Origami

#artistniralimehta

Half Yearly Recap

We are done with half of 2021. Here is a recap of all the posts on the blog from January 2021 to June 2021 just in case you missed out reading any of them. I will be back in July with more posts on arts and crafts.

  • ‘Embossing’ Using The ‘Gilding Method’
    There are different ways to add the sparkle to your artwork. One of them is ‘Gilding’. It creates a nice embossed sparkling effect. It could be a simple outline or dots or stats or more in that shiny effect. Embossing with the gilding method is best suited for greeting cards as well as art and craft projects in school. In this post, I am going to share some tips to get this process right!
  • Impasto – Painting with a knife
    Yes! That is the term used for a painting technique – ‘IMPASTO.’ Impasto technique in simple words is painting with a knife. A painting knife is different from a regular knife. The blades come in different shapes and sizes to create different textures. You could relate better if I named a famous artwork created with this technique – ‘Starry Night’ by Vincent Van Gogh.
  • Henna Art or Mehendi
    There is a good chance that you might have noticed a very striking similarity between my artwork with henna designs. It is also a possibility that I do more Ink Artwork, Doodle Art, Mandala Art and Zentangle Art because of my fluency in Henna Art. I learnt this art from my mom. Sharing ‘My Henna Story – Henna Art or Mehendi’
  • Happy Diwali
    Happy Diwali!!
  • Solving the Easel Puzzle
    Easels are a one-time investment and costly. Every artist uses whatever he or she is comfortable with. Not all artists draw, sketch or paint on an inclined surface. Different painting styles can mean using or not using the Easel. A short simple post answering questions about selecting an Easel or a Drawing Board. People usually have two opposing thoughts on this topic. Some feel “what is there to select? Every artist or painter needs an Easel” while others feel “it is the last thing to invest in”. There are a lot of myths about an Easel. No doubt it makes an excellent gift to give an artist, but do you know which one to select?
  • Tools and Techniques To Make Professional Greeting Cards
    Making a greeting card all by yourself may seem difficult for some. No one wants to be judged or mocked for their artistic skills. Besides not everyone can be a master at it. I understand. But what if I were to tell you that even with minimal artistic skills and creativity one can make beautiful professional looking greeting cards. Yes! In this post, we will be discussing a few tools and techniques for making professional looking greeting cards with ease.
  • Fifty it is!!!
    We have achieved a milestone! 50 posts! Yaaay!! Please do share your thoughts and feedback. Would love to hear from you!
  • ‘Still Life Painting’ – by Guest Blogger Dr Shaazia Hawai
    Our guest blogger Dr Shaazia Hawai is a dentist, who spills her love for colours onto the canvas. Join us as she shares more about her Impressionist Style Still Life Painting using acrylic paints. She also conducts live painting sessions on Instagram.
  • It’s Beautiful! Stained Glass Paintings
    The painting process is very simple. Two steps 1) Create the Outline and 2) Fill the colours. The skilled part is in doing it. And like they say, you have to do it to know it. The texture that you see is the original texture of the glass. We select the glass based on the type we want. The material except the glass isn’t very expensive. The colours in a set are enough to make two or three glass panels. So if you want to re-use or recycle a piece of glass from the renovation, consider ‘Stained Glass Panting’. It will give a fresh and majestic look to your decor.
  • Cute Little Clay Creations – by Guest Blogger Ms. Radha Srikanth
    Taking imagination and fantasy from the world of magic and transforming it into something beautiful in this world; is what I do every day. Does that sound interesting? Hello everyone, I am Radha, a clay artist. Doing something creative by shaping earth with your hands can be an incredibly humble, joyful and healing experience.
  • The Clay Effect – Air Dry vs. Bake
    For arts and crafts at home, we use Clay that is available at art and craft stores. Basically for hobby crafts and crafts at home there are two types of clay : one is the air drying and the other one that needs to be baked. We can use them to make many artistic objects from the comforts of our home. I have made wall murals, decorated wooden and glass panels, mirrors, jewellery and toy models with both types of clay. Yes! I know friends who have made saleable products from these. They are now successful small businesses.
  • Three creative ideas with Coffee – Art Craft
    Hmm.. the aroma of a freshly brewed coffee can be so refreshing, isn’t it? Sniffing coffee beans can almost reset your sense of smell. When we sample different perfumes and a particular strong smell gets to our head, it lingers. How to clear it? Take a few coffee beans in a cup and smell them. After sometime smell another perfume. We can creatively use coffee for many things other than just sipping a nice cup of coffee. You may have come across or tried these. In this post I am sharing three artistic creative ideas of arts and crafts with coffee. I have tried my hand at all the three and they can be wonderful creative outlets for anyone, especially coffee lovers. It is the skill and material that make this art unique.
  • Scan, Copy, Download, Print – How to get good prints for your Projects
    Did a hand drawn artwork and now want to make copies OR drew it digitally and now want to print it? Photographs, Graphics, Vector Art, Backgrounds, Designs, Drawings and Paintings – All of us might have tried to print these at some point of time or another. It could be for a School Project, a University Submission or a Personal Art Craft Project or for Commercial use. I see many people struggle to get good prints of their work. What went wrong? They don’t know. I often get to hear “I gave the print command and the printing device printed it.” “I took it to a professional printer and he said the art work is not done correctly. The printing service owner said the device (printer) has done it correctly.” It’s our loss as the money is wasted and we are not happy with the output. Today’s post is about ‘Getting a good print out’. I am going try and translate the language of a printer. In other words explain it in simple terms that everyone can understand.
  • Painting a Silhouette
    ‘Silhouette’ Try saying it as ‘Silu -et’. That’s right! I am not talking about a soft fabric but a technique of painting. Silhouette is also a popular method in photography. It is an object or profile in dark black against a very bright source of light, usually the Sun.
  • The Perfect Blend – Exams & Coffee
    What is Coffee got to do with Art? 😀 My young followers have exams coming up at schools, colleges and universities. Coffee will be their best friend keeping them up studying late nights. Just like a good coffee is all about the blend. Art is also all about blending and having the right combinations. All set? Prepared?
  • Getting to know ‘The Washi Tape’
    The title says it all ; this is a all you want to know kind of post and it is all about ‘The Washi Tape’. Ok! What is so special about it? Fine! It is just another tape, so use it as one. True! I think it is a door to creativity. Especially for storytellers who cannot draw well but have so much to say and share.
  • A Photo Frame – It’s Handmade
    Click! Click! Hehe! We don’t get to hear this clicking sound anymore. The cameras are silent but we still click as many pictures or probably more. Now that our phones have a very strong camera lens, we like to capture every memory. It is a memory, it is special. Then why let it remain in the phone. Let’s print it and put it in a nice photo frame. That is my topic for today’s post – a very simple easy DIY Photo Frame. Complete description with material details.
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Digital Detox: Relax and Rejuvenate With An Off-Screen Activity

