Animals


Models of this type are also automatically listed in: figurative, living thing

Models which represent animals (including fictional non-humanoid beasts).

This page lists models of a single type. You might be interested in folding instructions instead.
Bull Head

Bull Head

A simple head of a bull, with color-change horns. Can be considered a variant of Buffalo Head.

Buffalo Head

Buffalo Head

A very simple model representing a buffalo’s head with curved horns. Bull Head is a variant.

Tea Tag Frog

Tea Tag Frog

A simple frog, based of the traditional jumping frog, and folded from a tea tag.

Traditional Crane from Wax Wrapper

Traditional Crane from Wax Wrapper

I folded this traditional crane from a wax wrapper (Polish: woskowijka). These are sheets of fabric soaked in beeswax, and advertised as a reusable, eco-frie...

Baby Elephant

Baby Elephant

I folded this model in a workshop with the late Artur Biernacki at the 2016 convention of Polish Origami Society.

MinBird II

MinBird II

Another attempt at making a minimalistic bird, this time from a full square, which allowed me to include a tail (MinBird I is folded from a square cut diagon...

Pureland Ladybug

Pureland Ladybug

Compared to Ladybug 1.1, this one has a much less refined shape, and lacks any color change. However, it is much simpler to fold, being pureland, which means...

MinBird I

MinBird I

A minimalistic, almost abstract bird, folded from a square cut diagonally in half. Compare with MinBird II.

Frog Star

Frog Star

The outline of this star is made using the same technique as various Star a la Fujimoto variants. The decoration in the center is a tessellation molecule tha...

Crane (Window Blind Fabric)

Crane (Window Blind Fabric)

I folded this traditional crane in order to test a new folding material: fabric used for roller window blinds. Despite the fabric being quite thick, I was ab...

Tea tag Hedgehog

Tea tag Hedgehog

A one-fold hedgehog, part of my series of tea tag origami models. Design from 2019. Folding the tea tag is a good way of making your cup stand out from others.

Ladybug Box

Ladybug Box

This box is decorated with a ladybug, which is a tessellation molecule. I used the same molecule for a BBU tile variant to make a decorated cube. While the f...

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...

Elephant

Elephant

This elephant by Fumiaki Kawahata is very cute (I think I’ve seen it getting called Baby Elephant). I folded this one at a workshop given by Margret Bach dur...

Heart, Ladybug, and Mushroom on BBU Cube

Heart, Ladybug, and Mushroom on BBU Cube

This model is just a friendly reminder that almost any tessellation can be transformed into a BBU tile, and combined with other tiles to create 3D shapes wit...

Rabbit

Rabbit

A simple rabbit, designed by Taiko Niwa.

Terror from the Deep

Terror from the Deep

I slightly damaged a sheet I wanted to use for something else, so I thought I’d do some crumpling and created this claw. The name came by itself, but then I ...

Trampling the Serpent

Trampling the Serpent

Wet-folded from an A4 rectangle of Koh-i-Noor Hardtmuth watercolor paper.

100 Złoty Frog

100 Złoty Frog

Polish banknotes have 2:1 proportions, a square folded in half. This makes them good for adapting models folded from square paper. I came up with the idea of...

Crane from RFID Chip

Crane from RFID Chip

In late 2016, I folded this traditional crane from an RFID chip identical to the one on which the crane is sitting. The sheet was very small, so this experim...

Toilet Paper Snail 1.1

Toilet Paper Snail 1.1

A snail folded from a complete roll of toilet paper. This is version 1.1 — version 1.0 lacked the back part of the body extending beyond the shell. Adding it...

Crane with Color Change (Left-Right)

Crane with Color Change (Left-Right)

This variant of the Traditional Crane adds a color change along the axis of symmetry. It’s a very simple change, based on blintzing, and I’m pretty certain I...

Snail

Snail

Last Friday (2022-08-19) I was folding with a bunch of friends and someone asked if I could fold a snail. I didn’t know any such model by heart, so I improvi...

Shiba Inu

Shiba Inu

This Shiba Inu dog by Makoto Yamaguchi is an example of a figurative model folded from two sheets, with one sheet being used for the head and tail and the ot...

Traditional Jumping Frog

Traditional Jumping Frog

Jumping frog, one of my favorite traditional models, and an example of action origami.

Tea Tag Butterfly

Tea Tag Butterfly

A simple butterfly, folded from a tea tag. Folding the tea tag is a good way of making your cup stand out from others.

Monument to the Crane

Monument to the Crane

This is my design for a monument to the traditional origami crane. I envision it executed in grand size, standing on a public square or in front of an origam...

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...

Ladybug 1.1

Ladybug 1.1

When Sara Adams prepared a videotutorial for my Ladybug, she came up with a few improvements which not only gave the model convenient reference points for fo...

Dollar Bill Hare

Dollar Bill Hare

This is one of my favorite origami animals: simple to fold, quite realistic but also a model with its own character.

