Geometric 3D Mammals Crafted with Complex Paper Folding

Zorro común / Red Fox
Vulpes vulpes

Buenos Aires-based illustrators and art directors known collectively as Estudio Guardabosques craft fantastic mammals using only paper. Their ongoing series imagines a fox, racoon, tiger, and more as 3D, angular forms. Guardabosques’ low-poly technique means a simplification of details – we don’t see any eyes, whiskers, or subtle variations in fur. But, it’s incredible that with just simple folds in paper, they’ve captured the essence of each animal. The tiger bares its teeth as the fox slinks away.

Tanuki / Perro Mapache / Raccoon dog
Nyctereutes procyonoides viverrinus

While this type of sculpture doesn’t need a lot of tools, it does require careful engineering. Guardabosques folded the paper at just the right angles to convincingly express form. Sometimes, this means that an intricate snout or an arched back features several small, complex shapes. Coupled with larger, broad folds, this balance makes for an easily-recognizable creature.

Aguará Guazú / Maned Wolf
Chrysocyon brachyurus

Oso de anteojos / Spectacled bear
Tremarctos ornatus

Tigre / Tiger
Panthera tigris

Demonio de Tasmania / Tasmanian devil
Sarcophilus harrisii

Liebre europea / European Hare
Lepus europaeus

yubarta / humpback whale
(megaptera novaeangliae)

cachalote / sperm whale
(physeter macrocephalus)

delfín nariz de botella / common bottlenose dolphin
(tursiops truncatus)

delfín comun / short-beaked common dolphin
(delphinus delphis)

delfín rosado / pink river dolphin
(inia geoffrensis)

narval / narwhal
(monodon monoceros)

Via My Modern Met