My city is almost in a complete state of lockdown. The thing with these people is that they think this is the new normal. They aren’t opening the lockdowns. Stepping out is a complete ‘No-No’. To draw and paint, I need to calm my mind. During such prolonged lockdowns, keeping your mental health good becomes challenging.

We aren’t getting any materials either except groceries. The city never really opened the lockdowns since last year. As the wait becomes longer, hopes get dimmer. Reading all this news only makes it worse.

That is when I came across this Sunday Column in India’s largest selling newspaper. It is called ‘timespapershaper’ by ‘The Times of India’. They share ‘How To Make’ Origami Models. A new one every Sunday! Origami is the Japanese Art of Paper Folding. All you need is a sheet of paper.

I collected the posts and sat down to make the ones I liked. Origami can be a very relaxing activity for a person of any age. I thoroughly enjoyed my time off-screen. Almost felt like I should do this digital detox regularly.

I am sharing pictures of the Origami Models. I made all these by myself reading these posts. For the last few difficult ones, I did turn to their videos on FB and Insta. These are listed in the order of their difficulty level. The difficulty level meter is based on what I felt.

Origami Pencil
Origami Pencil
Origami Coat
Origami Coat
Origami Dress
Origami Dress
Origami Dolphin
Origami Dolphin
Origami Star Box
Origami Star Box
Origami Peacock
Origami Peacock
Origami Lily
Origami Lily
Origami Lotus
Origami Lotus
Origami Rose and Leaf
Origami Rose and Leaf
Origami T-light Holder
Origami T-Light Holder or Candle Stand

A big Thank you to ‘timespapershaper’ for teaching us these beautiful Origami Models.

