Ah yes, the past can hurt. But the way I see it, you can either run from it or learn from it
Rafiki, The Lion King
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About the Origami Lion
Sometimes I try to feature origami relevant to whatโs going on in the world at a particular time, such as my model of the Olympic Rings. Other times Iโll write about a design thatโs relevant to a date in the calendar, like I did for Halloween or Bonfire Night. Thatโs not the case this time. There is no special reason for this weekโs model. So why have I chosen it? Because I absolutely love it! Just look at the detail! This is Seth Friedmanโs absolutely gorgeous origami Lion model.
One of the trends in modern origami design is for animal models to have whatโs known as a โclosed backโ. In other words, for all the folds that create the flaps for legs, tails, horns etc to be hidden underneath and the body to appear as a single unbroken piece. This adds to the realism but it is quite difficult to achieve. Seth Friedmanโs Lion does not have a closed back and you can see the raw edges and the fold lines along the body and tail of the model. I donโt think this detracts from the model though, Seth has clearly focused on the Lionโs head and mane and this attention has really paid off. ย Itโs a stunning design.
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Folding the Origami Lion
This isnโt going to come as any great surprise:ย itโs an advanced model. This level of detail doesnโt come by accident.ย It takes careful, painstaking design and skill to create something like this in the first place, and folding accuracy and experience to recreate it. It also takes time. Allow upwards of an hour and a half to fold this model, and more than one attempt before you create a model you are happy with.ย The one in the picture is the fourth time I have folded this origami Lion. Sethโs tutorial shows how to fold the Lion with a closed mouth. I decided to leave the mouth open and tip the head back a bit to make it look like heโs roaring, although the head angle doesnโt show in the picture.
If you decide to give this model a go, give some serious thought to paper choice. Seth Friedman recommends a sheet of Arches watercolour paper, at least 50cm x 50cm (20in x 20in). All I can say is that heโs a better folder than I am! I tried this paper a couple of times. While I can see the attraction, this paper didnโt work for me with this model.
My personal preference (and the paper used in the pictureย above) is Elephant Hide paper. It is forgiving enough to fold well, strong enough to hold the creases the model needs, and not so thick that โpaper creepโ becomes a problem when folding. Itโs also good for wet-folding the finishing and shaping folds. I agree with his paper size recommendations. You need a reasonably large sheet of paper for this model otherwise the head will be very difficult to shape correctly. Too large and the final model will collapse under its own weight.ย The paper I used was 60cm x 60cm (24in x 24in). This produces a final model that is 27cm (10.5in) long from nose to tail, and 13cm (5in) tall.
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Origami Lion Instructions
Seth Friedman has produced a video tutorial showing how to fold this model. The quality of the video is very good, but you do have to follow very carefully to make sure you keep the paper oriented the right way round during the precreasing stage.
Good luck folding this design. As they say in the Lion King โ hakuna matata!
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Get Involved
Iโd love to hear your views on this origami lion. 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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[one_fourth]
Thanks for reviewing this model. By the way I didnโt recommend using 20-inch watercolor paper :). If you want to use watercolor paper it needs to be full size, about 40โณ (100cm)
However for paper that has 100gsm about 24โณ should be good.
Hi Seth,
Thanks for commenting. That will be why I couldnโt fold it out of that paper! I appreciate the paper recommendations.
Iโm planning on reviewing some more of your designs in the coming weeks.
This is a fantastic Lion! Will it take 30 years to learn how to fold like this? It made my day to see such a splendid work of Origami.
Hi Myfolds,
Thanks for commenting. Iโm glad you like it!
Probably not 30 years no! Itโs not easy though. Looking at your site, you
โre doing the right thing in learning the traditional stuff first. As youโre folding, keep focusing on accuracy โ this will stand you in good stead as you move on to harder designs. Youโll get there though, and there are some really interesting simple and intermediate models to fold along the way! Have a look at Paula Versnickโs Two-fold Santa, and Eric Joiselโs Rat as examples.
Good luck with it.
Wow! Thatโs impressive! Iโm looking forward to seeing more of your work at Creatively Crafty #ccbg Thanks for sharing with us and have a great week ๐
Hi Lydia,
Thanks for the comment โ Iโm glad you like it. Yes, there will be more from me over at Creatively Crafty. Iโm looking forward to seeing some of the things you and other people do as well โ thereโs some interesting posts there!