Make an Origami Fish
The fish is an elegant animal, making it a beautiful subject for an origami model. Here are two types of fish you can fold from any square piece of paper.
Steps
Angelfish
- Begin with a preliminary fold. This is also known as a square base. You can learn how to make one here: Make an Origami Square Base
- Pull out the inside flaps until they line up with the upper edges. This will form the fins.
- Fold the top triangle down as far as possible.
- Lift the flap you just folded a little bit so you will see the intersection between the two folded flaps.
- Pull this intersection out and fold it down into a triangle.
- Unfold the flaps folded in the last two steps.
- Turn the model so that the fins are pointing to the left.
- Grab the leftmost corner and rotate it upward and into the inside of the model in a way that follows previous creases.
- Fold the diamond formed in the last step in half lengthwise, bringing it left to right. Flip the model over and do the same on this side, in reverse order, of course. Flip it back over.
- Unfold the previous step. Bring both diamond shaped flaps downward so the model appears to have been turned upside down.
- Repeat step eight on the diamonds again.
- Bring the top diamond back up and fold both in half from left to right.
Butterfly Fish
- Once again, begin with a preliminary fold. See Make an Origami Square Base. Apply a petal fold to the top side.
- Bring both sides of the lower portion of the petal fold (the side with two loose flaps) upward as far as they can go. They may rotate slightly.
- Fold the diamond shapes created in the previous step lengthwise towards the center.
- Fold the top point to the bottom point and unfold.
- Fold the top point so that the side of it is parallel to the crease from step 4, folding in either direction. Unfold and repeat in the other direction.
- Fold the point to the left, bringing the small left triangle formed by the previous step in toward the center. The tip will naturally fold itself in half.
- Fold the tip over to the right, at a slight angle.
- Repeat steps 5 through seven on the bottom point.
- Fold the top tip only to the left, making sure the crease is parallel to the vertical center line.
- Fold the model in half, tucking the protruding angle on the bottom underneath the flat right edge of the top tip.
- Rotate it 90 degrees left.
Tips
- For any origami model, start with the colored side of the paper up, unless told otherwise.
- If you are a beginner at origami, use as big a piece of paper as you can get your hands on.
- Pick a piece of paper close in color to that of a real fish.
Related Articles
Sources and Citations
Engel, P, (1994), Origami from Angelfish to Zen, ISBN 0-486-28138-8
