The Best Origami Dragons of 2018
I've said several times before that dragons are some of my favourite things I've ever seen folded out of paper which is why I'm excited to bring you this selection of the best origami dragons of 2018!
These were the best dragon models I saw uploaded to the Internet during 2018 and you can vote for your favourite from now until Wednesday February 27, 2019.
Let's get started!
1) Ancient Dragon, Designd by Satoshi Kamiya and Folded by Francisco José González Alcázar
This has always been one of my favourite models and this is easily one of the most impressive renditions I've seen. I absolutely love the pose here and how ferocious it looks.
Diagrams available in Works of Satoshi Kamiya 1995-2003
2) Western Dragon, Designed by Wonseon Seo and Folded by Terry Nicolas
This model isn't super complex but it looks great, is super expressive and has a lot of charm.
Instructions not available
3) Ryujin 3.5, Designed by Satoshi Kamiya and Folded by Lê Huỳnh Đức
This model blows my mind every time I see it. It's folded from a single 156cm x 156cm square of paper and I can't imagine how long it must take to fold all those scales. It's expertly folded and looks amazing here, especially the head.
Diagrams available in World of Super Complex Origami
4) Luster Dragon, Designed by Lee In Seop
Here we have another amazing dragon design that's folded incredibly well. The details and shapes on the head are fantastic and I love how the front legs look ready to grab something. This took 14 hours to fold from a single square of paper!
Diagrams available in the 23rd Tanteidan Convention book
5) Wyvern, Designed and Folded by Hiroaki Kobayashi
This is an absolutely fantastic new design from Hiroaki Kobayashi. It's folded from one square of paper and looks amazing, especially the head. I also really love the choice of paper used here. It's a really beautiful looking pattern and colour and perfect for some kind of sky dragon.
Instructions not available
6) Chinese Dragon, Designed by MiKiller and Folded by Alex Mironenko
Here's another incredible looking eastern dragon design. It's kind of similar to the Ryujin but is certainly unique with a completely different head and other details. It's folded absolutely beautifully here and you can really see all the excellent little details.
This is a modular model that uses 2 squares for the head, 8 for the body, 1 for the tail and 4 for the legs.
Instructions not available
7) Eastern Dragon, Designed by Jun Maekawa and Folded by Andrea Borsa
Another somewhat simpler design but nonetheless fantastic looking. Expertly folded and I love how it kind of feels playful.
Diagrams available in Genuine Origami: 43 Mathematically-Based Models, From Simple to Complex
8) Spiky Dragon, Designed and Folded by Gregor Müller
A fantastic and kind of cute design from Gregor Müller. I love how it's posed and almost feels like a pet looking for a treat or something.
Instructions not available
9) Chinese Dragon, Designed by MiKiller and Folded by Arnolds Kuciks
Here's another amazing take on MiKiller's Chinese dragon. The paint job on the paper here looks incredible and the whole thing has a metal statue feel which I absolutely love.
Instructions not available. Note: I can't seem to find instructions for this model anywhere but I've seen several people now fold it. If anyone know where the instructions are please let me know.
10) Western Dragon V3, Designed by Shuki Kato and Folded by Francisco José González Alcázar
An absolutely beautiful take on this model that looks super life-like and fantastic, especially the way it's posed here.
Video instructions available from Mariano Zavala B.'s YouTube channel
11) Dragon, Designed by Zhangyifan and Folded by Terry Nicolas
This is Terry Nicolas' excellent interpretation of this fantastic design. It's a bit modified with what looks light a slightly more complex head and overall the shaping feels very organic making the model feel quite life-like.
Diagrams available in Chinese New Year 2017
12) Dragon, Designed by Lam Nhat Phat and Folded by Lê Huỳnh Đức
I don't think I've ever seen this dragon design before and I really like it. It has a very different shape and feel from other designs I've seen, probably because of that really thick neck. It's a beautiful design and it's beautifully folded.
Instructions not available
13) Elder Dragon, Designed by Tsuruta Yoshimasa and Folded by Pan Hang
This dragon really does feel like an older, weightier dragon. It's beautifully folded and the paper used here is absolutely gorgeous!
Diagrams available in JOAS issue 28
14) Dragon, Designed and Folded by Sebastien Limet
Here's something very unique and awesome looking. This whole thing is folded from a single A size sheet of paper using a special crumpling technique! I really love how the dragon looks wrapped around that box.
Instructions not available
Which one of these models do you think was the best origami dragon of 2018? Vote below!
Voting will be open for 2 weeks until Wednesday February 27, 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
Fantastic Viking and Norse Themed Origami for Leif Erikson Day
October 9th is known as Leif Erikson Day, an observance that honours the Norse explorer Leif Erikson who is believed to be the first European to ever set foot in North America. The date itself doesn't really have anything to do with Leif Erikson. Instead it commemorates the date of the start of a large wave of immigration from Norway to the United States of America.
Today seems like an excellent day to take a look at some Norse and viking themed origami. Norse mythology has a ton of amazing characters, creatures, gods and monsters and a lot of that has been folded out of paper. Although there is less Norse themed origami than I would expect there are some great designs and we'll take a look at them here.
We'll start things off with one of my favourite models, this Attack of the Kraken. The Kraken is a giant sea monster usually represented as a giant squid. In this model both the Kraken and the ship are folded from the same single uncut square of paper!
Attack of the Kraken, Designed by Brian Chan and Folded by Jordan Langerak
Crease pattern available from Brian Chan's website
When it comes to Norse mythology origami probably the most popular model is Satoshi Kamiya's Sleipnir. Sleipnir is an 8-legged horse ridden by the god Odin and is often described as the "best of all horses".
This particular version is folded very nicely and you can see all the details and 8 individual legs.
Sleipnir, Designed by Satoshi Kamiya and Folded by miyamiya0419
Diagrams available in Works of Satoshi Kamiya 2, 2002 – 2009
Thor is probably the most famous and instantly recognizable figure from Norse mythology so of course I had to include this fantastic model from Juanfran Carrillo. I think it's more based off of the design of Thor from the Marvel comics than the actual Norse god but I'm still going to include it here.
The whole thing is one sheet of paper and if you use two coloured paper you end up with that awesome looking colour change on the cape.
Thor, Designed and Folded by Juanfran Carrillo
Crease pattern available from Juanfran Carrillo's Flickr
Dragons show up a lot in Norse myths so I had to include a few great looking Western dragons in this post too. This particular dragon has a very fantastic and detailed design for the head. It took almost 8 hours to fold!
Dragon 1.2, Designed and Folded by Philipp-Marius Kost
Instructions not available
Dwarves also show up in viking mythology a lot as well so it's a great opportunity to include some of Eric Joisel's fantastic dwarves.
Dwarves, Designed by Eric Joisel and Folded by rhplus
Diagrams available in Eric Joisel, the Magician of Origami
I mentioned that Sleipnir is Odin's personal horse so here he is himself riding the mythical horse.
Odin Designed by Marcos Origami, Horse Designed by Roman Diaz, Both Folded by Marcos Origami
Odin instructions not available - Horse Diagrams available in Origami for Interpreters
Here's a different more complicated version of Satoshi Kamiya's Sleipnir with more details in the mane.
Sleipnir 2.0, Designed by Satoshi Kamiya and Folded by Hosanna Tan
Crease pattern available from Satoshi Kamiya's website
Neelesh K. designed this awesome paper version of Hela from the movie Thor Ragnarok. Again, technically not necessarily from actual Norse mythology but the design is great and definitely related so here it is.
Hela, Designed and Folded by Neelesh K.
Crease pattern available from Neelesh K.'s Flickr
Here's another fantastic dwarf design that's a little bit closer to what you'd expect from this mythology.
Dwarf, Designed and Folded by Bart Davids
Crease Pattern available from Bart Davids' Flickr
This is probably the best Odin design I've seen. It's full of details that you'll recognize right away if you're familiar at all with the myths around Odin. If you look closely you'll notice a blind eye, his raven spies, winged crown and some wolves. The best part is that everything you see here is folded from the same single uncut square of paper!
Odin, Designed and Folded by Neelesh K.
Instructions not available
Choi Ju Young designed this awesome looking Hellhound. I don't think this is specifically from Norse mythology however there are hounds like this guarding the realm of Helheim so I'm including it.
Hellhound, Designed and Folded by Choi Ju Young
Instructions not available
There is a famous wolf named Fenrir in viking myths and I know I've seen an amazing origami Fenrir design before but I can't seem to find it folded by anyone right now. I did however find this gorgeous looking wolf so I'm including it instead.
Wolf, Designed by Shuki Kato and Folded by Maeng Heung Gue
Diagrams available in Origami Nature Study
Here's another look at Satoshi Kamiya's excellent Sleipnir. This is a very popular model to fold.
Sleipnir, Designed by Satoshi Kamiya and Folded by Lee Junha
Diagrams available in Works of Satoshi Kamiya 2, 2002 – 2009
This is that same Attack of the Kraken model from the start of this post but this version is the tiniest one I've ever seen! I have no idea how you could fold something this complex so small.
