The Origami Forum

Not sure if you guys saw this already. It is set for a February 23 2009 release and can be pre-ordered at Amazon.com:

Thanks for the heads up.
I shall add it to my, already outrageously long, wish list!
I know he's out of favour these days, and seems old fashioned, simple even, in todays origami marketplace, but I still really like John Montroll ("Bringing Origami to Life" apart, but I'll easily 'forgive' him that one)

well I ordered some of his latest books (Like 'bugs and birds' and 'bringing origami to life') and I still have a weak spot for Montroll. His most recent models sure lack a certain zest (especially because he most of the time now starts with turning a square into a rectangle, then pleat on two sides, then folds the edges in and there you got 4 legs), but he also did some amazing designs, that are not Lang or Kamiya, but still rather cool. My favorites:

- Most of what's in African Animals (especially the plain lion, giraffe, rhino, zebra, hippo)
- Most of what's in Sculptures
- Most of what's in Inside Out (especially the raccoon, elephant, skunk)
- The amazing mouse in North American Animals
- Most of Prehistoric Origami
- Almost all of his contributions to Sea LIfe (especially the cichlid, baracuda, blue shark and goldfish)


that definitely was his best period and he was a pioneer then

I'd agree with almost all of that, and add...

Western Dragon from Chinese Zodiac
Lobster, Frogs and grasshopper from the Enthusiast books
Bull from Favourite Animals (Folded once for a basketball fan who was delighted with the simple colour changed horns, and even requested a second copy for his son)
Earwig & Turkey from Bugs and birds
Most everything in Origami Sculptures is excellent too

his polyhedra books are pretty awesome too. I don't know that bull... do you have a picture somewhere...

Gilad (As always ) has a picture.
http://www.giladorigami.com/BO_FavoriteAnimals.html
Very simple model, the crimp in the back defines the shoulders nicely without any effort.
The mink in this book is nice too, the lion and deer pretty dissapointing.

I must get the polyhedra book, and the $ books, but creating the rectangles before hand is a bit laborious. maybe I'll go down the bureau de change instead.

Insomniac, do you know the method of making a dollar-proportioned rectangle from any silver rectangle? All you do is make a square, the usual way, and keep the leftover strip. That strip has almost exactly the same proportions as a US dollar.

I think I first discovered that when I folded Kawahata's Dragon Head from a dollar.

http://www.serve.com/hecht/origami/diags/getbill.pdf

I'm not really familiar with Montroll btw. Are all of his models as simple as the ones in this book?

merman wrote:- The amazing mouse in North American Animals

Do you mean the mouse or the moose?

i really wish he would release a new dinosaur book with physiologically correct dinosaurs. it wigs me out seeing them dragging their tails. i remember i was at a folding session with him and i made a more posturally correct tyranosaur from one of his models... he actually corrected it back to his design!!!!

origamimasterjared wrote:Insomniac, do you know the method of making a dollar-proportioned rectangle from any silver rectangle? All you do is make a square, the usual way, and keep the leftover strip. That strip has almost exactly the same proportions as a US dollar.

I think I first discovered that when I folded Kawahata's Dragon Head from a dollar.

Wow! He he! Umm, no! Thanks origamimasterjared.
I've been making two $ rectangles from squares and wondering what to do with the leftover strips.
This is an excellent tip, thankyou so much.
Now, lets see how much those $ book are...

Adam wrote:I'm not really familiar with Montroll btw. Are all of his models as simple as the ones in this book?

Many of his designs are quite simple, particularly in the boook i linked above.
Origami Sculptures, African Animals in Origami, North American Animals in Origami, Origami Inside Out and the Enthusiast books all have a range of models up to moderately complex (by todays standards)
They can be picked up so cheaply on Amazon that they are all worth a look. (£3.20 for North American Animals, £3.28 for Sculptures etc)

When folks request an origami model, the most common request that I get, is the turtle , from Origami Sea Creatures . I am happy with that, in that it is quick to make, approx. 15 minutes, and can be livened up with creatively chosen paper & textures.
Most interesting models take much longer, and people's attention tends to stray if the model isn't completed quickly enough.
Montroll's books seem to provide the variety and challenge sufficient to keep one's attention alive during the early learning "ladder" of origami.