Elephant Hide paper

…/paper-review-1-elephant-hide
Related posts: Coloring Paper with Inkjet Printer

This paper, also known by its German name Elefantenhaut and the abbreviated name EH, is considered one of the best papers for tessellations. The sheets available now are almost always 110 gsm, but there are actually also rare thicker variants. After folding quite a few sheets coming from different colors and production years, I believe there are differences in the behavior of different batches of the paper, possibly caused by aging and changes in manufacturing process over the years.

As of 2021, only a few colors are manufactured any more. They include shades of brown and beige, there is also ivory and black. While these earth tones are very elegant, they pale (pun intended) compared to the palette that used to be made. More lively colors, coming from older batches, can sometimes be found, but they are rare and expensive.

You can read this paper’s review by Ilan Garibi for more information.

Doubt

Doubt

This design was inspired by ceramic tiles I saw at a store. I found their shape, consisting of a square with a smaller square cut away, interesting. It remin...

Fractalized CFW 85 (alternating fold direction)

Fractalized CFW 85 (alternating fold direction)

I developed Shuzo Fujimoto’s design, Petals (CFW 85) into a fractal. I don’t have direct proof if Fujimoto was aware of this possibility, but I think it’s li...

Woven Square Tessellation

Woven Square Tessellation

It took me about five years after folding the Woven Square Box to fold a tessellation with multiple molecules used on the box. This model differs from Square...

Kites

Kites

I designed this model during a stop while trekking in the Sudetes mountain range in the summer of 2022, as you can see in the picture of the prototype. A few...

Coffee Cup (CFW 200)

Coffee Cup (CFW 200)

This model is one of Fujimoto’s few figurative origami designs, but a very distinctive one. I really like it for its simplicity and elegance. Despite being a...

Ampersand (CLU)

Ampersand (CLU)

In 2021, I went back to my Cross Lap Unit (CLU) from 2016 and folded this ampersand (&) character. The ampersand symbol, which is, strictly speaking, nei...

Hex Snake

Hex Snake

This snake is just a strip of paper that I cut off the side of an A4 sheet with a hex grid so that an integer even number of grid divisions was left on the r...

Square Interlace Tessellation (undulated)

Square Interlace Tessellation (undulated)

Who says tessellations have to be flat? Even tessellations with flat molecules can be warped and twisted into various interesting shapes, and one technique t...

Origami in Shades of Gray

Origami in Shades of Gray

This is a collections of my origami tessellations that I framed and hung near the desk I use for folding. The models, all kept in neutral colors, are as foll...

Chrysanthemum (CFW 142)

Chrysanthemum (CFW 142)

Shuzo Fujimoto’s star with twelve rays, folded from a hexagon. See Maple Leaf (CFW 149) for a counterpart folded from a square and a list of variants made fr...

Translucent Design (CFW 58)

Translucent Design (CFW 58)

This is one of Fujimoto’s translucent designs, a name he used for many of his tessellations. Folded from rare blue Elephant Hide paper, this work is not very...

When Rebecca Met Shuzo 2 (Opus 702)

When Rebecca Met Shuzo 2 (Opus 702)

The name of this design by Robert Lang is a little origami joke. It references two creators, Shuzo Fujimoto and Rebecca Gieseking, and it does indeed combine...

Stars and Triangles (CFW 56)

Stars and Triangles (CFW 56)

This is one of Shuzo Fujimoto’s translucent designs. For my personal use, I call it Stars and Triangles as an analogy to Stars and Squares which is the same ...

Triangle Twist Star (CFW 147)

Triangle Twist Star (CFW 147)

A very simple star designed by Shuzo Fujimoto. Folded from an equilateral triangle, but the star itself has hexagonal symmetry. This models seems to have al...

Framed Heart (Elephant Hide)

Framed Heart (Elephant Hide)

My Framed Heart, folded from the rare red Elephant Hide paper in late 2019. The heart can be tessellated, but I haven’t folded it this way in practice yet.

Scissors (CFW 87)

Scissors (CFW 87)

This star is folded from a hexagon but has triaxial symmetry which reminds me of the biohazard symbol. Compare with CFW 103.