Attack of the Kraken, Designed by Brian Chan and Folded by Xu Daniel
Crease pattern available from Brian Chan's website
Here's another one of Eric Joisel's fantastic dwarves. This design always looks so different with very different personalities depending on who's folding it.
Dwarf, Designed by Eric Joisel and Folded by Chris Hui
Diagrams available in Eric Joisel, the Magician of Origami
This might be the most famous origami dragons out there and with very good reason.
Ancient Dragon, Designed by Satoshi Kamiya and Folded by Hiroaki Kobayashi
Diagrams available in Works of Satoshi Kamiya 1995-2003
Here's something pretty cool. This is Thor fighting with the World Serpent Jörmungandr. At the end of the world it's prophesied that Thor and Jörmungandr fight to the death.
Thor vs Jörmungandr, Designed and Folded by Marcos Origami
Instructions not available
Here's another incredible Odin design created for the Origami Olypmiad. If you look closely you'll notice two ravens and Odin's spear Gungir.
Odin, Designed and Folded by Raphael Mausolf
Instructions not available
I had to include one more awesome origami wolf. This one is much less complex but I love the sharp and crisp shapes and how much character it has. This may actually be my favourite wolf design.
Wolf, Designed and Folded by Yosuke Muroya
Crease pattern available from Yosuke Muroya's Flickr
Different types of elves show up in Norse myths so here's an amazing looking elf archer. I especially love the armour plates on the legs.
Elf Archer, Designed and Folded by Tran Trung Hieu
Instructions not available - Follow Tran Trung Hieu on Flickr or Facebook
You can't have a post about Vikings without including a Viking longboat! This whole ship is folded from a single sheet of paper! It's based on a design by Robert J. Lang but Dzmitry Lysiuk added in some sails, shields and other details.
The rune folded into the sail is called "Sowelu" and represents wholeness, power, elemental force, sword of flame and cleansing fire.
Drakkar, Designed and Folded by Dzmitry Lysiuk
Instructions not available
I mentioned a couple time before that the god Odin uses ravens as spies to bring him information from the nine realms. Because of this I had to include what's probably the best origami raven design I've seen.
Raven, Designed and Folded by Quentin Trollip
Diagrams available in Works of Quentin Trollip
Tkak Sakai designed a couple versions of probably the best Sleipnir I've seen. Here's version 1.5.
Sleipnir 1.5, Designed and Folded by Tkak Sakai
Instructions not available
Here's version 2.0 which I think might be the best Sleipnir design I've seen.
Sleipnir 2.0, Designed and Folded by Tkak Sakai
Instructions not available
Our final model for this post is another dragon that looks absolutely incredible. This is folded from a single square of paper too! I really love those different coloured spikes down the back.
Deathwing, Designed and Folded by Nguyen Nam Son
Instructions not available
What did you think about all this Norse mythology origami? If you're interested in learning more about Norse mythology I recommend you check out this excellent book.
I’m just Winging this Post Full of Incredible Eastern Style Origami Dragons
This is an update to an older post that was kind of popular but didn't really have that many images in it.
I've decided to go back and add in a few more because there are a lot of really great Eastern-style origami dragons out there.
The original post is below with a bunch of extra dragons added in throughout so check it out!
I also totally now realize that none of these dragons have wings... Oh well, I'm not coming up with another dragon pun right now...
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We're back after somewhat of a break with a brand new website design! I was trying to get the old design to do some things which I couldn't figure out how to do and in the end I just gave up and redid the site again. I'm loosing track of how many times I've redesigned this site but this time I'm really pleased with the results.
To celebrate the new design this post will be all about origami dragons, specifically eastern Chinese or Japanese style dragons.
Dragons might just be my favourite type of origami and there are more incredible origami dragons out there than I can count.
First up is this great little dragon design by Jun Maekawa.
Eastern Dragon, Designed by Jun Maekawa and Folded by Magali
Diagrams available in Genuine Origami: 43 Mathematically-Based Models, From Simple to Complex
This next dragon looks incredibly life-like. I absolutely love the pose it's in and you can tell Eiyo Hikari put a ton of work into folding it. It apparently took 1 week to finish and is folded from multiple sheets of paper. The head was from a set of diagrams with an unknown Japanese designer and the rest of the body was improvised by Eiyo Hikari.
Eastern Dragon, Designed and Folded by Eiyo Hikari
Instructions not available
Here's a really cool skinny dragon design. I feel like this dragon needs to eat a bit more and it looks really great with that blue paper.
Dragon, Designed by Brian Chan and Folded by Pere Olivella
Diagrams available in Origami Bogota 2013
Satoshi Kamiya's Ryujin model is probably the most famous eastern style origami dragon. Here's version 3.5 of the Ryujin expertly folded by Sergey Yartsev. The entire model is folded from one giant sheet of paper and that includes all the scales.
Ryujin 3.5, Designed by Satoshi Kamiya and Folded by Sergey Yartsev
Diagrams available in World of Super Complex Origami
Dragon number 4 comes to us from Riccardo Foschi who designed and folded this very unique river dragon.
River Dragon, Designed and Folded by Riccardo Foschi
Crease Pattern available from Riccardo Foschi's Flickr Here
Here's a different and very unique dragon design by Rodolfo Rizzo. It almost reminds me of a Goa'uld symbiote from Stargate SG-1 which is one of the best TV shows ever...
Eastern Dragon, Designed and Folded by Rodolfo Rizzo
Instructions not available
Here's Jun Maekawa's dragon again folded by a different artist. I really like the pose here. It looks like it's eagerly expecting something.
Eastern Dragon, Designed by Jun Maekawa and Folded by Luc Marnat
Diagrams available in Genuine Origami: 43 Mathematically-Based Models, From Simple to Complex
This is an absolutely gorgeous design. It's not too complex but it looks great, has tons of character and is the perfect sort of thing to fold for Chinese New Year. It looks especially great with that gold paper and red background.
Chinese Dragon, Designed by Joseph Wu and Folded by Andrea Borsa
Diagrams available from Joseph Wu's website
Here we have another rendition of the Ryujin 3.5 expertly folded by Nguyen Quang Anh.
Ryujin 3.5, Designed by Satoshi Kamiya and Folded by Nguyen Quang Anh
Diagrams available in World of Super Complex Origami
I absolutely love this little dragon. It's not super complex (I think I could probably fold this) but it's full of character and looks really great.
Asian Dragon, Designed and Folded by Mindaugas Cesnavicius
Instructions not available
Dragon number 7 is this great snake-like dragon designed by Sebastien Limet.
Dragon v1, Designed and Folded by Sebastien Limet
Instructions not available
This next origami dragon isn't one sheet, it's instead a modular design with the head, body, leg and tail folded separately. Nevertheless it's still an incredible design.
Modular Chinese Dragon 4.0, Designed by mikiller觅晨 and folded by Pan Hang
Instructions not available
This is an earlier version of Satoshi Kamiya's Ryujin. Version 3.1 is still folded from just one sheet of paper.
Ryujin 3.1, Designed by Satoshi Kamiya and Folded by Daniel Brown
Diagrams available in World of Super Complex Origami
This next cute little dragon is a simpler design but it still looks great. Folding one this small couldn't have been easy.
Eastern Dragon, Designed by Joseph Wu and Folded by Gonzalo
Diagrams available from Joseph Wu's website
This is easily one of the most amazing looking models I've ever seen period! The paint and colours on this model look amazing as well and take the whole thing to another level (it was already super amazing).
Chinese Dragon 4.5, Designed by MiKiller and Folded by Jaran Darra
Instructions not available
Here's another fantastic Chinese style dragon design. It's kind of similar to Satoshi Kamiya's Ryujin but it's a unique design and this particular dragon was folded from one sheet of paper 30cm x 300cm.
Chinese Dragon, Designed and Folded by Xudong Guan
Instructions not available
Here's another fantastically folded Ryujin model.
Ryujin 3.5, Designed by Satoshi Kamiya and Folded by Paper in Dream
Diagrams available in World of Super Complex Origami
Dragon number 13 is another different Chinese dragon design that's also kind of similar to the Ryujin.
Chinese Dragon, Designed and Folded by Leo Lai
Instructions not available
This is Jun Maekawa's dragon again folded by a different artist and again with a completely different look. It almost feels like a different model.
Eastern Dragon, Designed by Jun Maekawa and Folded by Andrea Borsa
Diagrams available in Genuine Origami: 43 Mathematically-Based Models, From Simple to Complex
Here's mikiller觅晨's awesome modular origami dragon again, this time folded by Nguyen Nam Son.
Modular Chinese Dragon 4.0, Designed by mikiller觅晨 and folded by Nguyen Nam Son
Instructions not available
Also by Nguyen Nam Son are these two incredible Ryujins. Each one took a full week to fold from a sheet of paper that was 1m x 1m.
Ryujin 3.5, Designed by Satoshi Kamiya and Folded by Nguyen Nam Son
Diagrams available in World of Super Complex Origami
Here's Jun Maekawa's excellent dragon design again, this time folded by Ekaterina Lukasheva.
