Origami Whale

Origami Whale

There are many things that an origami paper fold could be. One of my favorite things to do with origami paper is to make little animals. In this blog post I will be making an origami whale. The whale is a simple and easy design that takes a few steps to complete. It is a beginner level fold due to how simple it is. However, if this is your first time doing origami, it may be a challenge due to the tail of the whale. 

The origami whale sort of breaks the rules of origami because it requires a cut to make the tail. And traditional origami has no cuts because origami is the art of paper folding. However as time goes on, things start to evolve. And maybe origami designs have also evolved. This origami fold required steps from "basic shape number 1" (Helfman 8). Basic shape number one is similar to a kite. It is called a basic shape because it is a shape that appears in many origami folds. There are many other basic shapes that appear in many origami folds. 

The hardest part of this origami design was definitely the tail. Pick up your shape. Open center crease of body and push tail inside body. Cut part way down fold of tail" (Helfman 8). When I was doing it, I did not cut directly in the middle of the tail, which of course made it look a little uneven. It is difficult to directly cut the middle of the tail. And if you mess up the cut like I did, the tail will be uneven. After a couple of tries I was able to make the origami design from memory. With just 7 simple steps I am able to fold origami whales whenever I want. 

Below are simple steps to make your own origami whale:

Step 1
Fold origami paper in half

Step 2
Open up the origami paper

Step 3
Fold origami paper into a "kite"

Step 4
Fold the "kite" in half

Step 5
Rotate shape to the side
Fold tail up and crease
Fold nose into the shape

Step 5
Your shape should now look
like this. Fold the corner of the shape
up to create flippers

Step 6
Cut the tail down the middle

Step 7
Your shape should now look
like this. And the tail should
look similar

Overall, this was a very fun and simple origami fold to complete. The steps for this origami fold are easy to memorize. Creating this origami whale made me feel confident in my origami skills. I am glad that I was able to complete this design because in the book Fun With Origami by Harry C. Helfman, the design looked much more complicated and confusing. This origami design could be used as a decoration. I personally just left this origami whale on a table next to my other origami folds. I feel like my skills of origami is improving. I am eager to learn more folds from the book Fun With Origami . I am also eager to create more origami designs. My favorite animal to draw is a chicken, but I am not very artistic.

What is your favorite animal to draw, paint, or fold?

Helfman, Harry Carmozin. Fun with Origami: 17 Easy-to-Do Projects and 24 Sheets of Origami Paper. Dover, 1991.