Joseph Wu's Origami Page

If paper cranes and nifty dollar bill rings are your idea of Origami, then you have not been to Joseph Wu's Origami website. Probably the most comprehensive and user-friendly site on origami, it showcases not only years of Joseph's amazing work, but the work of other prominent folders in the field. The site also includes instructions, articles and links.

Free Paper Models at Yamaha Japan

If you have a favorite animal, chances are you can create your very own free paper sculpture of it by going to the Yamaha website and downloading your favorites. There are lions and tigers and bears...and of course, motorcycles.

Page 42 - The Retro Option

I should add to the previous post. If you'd prefer the old school version of a paper Disney castle, go to Page 42, a German site that collects all of the vintage ephemera to be found from German Disney Comic books and posts it all to be downloaded free. You could spend a day here exploring all of the graphics and projects.

Disney's 50th Anniversary Paper Models

There are many free and elaborate paper models to be found on the Disney Experience website. Project 15 is a model of Disney's Tower of Terror, Project 17 is the very detailed Sleeping Beauty's Castle (with 46 pages of instructions alone.) Project 18 is a lovely Haunted Mansion model. And the simplest, but perhaps the most fun is project 22, a paper model of both the old and new Disney Marquees at the entrance to the park.

Tranquility

I just finished this piece yesterday for another project, but it fit this week's Illustration Friday topic too well to ignore. This piece was actually created for Lovely Design's Beautiful Scrap Paper Project. I'll be sure to post information about that when the gallery goes up in September.

Game of Life

I used to love this game when I was younger. Here's a fun paper model of the game, complete with little pink and blue pegs that fit into little car game pieces. The site also has a gallery of vintage Japanese Life board games. It's worth a look.

Paper Plate Folding

Certainly paper-folding is a common hobby and practice for origami enthusiasts, but paper plate folding is new to me. These interesting and beautiful three-dimensional sculptures are made by the folding only (no cutting or pasting!) of standard 9" paper plates.

Howl's Moving Castle

I saw Howl's Moving Castle in Hollywood last month and must say that some of the visuals were stunning. The moving castle is a work of art, and now you can create one of your very own with just 26 pages, scissors, glue and lots of time on your hands. I ordered A4 size paper from Epson a couple weeks back just so I could print this one out and add it to my collection without cutting off any image area. Click the headline to go directly to the download page. I posted this for that one person who'll actually find a means to complete this one. Good luck! (Especially if you don't happen to read Japanese.)

Free Keisuka Saka Moving Train

Here's another free model from Keisuke Saka. The model can be downloaded easily with Adobe's free reader. If you don't have the reader already, get it here. This train model is a simpler model than his Mockingbird model I posted last. So if you plan to make both models, my suggestion would be to construct this one first. The train model has two separate files to download. The top button is the instructions page, and the bottom button downloads the model itself. If you missed my last post about Keisuke Saka, check out his website and see all of his other great projects.

Zoetropes, Thaumatropes and Phenakistoscopes

All kinds of old-fashioned moving picture machines await you at this lovely little site that will help you tell your Phenakistoscope from your Zograscope. Download a free old-fashioned Zoetrope or Thaumatrope pdf file and cut and paste your way to a directorial debut. And while you're there, be sure to admire the unique and beautiful animations of the lesser-known mirrored Praxinoscope.

Free Origami Paper

There are some lovely traditional and contemporary origami papers that can be downloaded for free at the Canon Japan website. This site has over 40 patterns in several colors that can be simply downloaded with Adobe Acrobat and printed from your printer. There is also a UK site with contemporary patterns that allows you to download free paper as well.

Icon

I just got back from the Illustration Conference in San Francisco last night. It was a great trip. The panels and speakers were all really great and worthwhile.

To those of you I met at the conference who are checking out this blog for the first time, this space is where I post news about my art or other artwork and websites I admire. I also have an affinity for paper automata and sculptures, and a great deal of my posts involve paper models and downloadable projects.

Now I'm back to painting for my current projects. Once they are complete, I will be updating my web store with all of my prints and sale items. I also want to mention that my English Proverbs giclees have been printed. They are 15"x20" and available for $150. They will be on the store website once it is up, but please contact me if you are interested. If you want to be added to my e-mail list, feel free to e-mail me your information, and you will know when the website goes up, along with show announcements and other important news.

Catia Chien Print

Tiny Showcase launched this print tonight from Catia Chien. Catia is a friend and talented artist who also has a show I'll unfortunately have to miss this weekend while I'm away.

The works of Catia Chien, Deth P. Sun, Jacob Magraw-Mickelson, Josh Cochran, Kelly Lynn Jones, Marci Washington, Mari Araki, Rachell Sumpter, Stella Im Hultberg and Yoko Tanaka are featured in Daydreaming, opening at the UNO Gallery on July 9.

If you want Catia's mini print from tiny showcase, I'll warn that it is a limited edition, and as of this post 21 of the available 50 have already sold, so the sooner the better.

I'm off to San Francisco in just a few hours, and probably won't have the opportunity to post again until next week. Hopefully I'll take some good pictures and find something interesting to pass on. Until then...

Bittersweet

I've gotten a slow start today because a few e-mails I received this morning vanished from my inbox, and I've been tring to pinpoint the problem. If you e-mailed me and did not get a response, the chances are I didn't get it, so please retry!
I'm getting everything ready for the conference now. It will be a lovely change of pace to be in San Francisco, though I'll be missing out on some great shows while I'm gone. Gallery Nucleus will be showing Ronald Kurniawan and Mark Allen Miller, with an opening reception this Saturday, July 9th (7pm - 12am)
The artists will be showing new drawings, paintings and sculptures.
The show will be an illustrative display of the enthralling
power of images Bitter and Sweet. If you are in the Los Angeles area you should go. Plus they have all kinds of toys and fun stuff in the Nucleus store.

Paper Pipes

I got my paper pipe organ in the mail and do want to construct it, though the task looks more daunting with all the pieces strewn about my living room floor. If you don't know the paper pipe organ of which I speak, click here and go back to my original post. For now I will just have to admire the paper pipe patterns - I've too much to do this week. I am leaving for the Icon Illustration Conference on Wednesday, and have to get my portfolio and samples ready for the trip.

Handmade Papercraft Club

The Handmade Papercraft Club website specializes in pop-up cards for most occasions. Sometimes referred to as origami architecture, the craft is a simple way to create and send an old-fashioned card that is also a gift. The site includes several free downloads, so you can test your aptitude before you join the club and buy more intricate patterns.

Make your own Miniature Box

Here's a fun site to play around with. Design your own 1 1/4" box to print out and put together. You can adjust the scale, rotation, and colors to customize your box.

Rolling Reels Circus

Here is a very fun paper model to make. The Paperpino website has a number of free downloads, but this is my favorite. I used to love these toys as a kid, and look forward to constructing this paper version. Download the model here and use the long weekend to create a piece of interactive art.