Roman Diaz's book "Origami Essence" is a very cool book with a number of origami animals and birds. The first of them is this panda, an easy, geometrical version.

The diagram is easy to follow. The suggested paper size is 15-20 cms and I used 15 cms square. A smaller square, I thought, would have resulted in a smaller and more appealing panda!

Model Details:

Model: Panda 

Creator: Roman Diaz 

Book: Origami Essence

Author: Roman Diaz

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 6 inches

Model Size: ~3 inches in height

Tutorial: Youtube Part 1 and Part 2

Recently I tried the origami barracuda from John Montroll and Robert Lang's book 'Origami Under the Sea'.

The model is designed by John Montroll and is a complex one to fold. I started with a large square of paper, 14 inches side. I didn't want to get stuck in the middle because the paper was too small! But I think a 12-inch square would have worked well too.

This is the first time I am folding a complex origami animal. I hadn't realised that they would turn out to be quite that thick! I am not too happy with the way the fins turned out. I think they are  a bit displaced. And the eyes aren't too prominent but other than that, I am quite happy with my first effort 😀

The paper I have used is a very crisp and thin banana paper. This is the first time I am using such a paper and it worked out really well for a complex origami.

Model Details:

Model: Barracuda 

Creator: John Montroll

Book: Origami Under the Sea
 
Author: John Montroll & Robert Lang
 
Difficulty Level: Complex

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 14 inch squares