Novice Origamist Makes a Sea Urchin!
I'm very new to origami. Just to give you an idea of how new I am, I've never done kusudama before, nor have I done modular origami. In fact, the only origami I was able to do before this book, was the classic crane and the balloon. I just finished the spiky sea urchin from this book, and I'm so pleased with how it turned out!
I came back from Japan with a lot of really beautiful washi (handmade Japanese paper), and I didn't want to waste it on silly origami animals. I was hoping to make some beautiful ornaments or gift boxes with the paper, which is why I bought this book. So far, I have not been disappointed! It's true, these aren't easy for an amateur, but with some patience, anyone can create beautiful kusudama.
A few suggestions to make this book work for you:
1) Use scrap paper to start. I almost always make a mistake when I'm trying a new design from the book, and it's best to make that mistake with scrap rather than your beautiful washi.
2) Explore different types of paper, such as old maps, newspaper, magazines, construction paper, or even junk mail. It doesn't have to be traditional origami paper. You might discover a cool modern look for your kusudama, plus it's more economical. Recycled art!
3) I'd also recommend testing out different sizes. I like smaller kusudama, so I try to use 3"x3" paper, but sometimes it's difficult to fold such tiny paper. Experiment and see what works best for you. I usually use a toothpick for the smaller folding techniques.
4) This is NOT for impatient or easily distracted people. If you're new to kusudama, it does take some effort and quite a lot of time. However, once you get the hang of the technique, you could do it blindfolded.
5) Lastly, if you have reached a point where you can't seem to figure out the drawings in the book, I'd suggest looking up the kusudama on YouTube. You can often find people on there who SHOW you how to fold Tomoko Fuse's kusudama. I had to do this with a couple of steps for the sea urchin, and once I saw it demonstrated, it became so much clearer to me.
Enjoy!
Beautiful, Decorative Origami
I think I have this book in Japanese; couldn't see enough "look inside" pages to be sure. Even so, Tomoko Fuse is my FAVOURITE designer, and if I'm looking at the same book in English, it's one of her best.
True, some of the models require some glue. However, there are several that hold together using Fuse-san's tab-and-pocket designs. (While we're on the subject, I can recommend using paperclips to hold some of the units together during assembly.)
These unit and assembly instructions are VERY easy to follow. For weeks after learning the Lantern, I was making them from memory out of restaurant placemats. Several small versions of this and other models have ended up in Christmas trees throughout my circle of friends and my family.
Very informative, and easy to follow.
I actually first got this book just to marvel at the amazing origami designs; I thought they looked way to complicated for me to actually make. However, when I took a closer look at the steps for each design I realised that they were really quite simple, and very easy to follow.
These are some of the best, most accurate, and well explained instructions for origami that I have come across. At first glance, the book's instruction pages are rather boring, with all the pictures done in a single plain colour. However, the clarity of the instructions more than makes up for this.
The book also includes several glossy pages of colour photographs of 'finished products', so that you can see what your origami is going to turn out like. This also helps to give you an idea about what coloured papers might look good.
As well as the instructions for a large number of origami designs, the book also includes quite a few small variations on each design, so that you can customise your origami to your liking. These variations are also well explained, and are summarised in a useful table towards the end of the book, so that you can scan all the variations at once, and pick and choose which ones you like.
This is a great book, and I've found it to be very addictive - I want to try out all the different designs, and all the variations on those designs as well.
Check for more reviews on Amazon.com
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