Hexagons and Rhombi

Hexagons and Rhombi

This tessellation differs from most other designs by having lower rotational symmetry: only 180° rather than the 60° typical for tessellations based on a hex...

The Golden Gate of Kyiv

The Golden Gate of Kyiv

The Golden Gate of Kyiv (Золоті ворота) was the main gate of the city in the early middle ages. Today the city is under attack again. Origami tessellation f...

Egg Cup II

Egg Cup II

This cup is a design derived from Lucky Star Box (Simplified) Variant B and the PreCP (Precrease Pattern) is the same. The paper used to form the star in the...

Art Deco Ring

Art Deco Ring

This ring uses a set of simple pleats for its jewel. This technique, somewhat similar to Goran Konjevod’s, made me think of Art Deco style, hence the name. T...

Maltese Cross Tessellation II

Maltese Cross Tessellation II

Another approach to the subject of Maltese Cross. The molecule can be tessellated or used on a box as in this picture (I haven’t folded a multi-molecule tess...

Butchers’ Guild Coat of Arms

Butchers’ Guild Coat of Arms

This model started out something completely different that what it ended up being. Originally, I planned to make a model of Lublin Castle, and started with t...

Shamrock Tessellation 1.1

Shamrock Tessellation 1.1

This is an improved version of my Shamrock Tessellation. It uses Flagstone Paneling technique in order to hide pleats, so that each shamrock is separated fro...

Trifora

Trifora

This kind of tripartite window was a popular motif in sacral architecture, found in many architectural styles, including Romanesque and Gothic.

Woven Triangles Tessellation V

Woven Triangles Tessellation V

Woven Triangles Tessellation V, folded from Elephant Hide paper. 32×32 grid for the whole model, 8×8 per molecule.

Woven Triangles Tessellation III (Asymmetric)

Woven Triangles Tessellation III (Asymmetric)

Third work in the Woven Triangles series. Just like number I, number III has a pleat arrangement which allows for two distinct molecule layouts: the asymmetr...

Woven Triangles Tessellation II

Woven Triangles Tessellation II

Just like all other models in the series, this origami tessellation is derived from Rectangle and Square Flagstone by applying squash folds in the right plac...

Rectangle and Square Flagstone

Rectangle and Square Flagstone

This origami tessellation is built from the same kind of molecule as Pythagorean Tiling but molecules are arranged differently: in any pair of adjacent neigh...

Pythagorean Tiling

Pythagorean Tiling

The pattern this origami tessellation represents is known as Pythagorean Tiling or Two Squares Tessellation. I came up with this design independently, but it...

Groom and Bride

Groom and Bride

Origami tessellation designed as a wedding gift. One sheet of white Elephant Hide paper, no cutting or glue.

Triangles (16×16 grid)

Triangles (16×16 grid)

This origami tessellation is derived from my earlier Parallelograms Tessellation. By piecing together two symmetric “halves” of a parallelogram, we end up wi...

Growth 1.1

Growth 1.1

I recently stumbled upon an older model of mine, Growth Tessellation, in one of my boxes, and I decided to rework it a little. I added just a few touches whi...

Excalibur

Excalibur

Excalibur, the sword in the stone, from Arthurian legends. Origami folded from one sheet (Elephant Hide paper courtesy of Paula Versnick). Also compare my Tw...

Radioactive Tessellation II

Radioactive Tessellation II

This model is derived from my Radioactive Tessellation by adding a triangular frame around the radioactivity symbol. This change also makes it possible to sh...

Box with Decorated Maltese Cross

Box with Decorated Maltese Cross

Box with a heavily stylized Maltese Cross. The molecule can be tessellated or used on a box as in this picture. This design uses my Flagstone Paneling techni...

Twisted Bird Base Fractal

Twisted Bird Base Fractal

This is a recursion of my Twisted Bird Base Tessellation. The recursive / fractal version looks interesting, but it’s rather hard to collapse.

Box with Maltese Cross II

Box with Maltese Cross II

Another approach to the subject of Maltese Cross. The molecule can be tessellated or used on a box as in this picture. This design uses my Flagstone Paneling...

