Origami for the Connoisseur [Paperback]

Kunihiko Kasahara (Author), Toshie Takahama (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 1998

Here at last is an origami book intended solely for the advanced paperfolder. Groundbreaking in concept and challenging in content, it presents sixty-five ingenious projects by respected masters working in a variety of themes and origami genres. From Toshikazu Kawasaki's Unique Iso-area Folding Method to David Briil's remarkable "bottle" to Peter Engel's playful "kangaroo," the featured designs have been carefully chosen to test the refined sensibilities and stimulate the artistic appetites of the origami devotee.
If you are an accomplished paperfolder you will be inspired by the beauty and logic of the geometric form as discovered in such designs as Hourglass, Rotating Tetrahedon, Brain Ticklers, and Extraterrestrial Being. You will delight in the wit and poetry of representational origami as you create delicate and winsome patterns for Kitten, Goose, Pelican, Giraffe, Camellia, Spiral Snail Shell, Ground Beetle, Pine Cone, Fox, and many more designs. What's more, you will find the key to successfully mastering numerous intricate techniques and complex paper fold...with ease!
This is no ordinary origami workbook. Complicated processes are made highly accessible-yet remain daring-through clear, concise instructions and highly detailed diagrams. One of the unexpected joys of the book is that its mentally invigorating text will serve as an ongoing inspiration to novel approaches and new origami adventures - even after you have completed a project.

Product Details

• Paperback: 168 pages
• Publisher: Japan Publications; 7th edition (November 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 4817090022
• ISBN-13: 978-4817090027
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #895,196 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the all-time classics, January 30, 2001

By 

Alan Light (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Origami for the Connoisseur (Paperback)

This is one of a handful of must-have origami books. It contains a landmark treatment of modular origami as well as many terrific animal and novelty folds (i.e. vegetables, pinecones, etc).

Kawasaki's rose and spiral snail shell are included and these models alone make the book worthwhile. Several Peter Engel models are there, with better diagrams than Engel gives in his own book!

This is NOT a beginner's book. Even the most experienced folders will have trouble with many of the models in this book, but your efforts will be rewarded.

One warning: Do not attempt to fold Montroll's stegosaurus from the diagrams in this book. The diagrams in Montroll's "Prehistoric Origami" are far superior and give better results.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars All-time Origami Favorite, December 23, 2000

By 

Jennifer L. Paxton "tendrel" (Escondido, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Origami for the Connoisseur (Paperback)

This is by far one of my favorite origami volumes, and I have bunches. It is an advanced book, but part of the fun with it has come as I steadily can do more and more of the models as the years go by. The seashells he includes have proven quite popular with co-workers, while I cherish the geometrics and discourse myself. If you are a folder, I highly recommend this book, even if you don't think you are advanced enough, I think you will be pleasantly suprised and challenged.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I love it!, August 20, 2000

By 

Robert Drutel - See all my reviews

This review is from: Origami for the Connoisseur (Paperback)

This book is absolutely wonderful. The first 20 to 25 models are modular type things that are very interesting. You learn how to make shapes you didn't know that existed. Afterward there are models that are by other authors.Though, above all the ones I have made I like the rose the most. When I saw it I told myself I had to make it. And on my first try I made it, although up close it was kind of messy. Afterwards I learned how to make it without putting so many creases and it is truely awesome. (now it sits with Engel's butterfly on it.) But the book does lean over more towards the advanced. What I'm saying is that I've made Peter Engel's Butterfly and The scorpion of Robert Lang, but I don't think I I'll put myself up to the 900 unit sphere-like shape in Origami for the Connoisseur. If you are a very dedicated origami shape folder, you would definately like it. But, even if you're not, then buy the book for the Kawasaki rose. (In my review on Engel's Origami:From Angelfish to Zen I mentioned that I hadn't made the butterfly. Well not too long befor I wrote this review I figured out how to.)