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Showing posts from March, 2022

Triangle Oblivion Origami Tessellation

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 This is a crazy tessellation that I came up with rather suddenly. When it first occurred to me,  I thought to myself, there's no way I can actually fold this. It's too crazy. Seeing my diagram, it seemed like madness.  The truth is, it is kind of insane. Basically, it's just an endless array of small triangles around small offset hexagonal twists. It's very, very, very dense.  But actually, it wasn't that difficult to execute.  All the triangles alternate front, then back, front then back. And so on.  Even though I mapped it out before I began and also did a small tester, I still wasn't  entirely sure it would work until it did.  The idea seemed kind of ridiculous.  But in the end, it did work rather nicely and it wasn't even that hard to do. Even now, as I look at the photos, I'm wondering how I managed to make it happen.  Go figure.  I haven't seen this one before, so maybe it's new. No way to know for sure.  Of course, I do have my crease pat

Elongated Rhombuses Flagstone Tessellation

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 Flagstone tessellations are one of my favorite origami tessellations. However, I haven't done one for a while. So I was a little rusty. This is one that I saw on Instagram. It belonged to monikahankova.  Update: I've learned this is actually a Joel Cooper design.  Since I liked the design, I set about discovering how to fold it.  At the center starting point is your classic rhombus star around a small hex twist on the reverse. I had forgotten how many triangle twists happen on the back side of these kinds of tesses. So many triangles.    It then repeats using longer rhombuses and some large triangles on the back.  My first attempt to map it out had an error in it, but that mistake didn't take too long to lead me in the right direction. My second attempt was successful.  The actual fold came out as one of the most precise flagstones I've ever folded.  I used plain copy paper. I really went in thinking I would struggle to execute it, but it was actually a pleasure to fol

Choking Triangles Origami Tessellation

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  This is a design that started out much different in my head before it finally made its way to the paper. I just pictured it differently when I first started mapping out the shapes.  As I was working with the geometry and it began to coalesce, I realized how it would eventually turn out and I was surprised that I hadn't seen it sooner.  Such is my process.  It's a structure not all that different from some other tessellations I've done (my own and others).  But I'm always looking for new configurations in the grid. This seems to fit that goal.  While it's not wildly different, it does veer off on a slightly alternate tangent.  Admittedly, I'm a little fixated on collapsing triangles in this particular manner.  Whether this is a creative hinderance or an asset, is anyone's guess. I don't have a straight up crease pattern, but I do have a couple of pics of the collapsing process (front and back) that illustrate how it's made.  Use them as you wish. 

Triangle Roads Origami Tessellation

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 This is an idea based off of classic flagstone techniques. However, instead of having everything nestled close together, like a typical flagstone tessellation, I've spread it out a little bit. It's all small triangles on the front that are connected by your usual flagstone style arms, but there is more space between them than usual.  Closely packed large hexagons are formed on the reverse side.  I've seen a lot of flagstone tessellations by many different people over the years, but I haven't seen this particular usage of the connection method. This could use other shapes in conjunction with the triangles or other shapes all together. There are a lot of possibilities.    Just figured I'd start with something straight forward.  It's not a super difficult fold, but it isn't very easy either.  The reverse side is pretty tightly spaced, even though the front is not. 

Overlapping Angular Stars Reverse Engineer

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 This is a tessellation by Arseniy K. I've reverse engineered a bunch of his designs. They are usually pretty tricky to figure, this one included. They're also almost always tricky to fold. This one is no exception.  Personally, I love the challenge.  It's a wonderful aha moment when the structure finally coalesces in your mind.  It's a fun journey working it all out and following the clues.  This one was made more difficult because only a photo of the front was available. He also likes to fold overlapping designs. So some of the architecture is usually hidden.  Nevertheless, it's a satisfying, if extended, chase to catch the prize.  Wish I'd used sturdier paper. Not happy with some of the edges.  Might fold it again in the future to try for a cleaner finished product.  Crease pattern is down below.  But be forewarned, it's not an easy one. 

Reverse and Fold of Another Tessellation by 'GatheringFolds'

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This is another reverse and fold which was originally conceived by 'gatheringfolds'. I forget what she called it.  It was a pretty fun one. Not frustrating to figure. Not irritating to fold.  The result: pretty darn cool looking for not a lot of effort.  It works really well with ordinary paper on a 32 pleat grid.  All triangles on the one side.  Some open back hexes and rhombuses on the other.  Personal choice which you think is the front and which you think is the back.  The best part of tessellations is figuring them out for yourself.  Successfully folding your result is also pretty rewarding.  All these years of folding tessellations and I'm still amazed by what can be done with a single sheet of paper. 

Origami Tessellation: Flowing Triangles and Rhombuses

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Update: It dawned on me while browsing my Instagram that this tessellation is exactly the same as the Dancing Ribbons Tessellation by gatheringdolds that I reversed a few posts back.  This happens to me occasionally. I totally forget having done something and do it again thinking it's new. It usually happens with something old of my own that I'd done years ago. But this time it happened with someone else's idea from very recently. Go figure.  The good part is, it looks incredible with the blue paper. Also, a thinner paper resulted in a much cleaner fold.  End of update. This is an idea that came to me pretty suddenly. It reminds of and is similar to other designs I've see and folded, but I don't recall having seen this exact configuration.  There are so many origami tessellations out there. There also seem to be nearly infinite possible ways to come up with new ones. That's half the fun.  At any rate, this is the one I most recently conceived and folded. It may