Eastern Dragon, Designed by Jun Maekawa and Folded by Ekaterina Lukasheva
Diagrams available in Genuine Origami: 43 Mathematically-Based Models, From Simple to Complex
This is another design that's really simple when compared to some of the other crazy designs in this post. In this case though less is definitely more. It looks great and is full of personality.
Eastern Dragon, Designed by Akira Yoshizawa and Folded by Andrea Borsa
Diagrams available in Origami Museum I: Animals
Here's another different style design of a water dragon that's folded from one sheet of paper.
Water Dragon, Designed by Brian Chan and Folded by Hiroaki Kobayashi
Diagrams available in Origami Bogota 2013
Here's MiKiller's dragon again folded by Alex Mironenko who pointed out that it's folded using 15 square of paper which is very interesting to know. There are 2 pieces for the head, 8 for the body, 1 for the tail and 4 pieces for the legs.
Chinese Dragon 4.5, Designed by MiKiller and Folded by Alex Mironenko
Instructions not available
Here's Joseph Wu's fantastic design again but this time it's been painted so it looks like it's been folded out of metal. It looks absolutely fantastic with that colouring.
Eastern Dragon, Designed by Joseph Wu and Folded by Arnolds Kuciks
Diagrams available from Joseph Wu's website
Our final model is this incredible Ryujin folded by Nguyen Nam Son. This dragon was folded from one single sheet of paper that was 96cm x 96cm and the final model is 45cm in length.
Ryujin 3.5, Designed by Satoshi Kamiya and Folded by Nguyen Nam Son
Diagrams available in World of Super Complex Origami
That's it for this post but there are tons of awesome origami dragons that will be featured in posts in the future!
If you really like origami dragons then I highly recommend you check out the book Mythological Creatures and the Chinese Zodiac Origami which has instructions for a few great dragon models and they aren't too difficult to fold.
If you enjoyed this post please share it on your social media and be sure to check out these amazing origami artists on their own personal Flickr pages as well!
It’s not the Heat of the Moment, These Origami Dragons really are Awesome
We're finally back with another post and I'm going to do my best to get somewhat regular posts happening again!
If you've been following this site for a while then you know that origami dragons are some of my favourite things.
Dragons are super popular and there is no shortage of amazing designs from all kinds of unique styles.
We'll start off with probably one of the most famous dragon designs out there, Satoshi Kamiya's Ancient Dragon. This one is expertly folded and photographed by J.W. Park.
Ancient Dragon, Designed by Satoshi Kamiya and Folded by J.W. Park
Diagrams available in Works of Satoshi Kamiya 1995-2003
Here's something of a more Eastern style. Most origami is usually folded from an uncut square of paper but this guy is folded from an uncut hexagon shaped piece of paper.
Designed and Folded by Robert Salazar
Instructions not available - Check out Robert Salazar's website
This great little dragon is designed after the Nazgul from the Lord of the Rings.
Nazgul, Designed and Folded by Andrés
Robert J. Lang's KNL Dragon is another very popular design and it's not too difficult to fold. This one looks especially great with that green and blue patterned paper.
KNL Dragon, Designed by Robert J. Lang and Folded by Hiroaki Kobayashi
Diagrams available in Origami Design Secrets: Second Edition
Here's an absolutely incredible Chinese style dragon that's kind of similar to another famous dragon model. I can't even imagine how long it must take to fold all those scales... This is a modular model, the body is folded from a rectangle shaped piece of paper and the head and limbs are each folded from a square.
Chinese Dragon 4.5, Designed by Mikiller and Folded by Jaran Darra
Instructions not available
This is a more traditional Western sort of dragon. It's folded from a single square of paper.
Ductsh Dragon, Designed and Folded by Lê Huỳnh Đức
Instructions not available
I've always really liked this next little dragon. If you look closely you'll see a colour change in the design so the horns, belly and legs are all the different colour.
Dragon, Designed and Folded by Hsi-Min Tai
Instructions not available
I especially like the pose of this next dragon. One of the best things about origami is you can fold the final model slightly to put it in different poses.
Tri-Horned Dragon, Designed by Chuya Miyamoto and Folded by Andrea Borsa
Diagrams available in the Beauty of Origami
This next "Wyrm" is still one of my favourite dragon designs. I really like how it looks like it's prancing around thinking it's better than everyone else. I'm kind of surprised that I haven't seen more people fold this model actually.
Wyrm 1.2, Designed and Folded by Tran Trung Hieu (Photo by Jon Tucker)
Diagrams available in VOG: 50 Hours of Origami+
Here's another incredible Eastern style dragon. Kim Ju Hyun designed this back in 2012.
Eastern Dragon, Designed and Folded by Kim Ju Hyun
Instructions not available
This next dragon was designed as part of a challenge on a French paper folding forum. The challenge was to fold something based on Hoàng Tiến Quyết's Dove Base.
Dragon, Designed and Folded by Sebastien Limet
Instructions not available
You don't always have to fold a dragon just standing there. Here's one in flight.
Dragon in Flight, Designed by Charles Esseltine and Folded by Charles Smith
Diagrams available from Happy Folding
The details and expression of this Wyvern are incredible! This is all folded from one square of paper too.
Wyvern, Designed by Nham Van Son and Folded by Nguyen Nam Son
Crease pattern available in VOG 2: Origami.vn
Here's a close-up look at another fantastic Western style dragon. It's folded from glassine paper so I bet you could shine light through it and that would look pretty cool.
Western Dragon, Designed by Shuki Kato and Folded by Matthieu Georger
Video instructions available from Mariano Zavala B.'s YouTube channel - Follow Matthieu Georger on Flickr
Not too long ago Satoshi Kamiya designed this incredible paper version of Alduin, the World Eating dragon from the video game Skyrim. It's an amazing design that uses a single square sheet of paper. This one is folded from a square of paper that's 100cm x 100cm.
Alduin, Designed by Satoshi Kamiya and Folded by Artur Biernacki
Crease pattern available from folders.jp
Kei Watanabe has designed some absolutely incredible models including this dragon. The level of detail and the amount of time this must have taken to fold is mind blowing!
2011 Dragon, Designed and Folded by Kei Watanabe
Instructions not available
Satoshi Kamiya's Ryujin is another very popular dragon model that has been folded by a large number of people. The whole thing is folded from a single sheet of paper. It's not a square though.
Ryujin 2.5, Designed by Satoshi Kamiya and Folded by Artur Biernacki
Crease pattern available in World of Super Complex Origami
Here's another very unique design. This whole thing is folded from a single rectangle of paper. The paper has different colours on each side so you end up with a different colour for the dragon and a different colour for the ground. I always love it when designers do something like this.
Dragon, Designed and Folded by Finward
Instructions not available
This is another design that makes excellent use of two-coloured paper. I especially love the pose and feeling of movement here.
Dragon, Designed by Sergey Yartsev and Folded by Luc Marnat
Diagrams available in Olympiad 2013
This beautiful dragon was photographed at the 22nd Tanteidan Convention. This is actually a dragon called Kushala Daora from the video game series Monster Hunter.
Kushala Daora, Designed and Folded by Haruka Hashimoto (Photo by Hiroaki Kobayashi)
Crease pattern available from Haruka Hashimoto's Flickr
Kade Chan's Fiery Dragon is another great little dragon design and this one is expertly folded and photographed. The black paper with the gold flecks used here looks fantastic.
Fiery Dragon Version 2, Designed by Kade Chan and Folded by Philipp-Marius Kost
Diagrams available from the Hong Kong Origami Academy
I love how simple and clean this next dragon looks and of course I love that colour change in the design.
Northern Dragon, Designed by Takashi Hoijo and Folded by origami-M-H-G :)
Instructions not available
This is another really cool dragon. I love the expression on the face and the over all 3 dimensional shape of the model.
Flame Wing, Designed by Kang Han Wool and Folded by Kyoung Su Kim
Instructions not available
Tomasz Krawczyk designed this fantastic paper version of the Welsh Dragon from the national flag of Wales. Do a search for the Welsh flag and you'll see this dragon matches the flag perfectly. It's folded from a single 70cm x 70cm square of paper.
Welsh Dragon, Designed and Folded by Tomasz Krawczyk
Instructions not available
Satoshi Kamiya designed this Divine Dragon Bahamut, a summon from the Final Fantasy video games. It's another very popular origami dragon. This one folded by Vít Masopust looks a little cuter and less ferocious than normal I think.
Divine Dragon Bahamut, Designed by Satoshi Kamiya and Folded by Vít Masopust
Diagrams available in Works of Satoshi Kamiya 1995-2003
Fernando Castellanos folded Gen Hagiwara's excellent dragon, posed it in mid flight and used a small sheet of red paper to make it breathe some fire.
Dragon, Designed by Gen Hagiwara and Folded by Fernando Castellanos
Crease pattern available from Gen Hagiwara’s Flickr
Finally we have what may just be my all time favourite dragon of all time. This is an origami version of Smaug, the dragon from J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit. This is folded from a single sheet of paper. The amount of detail here, all the scales, the face, everything is mind blowing.
Kei Watanabe is definitely an origami master. I can't imagine how someone could design something like this or how long it must have taken to fold.