It is a simple creative activity that can be done with things we have at home. However it helps relax and rejuvenate. I feel everyone should try them. It doesn’t require any prior training and the benefits are totally worth the time and effort. Have an Arty Week!

Other Posts that you may like :

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The Art Of Paper Folding – Origami

2021 is here! Wishing everyone a very Happy New Year! The celebrations have been simple and joyous. It was about spending time with family at home for most of us. All of us have been thrilled to bring in the new year filled with hope for a better tomorrow. New Year resolutions are not my thing. 2020 has been a difficult year but that doesn’t stop me from dreaming. They say if you want a different outcome then do something different today.

So how about this? Let’s make an Origami model of your dream, of what you see yourself as, of something you want! That model on your desk will keep telling you, you can do it! It will tell you to keep your focus. If it’s something you want to get rid of, make them and throw them away, let them fly away or vanish into mid air. This activity helps you get rid of the negative emotions and works on building the positive ones.

I want to be free like a bird in 2021. Somewhere our freedom has been curtailed because of the pandemic. Free to fly, free to meet people, free to eat wherever you want, free to roam about, free to breathe. These are some of my wishes. So I am going to make birds – ‘As free as a Bird’.

But why Origami? I could do this with anything else? True! Origami because all you need is a sheet of paper. It shows that something so common and simple can turn into just about anything you want – as long as you are really willing to! This exercise also helps generate new ideas for creativity and innovations. Just in case you haven’t heard of it yet, I’m talking about ORIGAMI – The Art Of Paper Folding.

Origami Animals and Birds
Origami – Animals and Birds

We can create a model or a sculpture by folding a sheet of paper. Origami is a Japanese Art. Usually a traditional Art from Japan will have a given set of rules or instructions to be followed. Traditional Origami does not permit the use of glue or making any kind of cuts in the paper. Hence modified versions have also been adapted and are quiet popular. The methods and techniques of Origami have seen applications not only in the field of Arts and Crafts but also in other fields such as Medicine and Engineering.

Origami is for all. One can learn it at any age. Some popular Types of Origami include 1) Modular Origami or Unit Origami 2) Kirigami 3) Action Origami 4) Wet – Folding Origami

Japan is earthquake prone. Hence the materials used in their houses are light weight. We can notice a significant use of paper in their houses. Another observation I have made is about miniatures in Japan. Being a densely populated country, land is very expensive. This makes them use their space optimally as a resource. Japan always amazes me. Creating things, making the best of what we have and making a come back when you are knocked out – Japan aces it! I see it’s reflections in Origami too.

I wanted to convey that Origami isn’t just about building tiny or toy models. It is real and much more than that. I learnt traditional Origami when I was in the 7th Grade in School. I had books on Origami – a set of five volumes. I remember at one point of time I had made all of them. Folding Paper neat and precise, visualising something in a sheet of paper – builds concentration and imagination. And of course that feeling of ‘I made it’. One of the most fascinating things I have seen made with Origami is ‘Jewellery’.

Materials required are as simple as square sheets of Paper. Ready packets are available in the market at all stores that keep stationery. Books to guide you and inspire you are also easily available. So even if your country has some lockdown restrictions, this is one activity you can easily do at home. Not to mention all the other added benefits it would have such as make you smile and stress- free.

Origami Cranes
Souvenirs from the Paper Museum in Japan

The most popular design is ‘The Crane’. From animals to objects – there are so many things one can make. Did you know? Now there are apps that can show you some folds. There are websites that show you the popular designs for free. You must definitely try out a few!

This zeal for Origami attracted me to ‘Napkin Folding’. I think Napkin Folding is very similar to Origami. Only here we use a Napkin – a well starched cloth to fold. I was reverse engineering this design at a restaurant when the person in – charge of setting up the table noticed me. He said “would you like to learn that?” Surprised! I immediately said “Sure, why not!” He was kind enough to show me three four different folds. The rest I learnt from books.

So what are you waiting for? Let’s get started! Share the Origami models you make or about your experience creating them. Have an Arty Week!