Saturday, May 03, 2008

John Szinger's Snapping Turtle

This blog has mostly been used to host my videos; but I think I might start expanding the original purpose and begin blogging on other origami-related things.

For the past few years, I sort of lost my passion for folding complex models; I think I mostly lack the patience for making the tissue foil/getting the right paper (I'm very picky!) and spending long hours on one model. Actually, I still love complex models; but ever since I started working with Yami and Joe, I've been influenced in the direction of exploring what I can do with the simple and with models that have entertainment/performance value to them.


Well, this past week, I decided to give John Szinger's snapping turtle a try. Shaping the shell and underbelly/legs was a bit challenging and I'm not sure how much has to do with technical precision-folding and how much is dependent upon each folder's unique, artistic instincts and sculpting sensibilities. I ended up moistening the paper for some shaping of the shell and legs.

Overall, I think it's a great-looking model, and a good compromise between an intermediate model and a super complex one.

Thanks John!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've had similar feelings. I haven't been folding much at all, mostly due to lack of inspiration, and few new pieces by others I'd want to fold. This turtle is quite nice, you need a good eye for the shell pattern too, but much easier than dividing into 80ths or something. I like how the head turns out, it has good angles to indent some eyes into.

The WordSmith from Nantucket said...

Thanks for commenting, joe. Didn't think about indenting eyes. John did comment on the legs poking out too much; I hadn't noticed until he pointed it out, as I haven't studied turtles, for detail and shaping.