Smaug, Designed and Folded by Kei Watanabe
Instructions not available
What did you think about all these incredible origami dragons? Let us know in the comments!
The "Bast" Origami Models from Ancient Egypt
I've always been a big fan of ancient Egypt and Egyptian mythology so I was quite excited to find a bunch of really great Egyptian themed origami models. This post was originally posted on January 9, 2017 but because I like Egypt so much (and because I saw some more excellent models) I've gone back and made some updates to include more images.
Everything from specific Egyptian gods to symbols, pyramids, mummies and more can be folded out of paper.
First, take a look at this paper version of Thoth, the Egyptian god associated with the arbitration of godly disputes, magic, writing, science and the judgement of the dead.
Thoth, Designed and Folded by Tom Defoirdt
Crease pattern available from Tom Defoirdt's website
Here we have an incredible Giza pyramid scene that's folded out of a single sheet of paper. The paper is 80cm by 80cm and Andrey Ermakov almost ran out of room. The entire scene took 25 hours to fold.
Giza OP. 38 (ver. 2.5), Designed and Folded by Andrey Ermakov
Instructions not available
Some schools of thought believed that the phoenix originated in ancient Egypt so it's the perfect excuse to include this fantastic phoenix designed and folded by Choi Ju Young.
Phoenix, Designed and Folded by Choi Ju Young
Instructions not available
Anubis is the Egyptian god of death and protector of the underworld. He might be the most popular Egyptian god and there are several great origami designs of him. Like this one designed by Yoshimasa Tsuruta.
Anubis, Designed and Folded by Yoshimasa Tsuruta
Instructions not available
Apis was a bull headed Egyptian god that was worshipped in Memphis.
Apis Head, Designed and Folded by Antoine S. (origoku)
Instructions not available
Here's a pair of expensive pyramids folded from Canadian $100 bills. These were commissioned for a business magazine. Joseph Wu originally wanted to use actual Egyptian money for folding these but he couldn't find any new, clean bills at any of the currency exchanges in his area. He ended up using $100 bills because of their colour.
$100 Pyramids, Designed and Folded by Joseph Wu
Instructions not available
You can't have a post about Egypt without including a paper Sphinx.
Sphinx, Designed and Folded by Quentin Trollip
Instructions not available
Cats are very important in ancient Egypt and here's Bast or Bastet, the Egyptian cat goddess.
Bastet, Designed and Folded by Daniel Chang
Instructions not available
Here's another excellent Anubis design.
Anubis, Designed and Folded by Eric Vigier
Crease pattern available from passion-origami.com
This is another pyramid design that's more organic and wet folded. This scene is also folded from a single sheet of paper.
Pyramids, Designed and Folded by Stefan
Instructions not available
Here's a very complex and impressive sort of tessellated version of Ramses the Great.
Ramses the Great, Designed and Folded by Andrey Ermakov
Instructions not available
This is another great design for the god Thoth.
Thoth, Designed and Folded by Eric Vigier
Instructions not available
Joseph Wu created these great chibi versions of a bunch of different Egyptian gods. From left to right on the top row we have Isis, Horus, Tauret and Osiris. On the bottom row we have Anubis, Bastet, Thoth and Hathor. These are based on his ninja design.
Chibi Egyptian Gods, Designed and Folded by Joseph Wu
Instructions not available
Here's a fantastic origami version of King Tut's mask. The gold and blue paper is absolutely perfect.
King Tut, Designed and Folded by Quentin Trollip
Instructions not available
This paper Anubis looks like it could be right out of a set of hieroglyphics or Egyptian art.
Anubis, Designed and Folded by Tom Defoirdt
Instructions not available
I believe this next model is Ageb, the Egyptian god of the earth. The dance pose in this model is a great touch.
Ageb, Designed and Folded by Eric Vigier
Instructions not available
This is a pretty cool pyramid design. I really like how you can see individually folded bricks on the side.
Brick Pyramid, Designed and Folded by Mitya Miller
Instructions not available
Follow Mitya Miller on Instagram
Here's another great Bastet design by Joseph Wu.
Bastet, Designed and Folded by Joseph Wu
Instructions not available
Here are a couple of great Egyptian designs, the Eye of Horus and a pharaoh mask.
Eye of Horus, Designed by Huang Tien Quyet, Pharaoh Designed by Jacky Chan, Both Folded by Andrey Ermakov
Eye of Horus crease pattern available from Photobucket
Pharaoh crease pattern available from Jacky Chan's website
Here's another absolutely fantastic Anubis design. He sure is popular. This is folded from a single 120cm x 120cm square sheet of paper and I love all the details here and the different angles showing everything off.
Anubis, Designed and Folded by Tkak Sakai
Crease pattern available from Tkak Sakai's Flickr
Daniel designed this really awesome mummy. The mummy and the box it's in are both folded from the same single sheet of paper!
Mummy, Designed and Folded by Daniel
Instructions not available
This is another absolutely incredible mummy design! This is something a bit different. The whole thing is folded from a single square sheet of paper but there are cuts here to make the bandages. It's amazing to see how you can unwrap the model here and there's a whole folded and detailed body underneath.
Mummy, Designed and Folded by Hubert Villeneuve
Instructions not available
Here's a great tessellated version of a scarab beetle.
Scarab, Designed and Folded by Melina Hermsen
Instructions not available
Our final model for this post is easily the best origami Anubis design I've ever seen. The entire model is folded from one single sheet of paper. If you use double sided paper you end up with some awesome colour changes for the clothing and eyes.
Anubis, Designed and Folded by Hubert Villeneuve
Instructions not available
That's it for this post. If you know of any other awesome looking Egyptian origami please let me know in the comments!
Incredible Origami Dragons that Will Set Your Heart on Fire
Dragons are still my favourite type of creature to fold out of paper. There are some absolutely amazing origami dragon designs out there ranging from quite simple to unbelievably complex.
First up might be the most famous and one of the most folded origami dragons, Satoshi Kamiya's Ancient Dragon.
Ancient Dragon, Designed by Satoshi Kamiya and Folded by J.W Park
Diagrams available in Works of Satoshi Kamiya 1995-2003
Here's a really cool looking dragon design that I'd never seen before. This is all folded from one sheet of paper!
Dragon 201, Designed and Folded by Takuro Kashiwamura
Instructions not available
This next dragon is pretty mind blowing and it's all folded from a single 1m x 1m square of paper! It was for sale too but it's probably long sold by now.
Gwyneth Dragon, Designed and Folded by Nguyen Nam Son
Instructions not available
Here's something a bit different and kind of cute, a winged-crocodile or a "Dragodile". This one lives in the clouds and needs steam water.
Dragodile, Designed and Folded by Mathieu Gueros
Instructions not available
This dragon design uses a pretty cool colour change so if you have two sided paper you get different colours for the flames it's spitting.
Flaming Dragon, Designed by Oriol Esteve and Folded by Mathieu Gueros
Instructions not available
Jo Nakashima designed a great "Devil Dragon" and here Vít Masopust folded version 1 and 2 of the design. The paper here is beautiful too.
Devil Dragon v1 and v2, Designed by Jo Nakashima and Folded by Vít Masopust
Video Instructions for Devil Dragon v1 available from Jo Nakashima's YouTube channel
Video Instructions for Devil Dragon v2 available from Jo Nakashima's YouTube channel
Here's another really cool dragon design that I had never seen before. I really like the spikes and details on it.
Archen Dragon, Designed and Folded by huynhducle1403
Instructions not available
Satoshi Kamiya's Ryujin is another one of the most famous origami dragons. This thing takes forever to fold with all those scales and details. It's all one sheet of paper too believe it or not.
Ryujin 3.5, Designed by Satoshi Kamiya and Folded by ? (Photo by Phạm Hoàng Tuấn)
Crease pattern available in World of Super Complex Origami
Here's another really unique looking dragon design. This one is also folded from a single square sheet of paper.
Fairy Dragon, Designed and Folded by Paper in Dream
Instructions not available
This is another really unique sort of Eastern style almost lizard-like dragon. I really like this design.
Little Long Dragon, Designed and Folded by Rudolf Deeg
Instructions not available
I really like it when people use paper money from different countries to make origami. These two amazing Asian-style dragons are folded using Vietnamese money.
Song Long, Designed and Folded by Bil Ori
Instructions not available
Here's something quite different, a dragon with 3 heads. Even with all those heads it's still folded from one sheet of paper
Three-Headed Dragon, Designed by Nham Van Son and Folded by Kevin Hutson
Crease pattern available in VOG 2: Origami.vn
This is another one of the coolest origami designs I've ever seen by an artist who goes by the name Obelisk. This is all folded from a single 120cm x 120cm square of paper. Although Ji Woo Han did add a few tiny pieces of red paper to make the eyes. Since it looks so cool I'm completely ok with that.
Dragon Knight, Designed by Obelisk and Folded by Ji Woo Han
Crease pattern available here, photo diagrams available here
Now we'll take things a bit simpler but even though this next dragon is less complex than some of these it still looks quite good. This one is a cross between two different dragon designs. The body is from Edwin Corrie's dragon and the head, tail and wings are from Tom Stamm's dragon.
