with scales. The yellow one is a redesign of Satoshi Kamiya's crazy Ryujin and the red one is designed by Li Chanqi. Absolutely beautiful work here, they both look incredible.

Instructions not available

13) The Divine Boar Inoshishigami, Designed by Satoshi Kamiya and Folded by Reaper

There are a lot of Japanese mythology themed models in this post. This is the Divine Boar Inoshishigami and this is probably the best fold I've ever seen of this model. The head looks really awesome, especially the eye.

Diagrams available in Works of Satoshi Kamiya 1995-2003

14) Pegasus b3.0, Designed by Satoshi Kamiya and Folded by Jan Groot

Here's an absolutely beautiful origami Pegasus. I love how it looks like it's about to start running.

Crease pattern available from folders.jp

15) Little Devil/Devil Fork, Designed and Folded by Hiroaki Kobayashi

Hiroaki Kobayashi designed this fantastic group of little paper devils. Each one of them is made from a single square of paper and the fork itself though is a separate square of paper. He also made excellent video tutorials so you can fold these yourself.

Video instructions for the Little Devil are available from Hiroaki Kobayashi's YouTube channel

Video instructions for the Devil Fork are available from Hiroaki Kobayashi's YouTube channel

16) Basilisk, Designed by Bodo Haag and Folded by Boice Wong

This is an absolutely beautiful basilisk. The design is fantastic, it's expertly folded and the paper used here looks absolutely beautiful, almost like it's carved from some kind of turquoise stone.

Crease pattern available from Bodo Haag's Flickr

17) Devil, Designed and Folded by Ju Hyeong Kim

This model looks pretty amazing and it's full of details from individually folded abs to a very detailed face. This is an absolutely amazing design!

Instructions not available

Which one of these do you think is the best mythological origami creation of 2018? Vote below!

Voting will be open until Monday March 11, 2019. Feel free to vote for your own model and to encourage other people to vote for it as well!

Voting is now closed.

by Peter

The Best Origami Reptiles and Amphibians of 2018

In today's post we're going to take a look at the best origami reptiles and amphibians. This includes any sort of lizard, reptile or dinosaur as well as amphibians like frogs.

Voting is still open for the Best Origami Person of 2018 and the Best Origami Bird of 2018 so check those out if you haven't already.

You can vote for what you think is the best origami reptile or amphibian here until Friday February 22, 2019.

Let's begin!

1) Tree Frog, Designed by Satoshi Kamiya and Folded by Ji Woo Han

This is easily one of the best frogs I've seen and probably the best version of Satoshi Kamiya's tree frog design I've seen. I love the face and also quite like the paper used here.

It took 5 hours to fold this frog.

Diagrams available in Works of Satoshi Kamiya 2 - 2002-2009

2) Gecko, Designed and Folded by Chris Heynen

This gecko is definitely one of the best lizard designs I've seen out there. The shaping here makes it look super realistic as well.

Instructions not available

3) Green Turtle, Designed by Jang Yong Ik and Folded by CaptainMoon

Easily one of the most beautiful looking turtles out there. The folding work is fantastic and the paper used here makes it look extra gorgeous.

Diagrams available in Origami Pro #4

4) Spinosaurus, Designed by Satoshi Kamiya and Folded by Mariano Zavala B.

An absolutely fantastic rendition of Satoshi Kamiya's Spinosaurus. I love the claws on the feet (of course) the fin along the back and I really like the paper here too.

As an added bonus Mariano Zavala B. made a fantastic YouTube tutorial for this model as well.

Video instructions available from Mariano Zavala B.'s YouTube channel

5) Barosaurus, Designed by Satoshi Kamiya and Folded by Maxi Purewal

Here we have an awesome pair of Barosaurs (I think that's how you pluralize that...). One is folded from a 32 x 32cm square of paper and the other from a 24 x  24cm square. The smaller one uses thicker paper and was harder to fold but they both look fantastic.

Diagrams available in Works of Satoshi Kamiya 1995-2003

6) Japanese Giant Salamander, Designed and Folded by Kei Watanabe

I don't think I've ever seen an origami salamander before and this one is quite excellent.

Instructions not available

7) Yum, Designed and Folded by Kevin Hutson

This is a really cool design. Kevin Hutson started out trying to design a frog catching a fly but had too much paper over after the first attempt which gave him the idea of adding the lily pad. That means that this whole model is folded from a single 22 x 22 inch square of paper!

While shaping the model he accidentally dropped it into a bowl of methycellulose but fortunately managed to salvage it.

Instructions not available

8) Glass Frog, Designed and Folded by Travis Nolan

Travis Nolan designed a pretty amazing frog fro the IOIO 2018 contest. Looking at the first image it looks like a fairly normal frog but if you look at the next one and see how it looks from underneath you'll definitely be impressed!

It's folded from a 23 x 23 inch of paper with no cuts or glue. The frog itself is green and the organs are white which is pretty awesome.

And believe it or not this is an actual real animal found in South America. It really does have transparent skin underneath so you can see its organs.

