An Origami Horse I Can Be Proud Of

Every now and then, I surprise even myself on how wonderful a design turns out.  As with the Rhino, This Horse exceeded my expectations.  Now I know it is not perfect,  and it is a design tat I ave played around with for years.   However,  There were several things that I think really worked for this piece that I have failed to get to work before.   Namely, the hooves, mane, and head. 


The ears have always been fairly easy to work out, but they often were wither too large, ( i.e. donkey!) Or too thin to look much like a horse.  Sometimes I just buried them as they were too much of a hassle to make work.  However,  this time  I was able to unfold them slightly giving them a curved, broad shape.   Very horse-like in their look. 

The next was the hooves.  What can I say?  they finally turned out the way I thought they should.  Perhaps it was the paper strength, or the size of the sculpture, but I was able to work my finger in to form  them to the perfect shape.  It's true,  there are no " pure folds" here.   It's wet folded so I allow myself a little artistic leeway.  After all,  I'm the one shaping the paper! 

Last was the head.  I rarely ever make two horses the same, even though I follow the same folding sequence.   call me odd, but I just find it difficult to fold two designs exactly identical.  Even the simple origami Crane I have to add pleats, widen the tail, or lengthen the beak...whatever I feel like at the moment.   So I folded this head with several pleats around the top while pulling out the bottom of the chin.   The left over paper was used for a mane!  The eyes  and nose look pretty good, considering that pervious attempts often look more like crumpled paper and less like what I intended.  

So, After gushing about this one model,  I think that it is important to mention the paper.   I used 36" craft paper that I glued together with diluted tacky glue.  I rotated the two pieces so that the paper fibers would be running perpendicular to each other ( something I should NOT repeat!   The fibers shrank and contracted forming bubbles and wrinkles in the paper!)  I then coated both sides with methylcellulose and pressed it down with several heavy books to flatten it.  In the end, the paper was thicker and stronger than the normal single width craft paper I have been using.  I was able to rewet and dry it several times to keep the shapes intact with minimal "help" from glue.  It still requires assistance to help it stand, but I "could stand" if I did not mind the legs flaring out. 

Other than that, I folded a couple other turtles yesterday.  Another snapper with a different shell pattern and a sea turtle.  I actually like the one I did on Saturday slightly better.  But the wet folded cardstock still looks promising.  Hope everyone had a great weekend!  MLK day was fun for us as we traveled to Des Moines to check out the shops.   We did not stay long but at least got a feel for a real city that is unfamiliar to us.  Hope everyone has a great week!