Cross Between Edwin Corrie's and Tom Stamm's Dragons, Folded by Andrea Borsa
Diagrams for Edwin Corrie's dragon available in Origami Animals
Diagrams for Tom Stamm's Dragon available in Origami Dragons
Here's another unique dragon design by Choi Ju Young.
Dragon, Designed and Folded by Choi Ju Young
Instructions not available
This is Gregor Müller's first dragon design and it looks like it's singing which is kind of cute. Definitely an excellent design.
Singing Dragon, Designed and Folded by Gregor Müller
Instructions not available
Here's another absolutely incredible dragon. This one is based off of the dragon Fafnir from German mythology.
Fafnir, Designed and Folded by Marcos Origami
Instructions not available
This might be the cutest version of Kade Chan's Fiery Dragon that I've seen.
Fiery Dragon, Designed by Kade Chan and Folded by Charles Smith
Video instructions available from Jo Nakashima's YouTube channel
Here's a quite epic looking wyvern. Wyvern are dragons with just 2 legs.
Wyvern, Designed by Nham Van Son and Folded by huynhducle1403
Crease pattern available in VOG 2: Origami.vn
Here's another of the more simpler looking dragons. I really like how the head looks on this one.
Western Dragon, Designed by John Montroll and Folded by Rainer Berg
Diagrams available in Mythological Creatures and the Chinese Zodiac Origami
I really like the unique almost cartoon-like design of this next dragon.
Flame Wing, Designed by Kang Han Wool and Folded by J.W Park
Instructions not available
Satoshi Kamiya's Ancient Dragon is still probably the most famous origami dragon but he has a new design that's rapidly gaining in popularity.
This dragon is Alduin, the World Eater based off of the same dragon in the video game Skyrim and yes, that's all folded from a single sheet of paper!
Alduin the World Eater, Designed and Folded by Satoshi Kamiya (Photo by Hiroaki Kobayashi)
Crease pattern available from Satoshi Kamiya's website
Here's a very beautiful looking "Lustre" dragon. I really like how thin the wings are so you can sort of see light through them.
Lustre Dragon, Designed by Lee In Seop and Folded by J.W. Park
Instructions not available
This Eastern-style dragon looks very animalistic and realistic I think. It has something to do with that pose it's in.
Eastern Dragon, Designed and Folded by Finward
Instructions not available
Here's a really cool dragon skeleton model. The photos here are really great and you can really see all the details here.
Spine Dragon, Designed by Daniel Brown and Folded by Никита Васильев
Diagrams available from Origami USA
Here's another very different and great looking dragon design created during a convention in Krakow, Poland since the symbol of Krakow is a dragon.
Kragon, Designed and Folded by Sebastien Limet
Instructions not available
Our final model for this post is something absolutely amazing. Kei Watanabe is an origami master and I have no idea how someone like him could design and fold an incredible dragon like this.
Coffee Dragon, Designed and Folded by Kei Watanabe
Instructions not available
What did you think about all these origami dragons? Let me know in the comments!
Amazing Mythological Origami Creations You Have to See to Believe
In this post we're going to take a look at a ton of different mythological creatures and figures from cultures all over the world.
First up is an origami version of Sleipnir, the 8-legged horse from Norse mythology. Sleipnir is the "best of all horses" and Odin's personal steed.
Sleipnir, Designed by Satoshi Kamiya and Folded by Nguyen Nam Son
Diagrams available in Works of Satoshi Kamiya 2, 2002 – 2009
Next is another excellent design by Satoshi Kamiya. This is a Minotaur, a creature with the body of a man and the head of a bull. The Mintoaur could be found at the centre of the Labyrinth that was constructed by Daedalus and Icarus. The Minotaur was eventually killed by the Greek hero Theseus.
Minotaur, Designed by Satoshi Kamiya and Folded by Thamar van Dijk
Diagrams available in Works of Satoshi Kamiya 2, 2002 – 2009
This 3-legged crow is found in the mythologies of several different East Asian cultures. In Japan it's called Yatagarasu and is thought to be a guide from heaven.
Yatagarasu, Designed by Satoshi Kamiya and Folded by J.W. Park
Diagrams available in Tanteidan Magazine #157
Next is another design from Satoshi Kamiya that I really like. This is a Jackalope, a creature from North American folklore. The Jackalope is a mixture of a jack rabbit and an antelope. Combining both these animals gives you the name Jackalope.
I really like how soft this one looks and especially like how the paper on the chest almost looks like actual fur.
Jackalope, Designed by Satoshi Kamiya and Folded by Hiroaki Kobayashi
Diagrams available in Tanteidan Magazine #149
Next we have this amazing origami Valkyrie. Valkyries are female warriors from Norse mythology who choose those who live and those who die in battle.
This one is folded from a single square of 70 cm x 70 cm sized paper!
Valkyrie, Designed and Folded by Bart Davids
Crease pattern available from Bar Davids' Flickr
Pretty much everyone knows about the legend of the genie in the lamp. This amazing genie is folded from a single sheet of paper! When you use paper that's a different colour on each side you end up with different colours for the clothing, lamp and genie. I have absolutely no idea how someone can design something like this with only folded paper.
Genie, Designed and Folded by Hubert Villeneuve
Instructions not available
A Cockatrice is essentially a dragon-like creature with the head of a rooster from English myth. Here's a fantastic paper Cockatrice design from Finward.
Cockatrice, Designed and Folded by Finward
Instructions not available
This next creation is one of the coolest things I've ever seen. This is a Nue, a legendary Japanese spirits called Yokai. A Nue has the body of a racoon dog, the head of a monkey, the legs of a tiger and a snake for a tail.
This origami version is folded from 26 individual squares of paper which is how Hiroaki Kobayashi is able to get so many different colours in this incredible design.
Nue, Designed and Folded by Hiroaki Kobayashi
Instructions not available
Next is a paper version of a Chinese guardian lion statue. This whole model is folded from one 60 cm x 60 cm square of paper. It's also completely 3D with no gaps or holes in the design as well!
Chinese Guardian Lion, Designed and Folded by Hyun Seok Kang
Instructions not available
Here we have Lord Rama, the most virtuous hero from Hindu myth although many people think he's based on an actual historical figure.
Lord Rama, Designed by Neelesh Kumar and Folded by Никита Васильев
Crease pattern available from Neelesh Kumar's Flickr
There are tons of different unicorn designs out there and we've posted about them before. This design though stands out to me because it's so different from most of the others.
Unicorn, Designed by Andrey Ermakov and Folded by Guillermo R. Parrondo
Diagrams available in Olympiad 2014
This Pegasus is designed by Satoshi Kamiya although Tkak Sakai modified the head with an original design. It's nice to see the model from two different angles too.
Pegasus, Designed by Satoshi Kamiya and Folded by Tkak Sakai
Diagrams available in Works of Satoshi Kamiya 1995-2003
This Centaur design is absolutely fantastic, especially how the man's torso is a different colour from the body of the horse. This particular model was part of a Korean origami exhibition.
Centaur, Designed and Folded by Yoo Tae Yong
Instructions not available
Gen Hagiwara designed this really cute paper version of the Zodiac sign Capricorn. The crumpled up ball of paper it's sitting on is a very nice touch. It's based off of his previous Hippocampus design.
Capricorn, Designed and Folded by Gen Hagiwara
Instructions not available
He also designed this really cute Kirin. Kirin is the Japanese name for the Chinese mythological creature known as a Qilin. Kirins are good omens that are thought to signify periods of prosperity or tranquility. They're often depicted with fire all over their bodies. It would be cool to see a flaming origami kirin some time but you'd have to photograph that really quick before it burned up.
Kirin, Designed and Folded by Gen Hagiwara
Instructions not available
There are a few really good fallen angel designs out there but this one is especially great. I especially love how real the hood and sleeves look.
Fallen Angel, Designed by Yoshimasa Tsuruta and Folded by Alex Mironenko
Instructions not available
Next is this awesome looking Basilisk. A Basilisk is a creature from Greek mythology that can turn people to stone by looking at them. Traditionally they look like reptiles or serpents but sometimes they look similar to the Cockatrice like you see here. The scales on the tail here look really great and must have taken a lot of time and patience to fold.
Basilisk, Designed and Folded by Bodo Haag
Crease pattern available from Bodo Haag's Flickr
This next creature is a Karasu Tengu from Japanese folklore. Tengu are a type of Shinto god and Karasu Tengu are a more bird-like kind of Tengu. The name Karasu Tengu translates as "Crow Tengu".
Karasu Tengu, Designed by Kashiwamura Takuro and Folded by Ivan Svatko
Crease pattern available in Tanteidan magazine #132
Next is one of the most unique phoenix designs I've seen made by a Korean origami artist. It's folded from a single square of 60cm x 60cm paper.
Phoenix, Designed and Folded by Choi Ju Young
Instructions not available
Cerberus is the 3-headed legendary dog from Greek mythology that guards the entrance to the underworld to prevent the dead from leaving. Satoshi Kamiya has an excellent Cerberus design and in this particular one I really like how you can see the curled paper that makes the eyes on the heads.
