Amazing Origami Fan Art of Comic, Film and Gaming Characters

Origami is a term used for the art of creating a 3D object from a single square piece of paper. The term “Origami” comes from the Japanese words, “Oru” – folding and “Kami” – paper, so the word “Origami” literally means paper folding.

Traditional Origami Crane Design

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The art style has its origins in ancient Japan, traditionally using flowers, birds, frogs and dragons as subject matter. The most famous traditional Japanese design is the Origami crane.

Modern Origami artists challenge themselves with newer subject matter, such as automobiles, sci-fi aircraft and fantasy architecture.

Fan art Origami is a recent addition to the world of Origami, featuring stunning paper models of characters from films, computer games and comic books.

Lord of the Rings Origami by Eric Joisel

The characters from JRR Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” have inspired many fan art pieces. These origami models of the characters are technically difficult and highly detailed, so the project takes more time and effort than many forms of fan art.

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Eric Joisel, born in 1956, is a French Origami artist. His creative designs have an organic, sculptured feel to them. Each paper sculpture is folded from a single piece of paper; following the rules of Origami purism which states that the paper must not be cut or torn in any way to assist the artistic process.

Joisel’s characters are not only highly detailed; they also reflect the character’s personality through pose. This effect is extremely difficult to achieve, but the result is an amazingly accurate and realistic character model.

Creating such intense detail requires a lot of planning ahead and concentration. Mistakes in Origami are often irreversible, and the artist will have to start over with a fresh piece of paper.

See more stunning Origami designs from Eric Joisel here.