Customer Reviews

Dragons, Witches, and Other Fantasy Creatures in Origami (Dover Origami Papercraft)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

These figures are, clearly, for the advanced intermediate and very experienced origamist. They are clever, and many have very detailed (and many) steps.

However, the main reason I rated the book rather low is that the figures are very hard to see since they are printed in a very dark ink, and the instructions are, in many instances, almost impossible to see. It would have helped greatly if the diagrams were not printed so darkly -- indeed, the sample pages given when ordering are NOT what is seen. Also, it would have helped if there were some sugggestions as to size of paper with which to begin.

I suspect that very experienced folders will play with the models and will be successful, but I also think these great figures would have been much more accessible -- as they should be as they are really good -- had the authors or publishers used a bit more care in what the end book would look like vis-a-vis the diagrams.

this is an extremely good book and one of the few that is actualy HARD. i bought this wen i was an intermediate and ive struggled but now i consider myself slightly advanced. if you new to origami dont be foolish and take this book or you will COMPLETELY fail. this book is for the ones who really want to test themselves. great book and fun to do with great models that appear in yuor hands

Origami is a beautiful kind of art , which I view as analogous to music. Similar to music, origami books are like notes that each performer may interpret in his unique way. With this analogy, Montroll, for me, is the origami Bach, while Lang is the origami Rachmaninoff. After some bad experience with other designers, until recently, I only "played" Montroll's and Lang's models, however when my son insisted he wants also models of witches and warriors, I agreed to buy this book, and I do not regret. The models of the witch, dragon with warrior, and lady, are in my opinion masterpieces. They are very elegant, and relatively easy for an experienced folder. The only reason I rate this book as 4 star and not 5 is because the instructions are not as clear as in Montroll's books and there are some minor errors in the diagrams.

I've been doing origami for somewhere near 20 or 25 years now, and I rarely come across a book that challenges me anymore. I've made it through several books from John Montroll, Robert Lang, Hiromi Hayashi, and many others. This book definitely adds a whole new side to origami that I'm new to, and so far has been fairly challenging.
The pros for this book, as I see them are:
-very challenging models
-very detailed models
-small, concise no frills

What I don't personally like:
-there are very few actual directions in this book. The diagrams are decent, but there aren't very many actual directions. Several of the diagrams and steps are quite confusing.
-The coloring/shading of the diagrams is very dark. Being mildly color blind, it makes it much more difficult to make out some of the proper folds.
-each model I have worked on has required very fine paper. I have rice paper, but prefer to practice with cheap copy paper. You can't really do that with this book, the paper is just to heavy for these intricate folds. So, if you mess up or tear the sheet, it costs a whole lot more...

SO, considering the above, I really do like this book. I intend to write scores of notes in it, and I've already started a binder to go with it that has step by step photos and examples of any steps that give me grief. This is definitely not a book for any sort of novice paper folder. If you cannot complete most every model in

http://www.amazon.com/Animal-Origami-Enthusiast-Step---Step/dp/0486247929/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1324892792&sr=8-1

or

http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Book-Origami-Step--Instructions/dp/0486258378/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1324892973&sr=8-2

or

http://www.amazon.com/Origami-Connoisseur-Kunihiko-Kasahara/dp/0870406701/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1324892838&sr=8-2

then I'd recommend either waiting to buy this particular book. These other 3 I posted offer a wider variety of models, ranging from very simple, to incredible difficult. Good luck!