Cerberus, Designed by Satoshi Kamiya and Folded by Vít Masopust
Diagrams available in Works of Satoshi Kamiya 2, 2002 – 2009
This excellent paper bird is the only Roc design I've seen. The Roc is a giant eagle-like bird-of-prey from Persian mythology. This one is folded from a single 50cm x 50cm square of paper.
Roc, Designed and Folded by Roman Diaz
Instructions not available
This next creation is definitely one of the most unique looking origami designs I've ever seen. This Bael, a demon and one of the 7 princes of Hell. Some think Bael is also Satan's main assistant. Since you've probably never seen or heard of Bael here's an illustration from Wikipedia.
As you can see, Hiroaki Kobayashi has recreated this perfectly with folded paper. His version of Bael is folded using 15 different sheets of paper which like in his Nue design is how he can get so many different colours into the design. I really like the frog part of this too.
Bael, Designed and Folded by Hiroaki Kobayashi
Instructions not available
Hubert Villeneuve designed this absolutely fantastic Harpie and it's folded from a single square of paper too! This particular model is now part of a permanent exhibit in Zaragoza. I especially love all the detail down the back of the model. It definitely looks very bird-like, especially with those tail feathers.
Harpie, Designed and Folded by Hubert Villeneuve
Instructions not available
Miyamoto Chuya's Grim Reaper is a pretty famous design and here's one expertly folded by Tomasz Krawczyk. If you use two coloured paper, ideally one side black and one side white you end up with different colours for the cloak and all the skeleton parts which is pretty cool.
Grim Reaper, Designed by Miyamoto Chuya and Folded by Tomasz Krawczyk
Video instructions available from Mariano Zavala B.'s YouTube channel
Our final model for this post is this absolutely incredible sea serpent attacking a ship. The entire model, both the ship and the serpent is folded from a single square of paper. This square of paper was 1 metre x 1 metre! You'd need a huge amount of space to fold something with a sheet of paper that big.
Stormy Seas, Designed and Folded by Bart Davids
Crease pattern available from Bart Davids' Flickr
Mythology is absolutely perfect for origami. Since there's so many different creatures and figures from cultures all around the world we'll probably never run out of fantastic things to fold.
Let us know which one of these designs was your favourite in the comments!
23 "Clawsome" Origami Dragons and Wyverns
We're back after a bit of a break over the holidays! I hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year.
Our first post of 2017 features some more awesome origami dragons. Dragons are still probably my favourite thing to see folded with paper.
First up is this kind of adorable little paper wyvern.
Fire Wyvern, Designed and Folded by CahoonasOrigami
Instructions not available
This wyvern was photographed at Phillip Marius Kost's display at the 22nd Origami Tanteidan Convention.
Wyvern, Designed and Folded by Phillip Marius Kost (Photo by Hiroaki Kobayashi)
Crease pattern available from Phillip Marius Kost's Flickr
You can't have a post about dragons without including Satoshi Kamiya's always amazing looking Ryujin. This one is folded by Damian Malicki and it took him an entire month to fold it out of a sheet of 190cm x 190cm sized paper!
Ryujin 3.5, Designed by Satoshi Kamiya and Folded by Damian Malicki
Crease pattern available in World of Super Complex Origami
Here's another absolutely incredible western style dragon. This entire model is folded from a 60cm x 60cm square of paper and Nguyen Nam Son tweaked the design a bit to give it four horns instead of two.
Western Dragon, Designed by Nhan Van Son and Folded by Nguyen Nam Son
Instructions not available
Satoshi Kamiya's Ancient Dragon is another super popular design and this one folded by Matthieu Georger looks fantastic.
Ancient Dragon, Designed by Satoshi Kamiya and Folded by Matthieu Georger
Diagrams available in Works of Satoshi Kamiya 1995-2003
Follow Matthieu Georger on Flickr
Here's another great unique looking dragon.
Hybrid Dragon, Designed and Folded by Rodolfo Rizzo
Instructions not available
Shuki Kato's Wester dragon is another very popular dragon design. This one folded by Hiroaki Kobayashi is one of the best ones I've ever seen.
Western Dragon, Designed by Shuki Kato and Folded by Hiroaki Kobayashi
Video instructions available from Tadashi Mori’s YouTube channel
Here's another very unique dragon design that I've only ever seen folded by paper in dream. This one is folded from one square of paper that's 90cm x 90cm.
Lustre Dragon, Designed and Folded by paper in dream
Instructions not available
Satoshi Kamiya's Ryujin certainly looks like it belongs in this garden.
Ryujin 3.5, Designed by Satoshi Kamiya and Folded by Daniel Brown
Crease pattern available in World of Super Complex Origami
This is a much simpler dragon design. Even though it's less complex it still looks really great.
Simple Dragon, Designed by Shuki Kato and Folded by Hiroaki Kobayashi
Video instructions available from Tadashi Mori's YouTube channel
Riccardo Foschi designed this awesome river dragon with a very expressive face. In this photo you can see a bit of the process of folding it.
River Dragon, Designed and Folded by Riccardo Foschi
Crease pattern available from Riccardo Foschi's Flickr
Here's another awesome take on Satoshi Kamiya's Ancient Dragon.
Ancient Dragon, Designed by Satoshi Kamiya and Folded by Origami bluedandelion
Diagrams available in Works of Satoshi Kamiya 1995-2003
This photo of Satoshi Kamiya's Ryujin really shows the details on the scales. It definitely takes a very long time to fold all of those. This is really a fantastic Eastern dragon design.
Ryujin 3.5, Designed by Satoshi Kamiya and Folded by NGUYỄN QUANG ANH
Crease pattern available in World of Super Complex Origami
Here's another much simpler design that's also kind of cute too.
Western Dragon, Designed by Jun Maekawa and Folded by Rui Roda
Diagrams available in Genuine Origami
This is Tadashi Mori's excellent Darkness Dragon.
Darkness Dragon, Designed by Tadashi Mori and Folded by Malleon
Video instructions available from Tadashi Mori's YouTube channel
Here's another great dragon design by Kade Chan.
Fiery Dragon, Designed by Kade Chan and Folded by Jaime Niño
Video instructions available from Kade Chan's YouTube channel
This is Kade Chan's Fiery Dragon again but as you can see it looks very different folded by a different artist.
Fiery Dragon, Designed by Kade Chan and Folded by Luc MARNAT
Video instructions available from Kade Chan's YouTube channel
Here are a couple of different views of Satoshi Kamiya's Ancient Dragon. You don't usually get to see the back of the model like this.
Ancient Dragon, Designed by Satoshi Kamiya and Folded by Kota Imai
Diagrams available in Works of Satoshi Kamiya 1995-2003
This next photo is an earlier 2.1 version of Satoshi Kamiya's Ryujin. It's a bit less complicated than the 3.5 version. This one is folded from a single sheet of paper that's 120cm x 120cm.
Ryujin 2.1, Designed by Satoshi Kamiya and Folded by Damian Malicki
Crease pattern available from folders.jp
J.W Park says he had a very difficult time folding this two headed dragon but I think it looks amazing.
Two-Headed Dragon, Designed by Nham Van Son and Folded by J.W Park
Diagrams available in VOG 2: Origami.vn
Here's an oriental style paper dragon. This one is kind of cute.
Oriental Dragon, Designed by Anibal Voyer and Folded by Alexander Krupnikov
Diagrams available in Pajarita Magazine 47
This is a really awesome photo and a great dragon design.
Dragon, Designed by Gen Hagiwara and Folded by CaptainMoon
Crease pattern available from Gen Hagiwara's Flickr
Here's a rather cartoonish dragon that's unlike pretty much any other origami dragon I've seen.
Tagua Tagua, Designed and Folded by Finward
Instructions not available
Our final model for this post is this incredible origami version of the dragon Alduin from the video game Skyrim. The entire model is folded from a single square sheet of paper.
Alduin, the World Eater, Designed by Satoshi Kamiya and Folded by Nguyen Nam Son
Crease pattern available from folders.jp
That's it for this post. Be sure to check out each of these amazing artists and let them know you like their work!
Great, Grandiose and Glorious Origami Gargoyles
Gargoyles are statues that are designed to convey water from a building's roof. The water would usually run through a channel on the back of the gargoyle and out through a spout in its mouth.
These gargoyles are made out of paper to using them to discharge water is probably not a good idea.
Nonetheless they look quite awesome and I've seen enough origami gargoyles now to make this post.
We'll start this post off with this imposing gargoyle by Tong Liu.
Gargoyle, Designed by Hoang Trung Thanh and Folded by Tong Liu
Instructions not available
Here's a great little gargoyle design by Andrés.
Gargoyle, Designed and Folded by Andrés Lozano
Diagrams available from Andrés Lozano's website
Here's a very tiny version of Alessadro Beber's gargoyle. I definitely don't think I could fold something like this so small.
Gargoyle, Designed by Alessadro Beber and Folded by Xu Daniel
Diagrams available in the Origami Tanteidan 20th Convention book
This is an updated version of Andrés Lozano's design.
Gargoyle 1.1, Designed and Folded by Andrés Lozano
Instructions not available
Here's a larger version of Alessandro Beber's Gargoyle and you can really make out all the amazing details in the design.