Instructions not available

9) Gigantosaurus, Designed by Shuki Kato and Folded by Ji Woo Han

This is a fantastic model and Ji Woo Han did an amazing job here. I really love all the individually folded teeth and the wavy tongue.

Crease pattern available from Shuki Kato's Flickr

10) Through the Ages, Designed and Folded by Sebastien Limet

Sebastien Limet always has such interesting ideas for his designs. This one was designed after he watched Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom.

Instructions not available

11) T-Rex Skeleton, Designed by Issei Yoshino and Folded by Travis Nolan

A absolutely love dinosaur skeleton designs and this one is one of the best I've seen. This is a fairly popular modular design that a lot of people have folded before but I don't think I've ever seen it so crisp and clear where you can really make out all the details.

Diagrams available in Origami Skeleton of Tyrannosaurus Rex

Which one of these models do you think is the best origami reptile or amphibian of 2018? Vote below!

Voting will be open for 2 weeks until Friday February 22, 2019. Feel free to vote for your own model and to encourage everyone you know to vote for it as well!

Voting is Now Closed

by Peter

The Best Origami Birds of 2018

In this post we're going to take a look at some of the best origami birds of 2018. If you missed our "Best Origami People of 2018" post you can check it out here. Voting is still open over there.

This time we're looking at origami birds and there are some pretty amazing models here.

I've selected a bunch of what I think are the best origami birds that I saw uploaded to the Internet during 2018 and you can vote for which one you think is the best at the end of this post.

Voting will be open until Wednesday February 20, 2018.

Let's get started!

1) Great Cormorant, Designed and Folded by Kei Watanabe

Kei Watanabe is probably my favourite artist and he folded some absolutely incredible models in 2018 including several birds. The details in this model are incredible and it looks so life-like!

Instructions not available

2) Black Kite, Designed by Satoshi Kamiya and Folded by Ji Woo Han

A lot of people folded Satoshi Kamiya's black kite model in 2018 but this is probably the best version I've seen. I really love the pose and the angle of the photo here.

Diagrams available in the 24th Tanteidan Convention book

3) Turkey in Full Display, Designed by Katsuta Kyohei and Folded by Mariano Zavala B.

This is easily one of the best paper turkeys I've ever seen. There are tons of excellent details like the individually folded feathers. Plus Mariano Zavala B. made an absolutely fantastic video tutorial showing how to fold this masterpiece.

Video instructions available from Mariano Zavala B.'s YouTube channel

4) Rooster 1, Designed and Folded by Kei Watanabe

Next we have another incredible model from Kei Watanabe, this time of a rooster. I love everything from the feathers to the claws, the head, the tail everything here is fantastic.

Instructions not available

5) Eagle, Designed by Nguyen Hung Cuong and Folded by Vít Masopust

Here we have one the best eagle's I've ever seen. The wings and feathers are really great but I especially love the details and shaping on the head, especially with the eye and beak. The individually folded claws on the feet are awesome too.

Diagrams available in Licence to Fold

6) Eagle, Designed and Folded by Jaeil Jeong

This is a fantastic Eagle design. It's not super complex but it looks great and still has some awesome details. I especially love the colour changes.

Instructions not available

7) Rooster 2, Designed and Folded by Kei Watanabe

Kei Watanabe also designed this other amazing looking rooster. The face is probably my favourite part of this but the whole thing is amazing and full of detail.

Instructions not available

8) Lugia, Designed by Hashimoto Haruka and Folded by Jaran Darra

Even though this is technically a Pokemon and not an actual real life bird it's still a bird and it still looks amazing so here it is. This is a fantastic design that uses a single square of paper and it's expertly folded here.

I really love the colour changes on this model and how it looks just like it does in the game.

Crease pattern available from Haruka Hashimoto's Flickr

9) Rooster, Designed by Mineo Shotaro and Folded by Giang Nam

Here we have another excellent rooster design with some lovely details and colour changes for the face and legs. Absolutely fantastic work here.

Crease pattern available in Tanteidan Magazine #161

10) Crested Kingfisher, Designed by Morisue Kei and Folded by Reaper

This may be the best version of this model I've seen and I really like the paper used here. My favourite part though is definitely the claws although the face is pretty awesome too.

Video instructions available from Mariano Zavala B.'s YouTube channel

11) White-Tailed Eagle, Designed and Folded by Kei Watanabe

I don't have much to say about this model other than Wow! I love the details, the face, the pose, everything. It's an incredible work of art.

Instructions not available

12) Roadrunner, Designed by Ryan Charpentier and Folded by Carla Godoy

I really love the pose and how expressive this model looks as it runs along.

Video instructions available from hafs wahbi's YouTube channel

13) Blakiston's Fish Owl, Designed by Katsuta Kyohei and Folded by Boice Wong

This is a fantastic model and it's folded very well here. The way it's posed you can see all the fantastic details and it's all folded from a 40cm x 40cm square of paper too.

Diagrams available here

14) Crane with Bad Eyes, Designed and Folded by Hiroaki Kobayashi

This is a fantastic take on the traditional origami crane. It's not super complex when compared to some of the other entries here but it's a cute idea and I really love those eyes.

