Of course the Neverlands vary a good deal. John’s, for instance, had a lagoon with flamingos flying over it at which John was shooting, while Michael, who was very small, had a flamingo with lagoons flying over it.
J. M. Barrie, Peter Pan
About the Origami Flamingo
It’s impossible to spend much time doing origami without coming across the name John Montroll. He has to be one of the most prolific origami designers and authors in the world. Pretty much everyone that has an origami book collection will have one or more of his books on the shelf, and I know several people who started out folding Montroll’s designs. This is one of his models. Like a lot of Montroll’s designs, it looks simple and uncluttered.
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I was at a London Origami Mini Meeting the other day and John Montroll’s designs came up in conversation. The person I was talking to said that Montroll’s designs are a good starting point, and that you can improve them with a bit more folding and shaping after completing the instructions.
He suggested making the model 3D, rounding the body to get rid of the straight lines, and adding more detail to the head. While I agree with him, and I think that experimenting with an origami model to see how you could improve it is always a good idea, I quite like the angular shape of Montroll’s origami flamingo just the way he designed it.
Folding the Flamingo
Montroll’s repertoire of origami models includes both simple ones and more complex designs. Even his more complicated models still look deceptively simple. The origami flamingo instructions are pretty easy to follow. It’s derived from a narrowed kite base and can be folded in about ten minutes. It’s a low intermediate level design.
Most paper types will do for this model, although it should probably be pink on both sides. I’ve made this one from a sheet of origami paper that is 20cm x 20cm (just under 8in a side). That’s produced an origami flamingo that stands 9cm tall and is 11cm from beak to tail.
If you are looking for an easier Montroll model to fold, try the origami angelfish.
Origami Flamingo Instructions
You can find this origami flamingo diagram in John Montroll’s book Origami Birds. This book has a selection of origami bird designs from around the world, of varying degrees of complexity, and is available from Amazon here.
Get Involved
I’d love to hear your views on this origami flamingo model or other origami birds. Feel free to let me know what you think in the comments below, or you find can me on Instagram or Twitter. Check out my Pinterest boards too!
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