Gargoyle, Designed by Alessandro Beber and Folded by Анатолий Кириченко
Diagrams available in the Origami Tanteidan 20th Convention book
José Anibal Voyer designed this great little gargoyle mask.
Gargoyle Mask, Designed by José Anibal Voyer and Folded by Rui Roda
Diagrams available in The Book of Folded Paper Masks
Here's another fantastic gargoyle mask design from Tom Defoirdt.
Gargoyle Mask, Designed and Folded by Tom Defoirdt
Instructions not available
This is Hoàng Trung Thành's gargoyle design folded incredibly small by Xu Daniel.
Gargoyle, Designed by Hoàng Trung Thành and Folded by Xu Daniel
Crease pattern available from Hoàng Trung Thành's Flickr
Here's a great traditional looking gargoyle that you could totally see perched on the corner of a roof somewhere.
Gargoyle, Designed and Folded by Thong Nguyen Nguyen
Instructions not available
Andrey Ermakov's gargoyle is definitely one of the most impressive designs I've seen. It's folded from one single sheet of paper and this one took him 15 hours to fold.
Gargoyle, Designed and Folded by Andrey Ermakov
Crease pattern available from Andrey Ermakov's Flickr
Here's another great version of Andrés Lozano's gargoyle.
Gargoyle, Designed and Folded by Andrés Lozano
Instructions not available
Tran Trung Hieu designed this fantastic gargoyle that definitely looks like something you could see on the corner of a roof.
Gargoyle, Designed and Folded by Tran Trung Hieu
Instructions not available
Follow Tran Trung Hieu on Flickr or Facebook
Alessandro Beber has also designed an absolutely fantastic paper gargoyle.
Gargoyle, Designed and Folded by Alessandro Beber
Crease pattern available from Alessandro Beber's Flickr
Here's another view of Alessandro Beber's gargoyle folded by a different artist.
Gargoyle, Designed by Alessandro Beber and Folded by Andrew Sohn
Crease pattern available from Alessandro Beber's Flickr
This is the earlier 2.1 version of Alessandro Beber's origami gargoyle.
Gargoyle, Designed and Folded by Alessandro Beber
Crease pattern available from Alessandro Beber's Flickr
Here's a fantastic gargoyle design by Hubert Villeneuve that he designed for an origami challenge.
Gargoyle, Designed and Folded by Hubert Villeneuve
Instructions not available
Here's another excellent gargoyle mask design.
Gargoyle Mask, Designed by Rikki Donachie and Folded by Rui Roda
Diagram available in BOS Magazine #243
Our final model for this post is this incredible Gargoyle by Andrey Ermakov. He created this as part of a contest to honour the great origami artist Eric Joisel who passed away in 2010.
Unfortunately this model didn't win the contest and I can't imagine what the winning model must have looked like.
Gargoyle, Designed and Folded by Andrey Ermakov
Crease pattern available from Andrey Ermakov's Flickr
Which one of these paper gargoyles was your favourite? Let us know in the comments and be sure to check out these artists on Flickr as well.
Get Fired Up for these Incredible Origami Dragons
Origami dragons are still probably my favourite thing and there's no shortage of incredible origami dragons out there.
Here's another post featuring another round of some of my favourite origami dragons.
First up is one of the most famous and coolest looking origami dragons by Satoshi Kamiya.
Ancient Dragon, Designed by Satoshi Kamiya and Folded by Sergey Yartsev
Diagrams available in Works of Satoshi Kamiya 1995-2003
This incredible Asian style dragon is probably the second most famous origami dragon out there. It's also designed by Satoshi Kamiya.
Ryujin 3.5, Designed by Satoshi Kamiya and Folded by smorig44
Crease pattern available in World of Super Complex Origami
Here's a beautiful, less complex dragon out in the wild.
Flame Dragon, Designed by Shuki Kato and Folded by Folded Wilderness
Diagrams available from Shuki Kato's Flickr
Shuki Kato has also designed another incredible Western style dragon.
Western Dragon, Designed by Shuki Kato and Folded by Nguyen Nam Son
Video instructions available from Tadashi Mori's YouTube channel
This is another quite simple looking dragon but it's also one of the cutest dragons I've seen.
Dragon, Designed by Luca Vitagliano and Folded by Juanfran Carrillo
Instructions not available
Here's a pretty fantastic and intimidating looking Darkness Dragon.
Darkness Dragon, Designed by Tadashi Mori and Folded by Rodolfo Rizzo
Video instructions available from Tadashi Mori's YouTube channel
Here's another incredible fold of Satoshi Kamiya's Ancient Dragon and the photo shows off a very different view and details that you don't normally see.
Ancient Dragon, Designed by Satoshi Kamiya and Folded by P. Colman
Diagrams available in Works of Satoshi Kamiya 1995-2003
This is another excellent rendition of Shuki Kato's Western dragon.
Western Dragon, Designed by Shuki Kato and Folded by 簡單的度過-2
Video instructions available from Tadashi Mori's YouTube channel
This is an earlier 2.1 version of Satoshi Kamiya's Ryujin and I can't imagine how difficult it must be to fold one of these so small. Xu Daniel said it took him 5 hours.
Ryujin 2.1, Designed by Satoshi Kamiya and Folded by Xu Daniel
Crease pattern available from the Origami Forum
Shuki Kato's Zoanoid Dragon is another one of the most impressive origami dragons that I've seen. This whole model is folded from one sheet of paper and Shuki Kato estimates it took 30 hours to fold!
Zoanoid Dragon, Designed and Folded by Shuki Kato
Crease pattern available from Shuki Kato's Flickr
This next dragon is probably my all time favourite origami dragon. I love how it's walking around like it thinks it's better than everyone.
Larval Wyrm, Designed and Folded by Tran Trung Hieu
Diagrams available in VOG: 50 Hours of Origami+
Follow Tran Trung Hieu on Flickr or Facebook
Here's another amazing Ryujin this time folded by Yery J. Astroña (yeryco).
Ryujin, Designed by Satoshi Kamiya and Folded by Yery J. Astroña (yeryco)
Crease pattern available in World of Super Complex Origami
Bahamut is a creature from Arabic mythology that was popularized as a dragon in the Final Fantasy video game series and Dungeons and Dragons. Satoshi Kamiya designed an amazing origami Bahamut but I think this one is even more impressive.
Bahamut, Designed and Folded by 驰 张
Instructions not available
No matter how you photograph this Ancient Dragon it always looks awesome.
Ancient Dragon, Designed by Satoshi Kamiya and Folded by Hiroaki Kobayashi
Diagrams available in Works of Satoshi Kamiya 1995-2003
Here's another fantastic traditional Western style dragon design.
Dragon Heart, Designed by Fernando Gilgado and Folded by Luc MARNAT
Diagrams available in the 14th Origami Tanteidan Convention Book
This is another not too difficult dragon that still looks quite excellent.
Dragon, Designed by Miyamoto Chuya and Folded by Jack Dreyil
Diagrams available in Origami Tanteidan Magazine #83
Next is another Eastern style dragon that's not too complicated but still has a lot of character.
Eastern Dragon, Designed by Kim Jin Woo and Folded by Yoo Tae Yong
Instructions not available
Here's an incredible origami wyvern (a dragon with 2 legs).
Wyvern II, Designed and Folded by Finward
Crease pattern available from Fiinward's blog
Here's one more Ancient Dragon for this post coming up to say hello. This one seems a lot more friendly.
Ancient Dragon, Designed by Satoshi Kamiya and Folded by Mauricio Flórez
Diagrams available in Works of Satoshi Kamiya 1995-2003
And here's one more Ryujin as well.
Ryujin 3.5, Designed by Satoshi Kamiya and Folded by 簡單的度過-2
Crease pattern available in World of Super Complex Origami
This is just the head of a dragon but as far as dragon heads go it's a pretty fantastic looking one.
Dragon Head, Designed by Kawahata Fumiaki and Folded by Adriano Davanzo
Diagrams available in Origami Tanteidan Magazine #59
Here's another incredible looking unique dragon design by Finward.
Dragon, Designed and Folded by Finward
Instructions not available
Our final model for this post is this incredible origami version of the dragon Deathwing from World of Warcraft. Believe it or not this entire model with all of its little details is folded from one sheet of paper.
Deathwing, Designed and Folded by Nguyen Nam Son
Instructions not available
That's it for this post. Let us know which one of these dragons was your favourite and be sure to check out each of these artist and send them some likes and comments as well.
Amazing Origami Angels to Harp on About
Angels probably aren't the first thing you think of when it comes to origami unless it's maybe Christmas related. Surprisingly enough though, there are a ton of really amazing origami angels out there.
Many of them are incredibly complex as you'll see and most of them are folded from single sheets of paper!
To start things off we have Raphael Mausolf's Angel 1.0. This angel is folded from one sheet of paper and the wings are based off of the body design for Satoshi Kamiya's Ryujin.
According to Catholic tradition there's an archangel named Raphael too which is an interesting coincidence.