Instructions not available

Which one of these models do you think is the best origami bird of 2018? Vote below!

Voting will be open for 2 weeks until Wednesday February 20, 2019. Feel free to vote for your own model and to encourage everyone you know to vote for it as well!

Voting is now closed

by Peter

The Best Origami People of 2018

I had a super busy last few weeks but I'm finally here with the first post of the Best Origami of 2018 Extravaganza!

We're starting things off with the best origami people of 2018. These are anything from an entire person folded out of paper to just a face, a mask or something person-related.

I wasn't really going to do a people category but when I was looking for origami for the contest I found enough of these type models to create this category.

All of these were uploaded to the Internet during 2018. It's entirely possible they were folded or designed earlier but I'm going by the date these images were uploaded to the Internet to just keep things simple.

At the end of the post you'll find the opportunity to vote for whichever model you think is the best and voting will close in 2 weeks on Monday February 18, 2019.

1) Charrui Designed and Folded by Rui Roda

This mask was designed after Rui Roda attended a class taught by João Charrua and it kind of incorporates a bit of his style. There's a lot of expression in this simple folded piece of paper.

Instructions not available

2) Mahoraga Designed by Hojyo Takashi and Folded by Rydos

This incredible looking model is folded from a single 90cm x 180cm piece of paper and it took 50 hours to fold! I love all the details here from the design of the belt to the weapon it's holding in its hand.

Diagrams available in the 2011 Special JOAS Issue

3) Thetis Designed and Folded by Joel Cooper

Joel Cooper has designed some amazing masks using tessellation patterns. This one is folded from a single sheet of black elephant hide paper that's been bleached to give it the brown colour and pattern.

Instructions not available

4) In the Rain, Designed by Chen Xiao and Folded by Ivan Danny

This is definitely one of the my favourite "people" models. It's folded from a single square of paper and that includes the umbrella. Ivan Danny did a fantastic job folding this model.

Instructions not available

5) TI(E)RED_HERO Designed and Folded by João Charrua

This is a very unique design created for a "Paper Heroes" exhibition and the Jaffa Museum in Tel Aviv, Israel. The idea of this model is that the hero is an ordinary person but the cape (traditionally a symbol of a super hero) is wrapped around the person like a tie and is dragging him back. If you look closely you'll see a little hand on the back of the cape.

The model is a metaphor for daily life where anyone can be a hero and despite things that might drag you back you should always stand and fight.

A very cool idea and an awesome design.

Instructions not available

6) Acantha, Designed and Folded by Joel Cooper

Joel Cooper has so many fantastic mask designs that I couldn't just pick one. This mask is also folded using a tessellation pattern but the design is unique, super expressive and the whole thing is absolutely beautiful.

Instructions not available

7) Kannon, Designed by Chen Xiao and Folded by Rydos

Another absolutely fantastic person design by Chen Xiao. The whole thing is folded from a 90cm x 90cm square of paper and it took Rydos 20 hours to create this masterpiece. The model is full of amazing details no matter where you look.

Instructions not available

8) Walking in the Rain, Designed by Chen Xiao and Folded by Ivan Svatko

Another fantastic take on this model. This version looks soft, delicate and beautiful, especially the way the hair is shaped.

Instructions not available

9) Iron Man, Designed by Yoo Tae Yong and Folded by J.W Park

Yoo Tae Yong designed an absolutely fantastic origami version of the Marvel super hero Iron Man. It's all folded from one sheet of paper and the colour changes in the design are absolutely fantastic.

Here J.W Park did an amazing folding job and this is easily the best version of this model I've ever seen.

Instructions not available

10) Worn Out Trooper Designed and Folded by Никита Васильев

When I saw this model I thought to myself, "Yeah, we need a people category." It's based on the Nicholas D. Wolfwood design from Brian Chan but if you go look that model up you'll see this one looks nothing like it.

Overall this model looks incredible and it's full of tiny details like the book. Adding a bit of fire and smoke is a super cool touch as well.

I almost included this model in the "Most Unique Idea" category but there already might be something else there from Никита Васильев, you'll just have to wait and see.

Instructions not available

11) Kendo, Designed and Folded by Matthew (Paperforger)

Here's another very cool looking person design. I love the colour changes and especially how that hood and mask look.

Instructions not available

12) Khan by Joel Cooper

I had to include just one more awesome mask by Joel Cooper here. I love how Asian this design feels and it totally captures the essence of a Great Khan.

Instructions not available

13) Golem Eater, Designed and Folded by Sebastien Limet

Here's a very interesting model. The design is a bit simpler but it's super expressive. It's wet-folded from a single piece of paper and then sprayed with spray paint and cement to give it a very unique look, especially since the teeth are still just regular paper.

Instructions not available

Which one of these models do you think is the best origami person of 2018? Vote Below!

Voting will be open for 2 weeks until Monday February 18, 2019. Feel free to vote for your own model and encourage other people to vote for yours as well!

Voting is now closed and results will (hopefully) be posted soon!

by Peter