Another cute origami with an ocean element appears to be flapping its fins, swimming freely in the ocean.
This model creates a cute paper whale with a fat body, a sharp mouth, and a lovely detailed tail. It can be a cute idea if you are in love with sea creature models.
If you are new to origami, start here from our beginner guide to know the basics and how to read the step-by-step instructions.
- Folding time: 20 minutes
- Paper: 15×15 cm
- Difficulty: Middle
Material
Get a piece of 15×15 cm origami square paper, with different colors on each side, to create a 6.1×10 cm origami whale. Other sizes of square paper are also possible.
Step by Step Instructions
Step 1
Start with the white side of the paper facing down, and fold it in half vertically, leaving a crease then unfold it.
Step 2
Fold it in half horizontally from the bottom to the top.
Step 3
Fold up the bottom edge around 1/5 of the vertical crease, crease it well then unfold it.
Step 4
Unfold the paper completely.
Step 5
Fold the top and bottom left edges to align with the creases you just made.
Step 6
Fold the top and bottom corners toward the center along the dotted lines, and unfold them. [these dotted lines intersected with the creases on the top and bottom layers]
Step 7
Unfold the paper, and push the top and bottom points toward the center along the creases indicated by the dotted lines.
Step 8
Press down the top layer, and flatten the top standing corner by pushing it to the right side.
Step 9
Similarly, press down the bottom layer, and flatten the bottom standing corner by pushing it to the right side.
Step 10
Fold the left point toward the right side along the dotted line.
Step 11
Shape the two creases shown by the red dotted lines, then push them together, and flatten the fold. Finally, rotate it 90 degrees from the back to the front.
Step 12
Fold the right triangle down to the left along its left edge.
Step 13
Fold the right point of the right triangle to meet the top left point of the paper indicated by the red spot, crease it well then unfold it.
Step 14
Bring up the top layer, and repeat step 13, fold the right point of the right triangle to the top left point, then push down the lifted top layer.
Step 15
Flip the paper over.
Step 16
Fold up the right part along the black dotted line, leaving a crease then unfold it.
Step 17
Rotate the paper 90 degrees from the back to the front, and expand the tail part as the second picture shows, then bring up the tail along the existing creases, and finally flatten the fold.
Step 18
Rotate it 90 degrees from the front to the back to place it flat.
Step 19
Fold down the top left corner of the tail to the left along the edge indicated by the dotted line, crease it well then unfold.
Step 20
Rotate it 90 degrees from the back to the front, expand the tail as the second picture shows, then push down its top point, and flatten the fold along the creases you made in the previous step. Finally, rotate it to lay it flat.
Step 21
Pinch the bottom section of the tail, and pull the top two corners to both sides. Then, push down the top edge of the tail to the right side, and adjust it to create a flat top side. The third picture shows the final result of the tail fluke from top and bottom views.
Step 22
Gently fold the flipper on this side to the right along the dotted line to create a slight bend, without pressing too hard.
Step 23
Turn over the paper.
Step 24
Similarly, fold the flipper on this side to the left side to create a slight bend.
Step 25
Fold up the bottom right corner along the dotted line, leaving a crease then unfold it.
Step 26
Rotate it 90 degrees to make the bottom face up, then press down the corner you folded in the previous step, and flatten it along the creases you just made. Next, rotate it back to the original shape.
Step 27
Flip the model over, that’s your lovely origami whale.
What’s Next
This is the final shape of an origami whale. Now you can go ahead and explore our other origami animal instructions. Happy folding!
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