Angel 1.0, Designed and Folded by Raphael Mausolf
Crease pattern available from Raphael Mausolf's Flickr
Gabriel is probably the most famous angel and Hojyo Takashi has designed an excellent origami version of him. This is another angel design that is made using one square sheet of paper.
Gabriel, Designed by Hojyo Takashi and Folded by Dzmitry Lysiuk
Crease pattern available in World of Super Complex Origami
Here's one of the most amazing origami designs I've ever seen of some kind of evil angel. I would not be surprised to find out the entire model is one sheet of paper but I don't know that for sure.
It's a shame that this photo doesn't have way more favourites and comments.
Designed and Folded by 驰 张
Instructions not available
The shaping for this next angel is inspired by those terrifying Weeping Angel statue creatures from the TV series Doctor Who.
Weeping Angel, Designed by Mario Adrados Netto and Folded by Lucas Honor
Diagrams available in Pajarita Magazine #53
This is a cute idea giving the white angel a red origami heart. The wings are based on a design for the wings of an origami crane.
Love Angel, Designed and Folded by 晓 陈
Instructions not available
Here are a couple of musical angels. Each one is folded from a single sheet of paper.
Angels in Concert, Designed by Fumiaki Kawahata and Folded by Adriano Davanzo
Angel playing the lute diagrams available in the 7th Origami Tanteidan Convention Book
Angel playing the harp diagrams available in Origami Tanteidan Magazine #69
This is a really cool idea doing a half regular, half fallen angel. Both halves of the body and wings are all folded from one sheet of paper!
Light and Dark, Designed and Folded by Tran Trung Hieu
Instructions not available
Follow Tran Trung Hieu on Flickr or Facebook
Here's an origami angel that definitely looks ready to go into battle.
Winged Warrior, Designed and Folded by Jordan Langerak
Instructions not available
Here's another fantastic angel that's also ready to fight. The entire model is apparently one sheet of paper! I have no idea how Kade Chan managed that, especially on that cross it's holding.
The Disciple, Designed and Folded by Kade Chan
Instructions not available
Here's another incredible origami angel folded from a single sheet of paper. I love the wing design in this one, it's very different from a lot of the other origami angels.
Angel, Designed and Folded by Hubert Villeneuve
Instructions not available
Here's another mind blowing origami angel and I'm 99% sure it's folded from one sheet of paper.
Designed and Folded by 驰 张
Instructions not available
Next is another more evil looking angel of death which again, I'm pretty sure it's folded from one sheet of paper.
Designed and Folded by 驰 张
Instructions not available
This is another excellent somewhat complex angel design.
Angel, Designed by Hans Romano and Folded by mark origami (2)
Instructions not available
Here's another take on Hojyo Takashi's Gabriel
Gabriel, Designed by Hojyo Takashi and Folded by paper in dream
Crease pattern available in World of Super Complex Origami
This is a much simpler origami angel but it's still a fantastic and elegant design.
Esperanza, Designed and Folded by Fabian Correa
Instructions not available
This angel is definitely folded from multiple sheets of paper but it's still very impressive looking.
Hawk Eyes, Designed and Folded by Tran Trung Hieu
Instructions not available
Follow Tran Trung Hieu on Flickr or Facebook
Here's another absolutely mind-blowing evil-looking origami angel that needs a lot more attention than the picture's received so far.
Designed and Folded by 驰 张
Instructions not available
Here are both of Fumiaki Kawahata's musical angels again by a different folder which a very different look.
Angels, Designed by Fumiaki Kawahata and Folded by Eyal
Angel playing the lute diagrams available in the 7th Origami Tanteidan Convention Book
Angel playing the harp diagrams available in Origami Tanteidan Magazine #69
This is a more feminine and quite beautiful looking angel. The model is folded from one sheet of paper (not including the stone).
Angel, Designed and Folded by 晓 陈
Instructions not available
I believe that this next angel is the same design as the weeping angel from earlier in this post however it's folded very differently to give it a much more evil look.
Angel, Designed by Mario Adrados Netto and Folded by Mariano Zavala B.
Diagrams available in Pajarita Magazine #53
Here's another fantastic angel design and I especially like how it seems to be wearing feathery sort of clothing.
Angel 3.0, Designed by Hoang Trung Thanh and Folded by Tran Trung Hieu
Crease pattern available from Passion Origami
Follow Tran Trung Hieu on Flickr or Facebook
Here's another incredible and very complex origami angel. The entire model including that cross is folded from the same single sheet of paper.
Angel, Designed and Folded by Jordan Langerak
Instructions not available
This is a very different angel design with more than two wings. The whole model is folded from one sheet of paper and the colour change used in the design looks fantastic.
Archangel, Designed and Folded by paper in dream
Instructions not available
Here's a very impressive scene with two figures playing music. There are apparently 11 sheets of paper used here to fold everything.
Sounds of Angel, Designed and Folded by Leo Lai
Instructions not available
Our last image for this post is this incredible origami version of the angel Michael. There are five sheets of paper used here to fold everything.
Archangel St Michael 2013, Designed and Folded by Tran Trung Hieu
Instructions not available
Follow Tran Trung Hieu on Flickr or Facebook
That's it for this post, let us know in the comments which one of these origami angels was your favourite. Be sure to visit each of these origami artists on Flickr and let them know you liked their work too. A lof of these models didn't get nearly as much attention as they deserve.
Fascinating and Slightly Bizarre Origami Hybrid Creatures
An interesting thing that I've noticed some origami artists doing is designing models that are half one animal and half another ending up with a strange sort of hybrid creature.
I've reached a point where I've seen enough of these that I decided to make a post about them.
Eric Vigier is a master of origami hybrid creatures so we'll start off this post with his Grenoceros, a hybrid between a frog and a rhinoceros.
Grenoceros, Designed and Folded by Eric Vigier
Instructions not available
Andrés designed this great little origami wolf with wings.
Lobo Alado, Designed by Eduardo C.T. and Folded by Andrés
Diagrams available in nº 2 Origami de Autor Magazine
Here's a rather unsettling looking spider with a human face.
Hope, Designed and Folded by Eric Vigier
Instructions not available
A while ago Mariano Zavala B. started designing a bunch of fantastic human animal hybrid models. This one is called Mr. Hare.
Mr. Hare, Designed and Folded by Mariano Zavala B.
Instructions not available
This creature is called a Royal Cobrafe and is a combination of a royal cobra and a giraffe.
Royal Cobrafe, Designed and Folded by Eric Vigier
Instructions not available
Next we have this beautiful 3-way hybrid of a giraffe with wings that's also part octopus. It's definitely a strange combination but weirdly enough it looks quite beautiful.
Winged Giraffopus, Designed and Folded by Daniel Chang
Instructions not available
Here we have a strange two-legged dinosaur and lion hybrid.
Diorama Roitelion, Designed and Folded by Eric Vigier
Instructions not available
Here's another excellent animal human hybrid creature from Mariano Zavala B. This one is called Mr. Bulldog.
Mr. Bulldog, Designed and Folded by Mariano Zavala B.
Instructions not available
We had a Cobrafe earlier and now it's time for a Girabra.
Girabra, Designed and Folded by Eric Vigier
Instructions not available
Here's a group of seahorses that all have antlers or "sea deer" if you prefer.
Chevrocampus, Designed and Folded by Eric Vigier
Instructions not available
This is a different kind of seahorse hybrid now and this time it has wings instead of antlers.
Winged Seahorse, Designed and Folded by Daniel Chang
Instructions not available
Here we have a Kangarull, a hybrid between an origami kangaroo and a bull.
Kangarull, Designed and Folded by Eric Vigier
Instructions not available
Giraffes seem to be popular animals to make into origami hybrids. This next image is of a Giraffe Beetle.
Giraffe Beetle (BKG), Designed and Folded by Jared Needle
Crease pattern available from Jared Needle's Flickr
Here's another dog and human hybrid creature called Mr. Pug.
Mr. Pug, Designed and Folded by Mariano Zavala B.
Instructions not available
This cleverly named Escarphant is a combination of a snail and an elephant.
Escarphant, Designed and Folded by Eric Vigier
Instructions not available
This next image is still one of my all time favourite origami photos. The colours on the paper used, the background and the design are all absolutely fantastic.
Leap of Faith, Designed and Folded by Daniel Chang
Instructions not available
Here we have one more human dog hybrid known as Mr. Boston Terrier.
Mr. Boston Terrier, Designed and Folded by Mariano Zavala B.
Instructions not available
This is a combination of a panda and a penguin and if you click through the image source link you'll see Eric Vigier has written a bunch of information about this species.
Panguin, Designed and Folded by Eric Vigier
Instructions not available
This next model is probably the cutest origami creature I've ever seen and I've wanted to feature it in a post on this site for as long as I can remember.
Winged Coffee Giraffe, Designed and Folded by Daniel Chang
Instructions not available
Our final image for this post is this excellent scene of a Cobraffe fighting with another imaginary creature called a Hyenate.
Cobrafe versus Hyenate, Designed and Folded by Eric Vigier
Instructions not available
Which one of these crazy origami hybrid creatures was your favourite? Let us know in the comments and be sure to check the image sources to let the artists know what you think about their work as well!