Pajarita

Pajarita

The Pajarita (little bird in Spanish) is one of European traditional origami models, especially popular in Spain and Spanish-speaking countries.

Traditional Crane

Traditional Crane

The traditional crane, often considered a symbol of origami. It is also probably the model most often referenced in metaorigami.

Hedgehog from Sponge Cloth

Hedgehog from Sponge Cloth

Hedgehog, wet-folded from a household sponge cloth. Have a look at my review of this untypical folding material.

Triceratops

Triceratops

I really like this triceratops design by Roman Diaz. Most dinosaur models, especially triceratops, are quite complex. This one, in contrast, is so simple you...

Doom

Doom

Doom Eternal is coming out tomorrow, so here’s an origami version of the cover art of the first Doom game from 1993. Origami from a single square sheet, no c...

Hedgehog

Hedgehog

I designed this model especially for the workshop which accompanied my presentation about contemporary origami at the Embassy of Japan in Poland. While rathe...

Spider’s Web

Spider’s Web

Ben Goldberger is an interesting origami artist from Israel whom I had the opportunity to meet at CDO Convention 2018. You should definitely check out his wo...

Superpuss

Superpuss

Oriol Esteve taught this fun model of his during one of Origami Connect classes.

The Little Prince and the Fox

The Little Prince and the Fox

Le Petit Prince, designed by Viviane Berty, and Fox Baby, designed by Daniel Chang. Folded and arranged by me.

Ladybug

Ladybug

I haven’t had time to prepare any current-year-related model this year, so here’s an older model of a completely different kind: a simple ladybug with color ...

Crane with Colored Wings

Crane with Colored Wings

This is a variation of the traditional origami crane which I recently designed: there is a color change giving the wings a different color than the body. I h...

Fat Penguin

Fat Penguin

Once in a while, I design something other than a tessellation or a box. This geometric penguin model came about during Outdoor Origami Meeting as I was playi...

Elephants in Love

Elephants in Love

I designed this model, based on my Simple Elephant, for the wedding of two origami friends, Marcin and Natalia. Folded from a single 5:1 strip of red-gold Wa...

Chess Knight

Chess Knight

A recent origami design of mine — chess knight with a corrugation-based mane.

Cat

Cat

I folded this model in order to test what folding origami from felt would be like, and I summarized my impressions in a separate blog post.

No-Fold Stegosaurus

No-Fold Stegosaurus

It’s been more than 20 years since Joseph Wu designed his one-fold stegosaurus. Now, with the recent advancements in minimalistic origami and computer-aided ...

Simple Elephant

Simple Elephant

A simple elephant seen from the front, folded from a square. This is basically the same design as the business card holder and Elephant Bookmark. A minimalis...

Penguin

Penguin

See also the Penguin Attack composition which uses this model.

Penguin Attack

Penguin Attack

A giant penguin (designed by Blanka Pentela (Blunek) ascending King-Kong style the Palace of Culture and Science. This 250 m tall building was erected in War...

Elephant-Shaped Business Card Holder

Elephant-Shaped Business Card Holder

A simple business card holder in the form of an elephant I recently designed. With minor modification it can be folded from a square (a rectangle was used he...

Elephant Bookmark

Elephant Bookmark

An origami bookmark (two pieces folded from different papers) featuring an elephant motif. Other animals’ heads can be designed in a similar fashion. This mo...

Hedgehogs!

Hedgehogs!

A tessellation which fills the plane with cute little hedgehogs. Hedgehog design is a modified version of Pureland Hedgehog by Sebastien Limet. Folded from c...

Professor Mmaa

Professor Mmaa

Professor Mmaa’s lecture is a novel by Polish-English writer Stefan Themerson in which termites try to understand the human society which is so different fro...

Toilet Paper Hedgehog

Toilet Paper Hedgehog

Pureland Hedgehog, designed by Sebastien Limet and modified by me for folding from the loose end of a toilet paper roll.

Picture Frame with Hedgehogs

Picture Frame with Hedgehogs

Origami picture frame with two little hedgehogs on the bottom bar. The frame is based on this design. The hedgehogs are a prototype of what later became Hedg...

Dachshund

Dachshund

The Dachshund (Perro Salchicha) is a very cute dog model I immediately liked when I first saw it. I also designed a doghouse in matching style.

Dachshund in Doghouse

Dachshund in Doghouse

Yara Yagi’s dog is standing in front of a doghouse designed be me specially to match this model.

Ichthys

Ichthys

Easter is coming so with fluffy bunnies and cute chickens aplenty, it’s good to also add this fish to the pack.

A Long Way Home

A Long Way Home

Origami mammoth, designed by Artur Biernacki. Folded by me from a square of Unryu-tissue paper sandwich.

Here, Kitty

Here, Kitty

Cat designed by Jose Anibal Voyer. Copy paper painted with acryl.

Dachshund Ouroboros

Dachshund Ouroboros

The ouroboros is an ancient symbol of infinity and self-reference. It is represented as a serpent or dragon eating its own tail. This one has assumed the for...