What book should I buy?

General discussion about Origami, Papers, Diagramming, ...
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Lithilk
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What book should I buy?

Post by Lithilk »

I have a bit of money now, and I was wondering what book I should buy so I can improve.

The last models I have made have been Thoki Yenn's crossed-box pleat, Darren Abbey's hummingbird, Peter Engel's giraffe from Origami for the Connoisseur by Kunihiko Kasahara and Toshie Takahama.

Any suggestions?
I have 3 Robert Harbin books, and a quite a few books by Kunihiko Kasahara, and Brilliant Origami by David Brill, oh and Jeremy Shafer's book.
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InsomniacFolder
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Post by InsomniacFolder »

I would suggest Origami Sculptures by Montroll & Origami Zoo by Weiss & Lang; both of those have a nice selection of (Animal) subjects and are not too difficult in the main.
If you want a more complex challenge try LAngs Origami Insects and their Kin, which is tricky, but by todays ever expanding standards quite managable, with perseverance. It is also easy to get a copy online for a very low price - under £5.00.
The Satoshi Kamiya book has super complex designs in, if you are looking for a challenge but it would also require large special sheets of paper, it also needs special ordering from Sasuga, Origami House or Nicolas Terry and is expensive.

As you mentioned Thoki Yenn, you may be a BOS member, and from the BOS supplies list I can enthusiastically recommend Edwin Corries Origami Animals 1, 2 & 3; also the Selected works of Quentin Trollip, each of which is about £5.00 for each booklet.

Hope this gives you some ideas, though of course this is my recommendation, which I'm sure others would disagree with!
"Had we but world enough and time..."
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Max
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Post by Max »

I like Origami for Interpreters by Román Díaz very much.
Its available from Nicolas Terry's shop or OUSA.

It contains both, challenging models and a part about modelling, paper, folds with some issues that i haven't been able to find in another book yet.

I would not recommend Insects and their kin by Lang. To me his diagrammed insect are not worth the trouble folding them. But thats just my opinion...

@insomniacfolder, i play with the thought ordering from BOS supplies. Any more recommendations?
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AquaDragon
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Post by AquaDragon »

For a serious challenge, I suggest Origami Bugs and Beasts. Ever since I bought that book, I haven't been able to fold one model in the entire book. Maybe it's the type of paper I'm using?
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Jonnycakes
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Post by Jonnycakes »

I have two recommendations that I give everyone: Origami Sea Life by Lang/Montroll and Origami Design Secrets (ODS) by Lang. Sea Life is a wonderful book-there are so many clever and beautiful models in it. The difficulty of them ranges from simple (a tadpole) to very complex (crabs, a 25-pointed sea urchin, etc.). There is also a lot in-between such as a barracuda, shark (the shark is excellent), hermit crab, swordfish, etc. I learned to fold from Origami Sea Life-I absolutely love the book.

ODS is a must. It is 600 pages long and costs $50, but it is packed with a ton of information. There are 10 diagrams in it of various difficulty (including Lang's famous Black Forest Cuckoo Clock), but the main attraction of the book is the wealth of knowledge it contains on the structure of origami models. That book is all you need to understand and fold from crease patterns and even start designing yourself. It contains gobs of CPs of Lang's designs to practice from. The concepts get pretty complex, but Lang presents the information in a way that is easily understandable and starts from the very beginning-just folding the four classic bases (fish, bird, frog, waterbomb I think). I really think that every origamist should read this book.
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dragon man
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Post by dragon man »

Origami Zoo, ODS - Origami design secrets, works of satoshi kamiya(super complex) :D
gordigami
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What book should I buy ?

Post by gordigami »

There are many excellent books available.
You might want to go to Gilad Aharoni's site to see which models are of interest to you, then buy that book.
http://www.giladorigami.com/Books_default.html
Generally, of course, improving requires learning from many books, rather than just one .
May I wish success to all who cope with the mountains & valleys of Life,
with all its peaks & depths, as well as Origami .
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Jonnycakes
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Post by Jonnycakes »

And even more generally, improving requires learning from yourself.
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BluePaper
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Post by BluePaper »

Most of the convention books(OUSA and JOAS) have a very wide variety of models of various difficulties, I find the JOAS convention books to be better (though more expensive) due to the fact that they usually have more difficult models and a greater total number of diagrams. But if what you're really after is self-impovement, then, as has already been said, you really need to learn from yourself, try new things, learn new techniques, and constantly push yourself to do better.
stinlin
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Post by stinlin »

All these books in here seem to require very large and thin paper. I'm assuming that these sheets are made rather than bought, correct?
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Jonnycakes
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Post by Jonnycakes »

You can make large (ish), thin sheets of paper with tissue foil and double tissue, but other than that you can buy large, thin paper. Many artisan papers (many of which are made from kozo, or mulberry, fibers) are suitable for origami. They tend to be large, thin and strong, and look nice to boot. You will need to treat them with MC beforehand to make them suitable for folding, though.
stinlin
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Post by stinlin »

Alright - that sounds legitimate. Where's that topic that talks about MC and treating your paper with it? :)
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origami_8
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Post by origami_8 »

For example here or here,...
stinlin
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Post by stinlin »

:D Thank you much.
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