Box with Maltese Cross I

Box with Maltese Cross I

An origami box featuring the heraldic Maltese Cross. The molecule is based on the one used in Maltese Cross Framed and a slight variation of the one used in ...

Box with Cross Pattee IV

Box with Cross Pattee IV

An origami box featuring the heraldic Cross Pattee. This model uses my Flagstone Paneling technique in order to achieve a completely clean space around the m...

Box with Cross Pattee III

Box with Cross Pattee III

An origami box featuring the heraldic Cross Pattee. This model uses my Flagstone Paneling technique in order to achieve a completely clean space around the m...

Box with Cross Pattee II

Box with Cross Pattee II

An origami box featuring the heraldic Cross Pattee. This model uses my Flagstone Paneling technique in order to achieve a completely clean space around the m...

Box with Cross Pattee I

Box with Cross Pattee I

An origami box featuring the heraldic Cross Pattee.I used the same molecule in Cross Pattee Tessellation, and just as the tessellation, the box also uses my ...

John Lackland Tessellation

John Lackland Tessellation

I derived this model from Her Majesty’s Tessellation by removing most of the free spaces (“land”) between molecules. Each molecule is still 6×6 grid units. F...

Sunflower Tessellation (Refold)

Sunflower Tessellation (Refold)

It took me 1½ years before I decided to fold my Sunflower Tessellation once again, this time from rare yellow Elephant Hide paper. I think this is a better ...

Stacked Propellers Tessellation

Stacked Propellers Tessellation

A refold of my older design, Stacked Propellers Tessellation, this time as a complete tessellation rather than a single molecule. 64×64 grid.

Twirl Bowl

Twirl Bowl

This hexagonal dish is created as an intermediate step while collapsing my Sunk Star Box.

Sunk Star Boxes (two enantiomers)

Sunk Star Boxes (two enantiomers)

Two folds of my Sunk Star Box with different twisting directions, side by side. Wherever there’s a twist in origami, we get two possible versions of the fold...

Sunk Star Box (Hexagonal)

Sunk Star Box (Hexagonal)

The star in the center of this box is a kind of twist which does not lie flat and therefore can form a box but not a tessellation. This model is a part of a ...

Dune Flower

Dune Flower

A different arrangement of the same molecule as in my Dune Tessellation. Some other arrangements are also possible with a bit of tweaking.

Celtic Cross 1.1

Celtic Cross 1.1

An improved version of my Celtic Cross. Based on standing crosses found throughout the British Isles.

Nest of Vipers Corrugation

Nest of Vipers Corrugation

My new origami corrugation. Since it causes the sheet to curl, I’m thinking about using it for a lampshade or similar object. Different curling patterns can ...

Simple Corrugated Vase

Simple Corrugated Vase

A very simple corrugated vase (just the walls: it doesn’t have a bottom). Looking inside, you see shape resembling the sun.

Bed of Nails 3D Tessellation

Bed of Nails 3D Tessellation

Bed of Nails 3D, an origami tessellation folded from a single sheet of Elephant Hide paper; no cutting or glue. It is possible to adjust the length of the sp...

Just Stars

Just Stars

This is what you get when you take Stars and Squares Tessellation and take away the squares. What is left is Just Stars!

Square Interlace Box

Square Interlace Box

This box is decorated with a pattern of Square Interlace Tessellation. I designed it as a container for a matching bracelet which is visible in some pictures...

Iso-Area Diamond Corrugation

Iso-Area Diamond Corrugation

The original Diamond Corrugation was invented independently by Ilan Garibi and Andrea Russo (who used the name Triangùli in speculo).

Brexit

Brexit

Model designed on my plane back from UK which I visited just days after the Brexit vote. The British Flag itself can be used as a tessellation molecule and t...

Laputa

Laputa

This origami model is a variant of my Stacked propellers Tessellation. It is named after Laputa, the flying island described in Gulliver’s Travels. I thought...

Box with Two-in-One Flower Tessellation

Box with Two-in-One Flower Tessellation

Box with a single molecule of my Two-in-One Flower Tessellation. This pattern is derived from four molecules of Double Spearhead Tessellation slightly modifi...

