 The
Diaz/Naranjo Crane
Translated from http://dosisdiaria.blogspot.com/2005/12/la-garza-diaznaranjo.html
:
I had two major complications in composing this crane:
first, having recently seen the Dancing Crane by Robert Lang (see a previous entry
of my blog). I got the impression that no other crane could contribute anything
new to origami. The subject seemed exhausted, at least for some time. The second
complication was that this model was born as a modification of the "Grulla" by
Daniel Naranjo and I wanted to be respectful of Daniel's style.
The primary
idea for this model was just to add some feathers as "ornaments" to the wings.
I did my first attempt with a graft that allowed me to extend the length of the
wings. It soon became apparent to me that the wings could not be any longer than
they already were without looking disproportioned.
It was most interesting
to verify that mechanical application of design methods (the graft in this case)
does not lead to anything pretty. It was only after this first failure that I
actually sat down to look at the Crane. The legs and the wings were long enough
to be shortened and still look be in proportion with the head. It seemed possible
to add fingers to the feet and feathers to the wings and improve the proportions
of the different parts. Only then was I able to establish the objectives of the
future model.
1- It should be relatively easy to fold.
2- It should be
elegant and light. These two conditions stem from my desire to respect my starting
point, Daniel's Crane.
3- It should have feathers on the wings. This objective
was born since I had simply liked it that way.
4- It should have four fingers
in each foot.
5- It should be able to stand by itself.
The last two objectives,
I must confess, were an attempt to offer at least some advantage over the fantastic
Dancing Crane (aside from the obvious advantage that this crane would be easier
to fold than Lang's).
The design work then consisted of obtaining the
longest possible fingers without shortening the legs too much, and producing the
best possible feathers compatible with the wings. I used trial-and-error to find
a combination that I liked more than the previous ones and that had a reasonable
folding sequence.
I now had the structure of the model but had encountered
a different problem: the Crane required a very fine and strong paper, probably
of the type that would be used to fold an insect! I am not used to this type of
paper. I generally use moderately heavy material and wet folding.
For the
first time in my life I decided to try Manuel Sirgo's method, consisting of tissue
paper sized with polyvinyl acetate (there is a filmed description of the method
done by Manuel himself in passionorigami.com, in addition to Manuel's fantastic
gallery of models).
In previous attempts I tried dry-folding tissue paper without
the pre-sizing treatment and it was like I was folding a paper napkin. With the
addition of polyvinyl acetate the paper acquired consistency and resistance. For
the fine finishing I used Methyl Cellulose (MC) applied to small parts of the
model with a small paint brush.
I did it like this because if I were to try
to apply the MC to the entire model at once, it would have been impossible to
control the process due to the thinness of the paper and I would have definitely
ruined the figure. The photo shows one of the four or five Cranes that I have
folded with this technique.
The Crane has been an extremely interesting model
to create; not only because this was a joint design, which is a rare thing in
origami, but also because the folding was very different from what I had folded
until then; the thinness of the paper, the finishing that takes one or two days
to be completed, the careful shaping and positioning to make the crane stand on
one leg, were all new to me.
And I always go back to think the same thing,
each one lives his own origami and THAT is difficult to diagram. .............................
I've just finished re-reading what I wrote in my blog about this model in December
of 2005.
In the months since then I have folded several Cranes and I have
learned a little more about this model, but I don't have too many new things to
comment. Since then, the most important news for the "Garza" ("Heron" in Spanish)
is that by suggestion of Manuel Sirgo, it is now named more correctly "Grulla"
("Crane" in Spanish). Months later Mark Robinson made the same observation to
me about the name.
The other news is that I have diagramed the model to publish
it in "Origami for Interpreters". The key element of the Crane is not the diagrams,
which can be executed without great problems, but the type of paper and the folding
technique used. Sirgo paper is one of the best and more accessible options to
give the Crane a good finishing and obtaining one of the most remarkable elements
in the exhibition of the figure: standing the crane on a single leg.
Traduction
: Roman Diaz / Correction : Boaz Shuval
|
La Grulla
