Photo by Wesley Damgo.
Kazuo Kobayashi is a prolific author of origami craft books and he is currently the chairman of Origami Kaikan: Ochanomizu which is a retail store in Tokyo that exhibits, teaches, and sells paper.
Why talk about him? Because Vertical Inc. recently published in English a book by Kobayashi that is completely devoted to creating origami flowers. Origami Flowers is similar to Makoto Yamaguchi’s two books, かわいい花の折り紙 (Cute Flower Origami) and すてきな花の折り紙 (Wonderful Flower Origami), in that it also mentions what can be done to make the flower end product appear more life like.
Origami Flowers has over 30 different projects divided within three sections of the flower’s table of content: seasonality, gifting options or practicality in usage as a cutlery or decor. The key for this book’s project difficulty is denoted by a smiley face from easiest to complex. Every page in this book is printed in color and feeling glossy. There is also some ‘origami paper’ that is included toward the back of book, but may be an impractical solution since that paper can only be used once.
Some of the models diagrammed in this book are traditional ones, and others require a degree of cutting or gluing. However models like the sunflower or tulip or boxed roses are done only using simple folds. An interesting project, the chrysanthemum, is made from just folding and then arranging traditional cranes together. Flowers in this book can either be 3D or flat 2D, depending on what you want to do with it. Personally I love how some models from this book can be used to fold simple smaller models that can be exchanged in an Origami ATC trade (ATC = Artist Trading Card). There is a small section where the model also teaches folders how to make a brooch or pin out of these flowers.
There certainly is no shortage of previously published origami flower books, but take the time to consider adding this book to your own collection. I took this book to my origami weekly group, and members enjoyed folding models from the book.
Details
- Paperback, 79 pages
- published February, 2014 by Vertical Publisher
- English Text
- ISBN-10: 1939130182
- ISBN-13: 978-1939130181