Cluster Tessellation

Cluster Tessellation

Cluster Tessellation, designed and folded by Michał Kosmulski. There are several different ways of achieving a similar effect but with a slightly different p...

Nuclear Flower Box

Nuclear Flower Box

This origami box is decorated with a single molecule of Nuclear Flower Tessellation, a variant of Two-in-One Flower Tessellation. The name stems from the fac...

Growth

Growth

This origami tessellation is made from Square Pixel Tessellation molecule variants which allow the molecules to be made in different sizes.

TensionPot Op. 695

TensionPot Op. 695

I folded this Tension Pot model during a workshop held by Robert J. Lang at 15th Origami Outdoor Meeting in Kraków, Poland. It’s an interesting shape that us...

Tympanum Corrugation (iso-area)

Tympanum Corrugation (iso-area)

Iso-area variant of my Tympanum Corrugation. Since both sides are the same, there is no net tension, and the model stays flat without trying to curl up.

Tympanum Corrugation

Tympanum Corrugation

A new origami design of mine, called Tympanum Corrugation because it resembles the tympanum of a Greek temple. The idea came to me after I designed this dog ...

Ice Cube Tray

Ice Cube Tray

This ice cube tray was folded from a single sheet of Elephant Hide paper sandwiched with aluminium foil in order to make it water-tight. The tray itself is a...

Grating Tessellation

Grating Tessellation

This is Grating Tessellation, a new origami design of mine. Vertical walls of the grating divide the whole plane into small cells which give this tessellatio...

Elevated Twists

Elevated Twists

These pyramid-shaped structures appear as intermediate stages when collapsing some more complex tessellations. Basically, they are square twists in the uprig...

Puffed Big Propellers (two variants)

Puffed Big Propellers (two variants)

The basic idea of Propellers Tessellation can be extended into countless variants, especially when one goes from the original 8×8 grid to larger grid sizes.

Octabird Tessellation

Octabird Tessellation

It may not look like it, but this tessellation is a variant of my Twisted Bird Base Tessellation. This and the octagonal pattern result in the name octabird....

Happy New Year 2016!

Happy New Year 2016!

Welcome to 2016! This seven-segment display, executed in origami, shows the current year, and is folded from a single sheet of Elephant Hide paper. With a li...

Lily Pond Picture Frame

Lily Pond Picture Frame

This is a picture frame for 16:9 format, decorated with a variant of my Lily Pond Tessellation. The lilies were modelled on top of four-sink bases instead of...

Saturn (WSM)

Saturn (WSM)

Another Saturn-themed origami, this time a modular made from my Woven Slit Module (WSM). 10 units are used altogether: 6 for the orb, 3 for attaching the rin...

Saturn Tessellation

Saturn Tessellation

This tessellation is based on a 128×92 grid. Image is created from a four-sink-base tessellation by folding up some of the squares’ corners. While I’ve seen ...

Four-Sink-Base Tessellation

Four-Sink-Base Tessellation

This kind of tessellation is not very interesting in itself, but has been invented and used by many authors independently as basis for more advanced designs....

Radial Zig-Zag Tessellation

Radial Zig-Zag Tessellation

This is a rather obvious variant of the classic Zig Zag Corrugation, so it’s certainly been done by others before. This model was mostly free-folded with onl...

Plain Box

Plain Box

I rarely fold boxes [update: no longer true], but recently I needed one and could not find any satisfying model online, so I designed this one. In contrast t...

Stars and Squares Tessellation

Stars and Squares Tessellation

Yet another fine example of me reinventing the wheel. After I designed this pattern, I found out it had been already published — in 1982 (!) — by no less tha...

Bed of Nails Tessellation

Bed of Nails Tessellation

I was inspired to design this tessellation resembling a bed of nails after a comment from P. Colman on flickr regarding my Fenced Tiling of Fujimoto’s Clove...

Head of Cthulhu

Head of Cthulhu

Head of Cthulhu from The Call of Cthulhu by H.P. Lovecraft. Designed and folded by me.