These photographs show results that I obtained by experimenting with the decoration of onion skin paper, which is originally white.
Before folding the paper, I applied crayon shavings on each square. Then I placed another piece of paper over the shavings, and melted them onto the onion skin paper by passing a warm iron for a few seconds.Onion skin paper is strong, thin, crisp, translucent and folds easily.
Read these two other related posts on this kind of paper:
Photos © Leyla Torres. Origamy Buterfly created by Michael LaFosse, folded by Leyla Torres.
I ordered onion skin and I plan to make the butterflies. I am interested in how you so accurately colored their abdomens.
Hi Candace,
• I folded an unfolded several butterflies.
• I studied the crease pattern.
• I colored the sections of a folded model using different color pencils and then unfolded it.
• I studied where each section would be in the finished model.
• I applied the crayon shavings to the surface of the flat piece of the final piece of paper following roughly my sketches of the draft models. I have not done this in a while, but I seem to remember applying color in certain areas of both sides of the paper.
It was involved and took me a while, but everything had to do with studying the crease pattern. Good luck!