Nick Robinson's Blog, page 38

C'est si bon!

Nice surprise today, 2 copies of two books published by Atlas Editions came in the post, sent by la jolie Nathalie. They are compilations from their monthly "part work" collection of a few years ago, to which I contributed. The really nice thing is that they are (unlike most publishers) scrupulous about paying each time a model is reissued, even if you have to submit tax documents to get paid!

One book is called "27 Nouveaux origamis géants" and the other is "30 Origamis pour s'amuser". They are colourful and bright, although I think the line width of the diagrams is too thin for my tastes. A good selection to fold, but ignore if you have other EA origami collections!

First time, ever I saw your facebook

In a vague attempt to get my Facebook addiction under control, I've set up  page on which to present my origami goings on, plus loads of images that have cluttered up my hard ive for many years. Hie you to https://www.facebook.com/pages/Nick-Robinson-Origami/212461572187568 and like the page please!

 

Don’t dream, it’s Dover…

Out of the blue, my first books for Dover have arrived, two boxes of 24 copies each! They look quite substantial volumes, but you soon discover half the book is paper for folding. Ah well.

Interestingly, they are part of a series entitled “my first origami book”. As a fully qualified pedant, I’d like to point out that only one can fit that bill. The other will be your second book of origami.

Here are the books, along with the keyboard what wrote them. Many thanks to Ros Joyce, who folded the examples used for photographing – you’re a star! You can read more on my books page.

Don't dream, it's Dover…

Out of the blue, my first books for Dover have arrived, two boxes of 24 copies each! They look quite substantial volumes, but you soon discover half the book is paper for folding. Ah well.

Interestingly, they are part of a series entitled "my first origami book". As a fully qualified pedant, I'd like to point out that only one can fit that bill. The other will be your second book of origami.

Here are the books, along with the keyboard what wrote them. You can read more on my books page.

A mess of rhombics

Had an email from "Origami Bob" Voelker (is that like "Maximum Bob"?) with a photo which made me smile – he wrote "I thought you might like to see this photo. Some friends and I made 10 jumbo rhombic dodecs. The 12 faces are printed with the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, to use as table centerpieces at an annual dinner. Your work has far-reaching benefits!"

It's good to see A4 paper can be found in the States – they really should adopt it as a standard. I created this over 20 years ago and am constantly amazed how well it was lasted as a design.

Bucher & książki

Someone from germany emailed me recently asking for help with a flying model called a "Jäger" from one of my books. I searched but couldn't find it, so asked "which book?" It turned out ot be "Die größten Papierflieger aller Zeiten", new to me.

So, I contacted the publishers and persuaded them to send me a copy. Along with it came a Polish version of the book along with a Polish version of the "Biggest Origami book", known as "Wielka Księga Origami"!

So, my first two books in Polish – this has left me on a high, of course ;)

Outside The Box Origami : Scott Wasserman Stern

I was sent this book for review by the publishers, Tuttle. I knew nothing about the author, so did some quick googling. Apparently, Stern has been folding origami since he was three years old. And has been an active member of the Origami Club of Pittsburgh and a regular attendee of OUSA's national convention in New York. He has now reached the grand old age of seventeen, so is still very young for an origami author.

If I had seen the images of models on the back cover first, I would have guessed the book was by Jeremy Schafer. Indeed, Schafer gives a complimentary quote on the back cover, alongside Montroll, LaFosse and Engel – handy people to have on your side!

The book begins with a two page introduction where we learn about the author and what motivates him. Three pages of symbols follow, then we're into the folding. Part 1 is "simple folds" and immediately, you have to take issue with the level.  By the third model (a skull), we're asked to perform a "partial closed sink"! Several of the models are geometric; rings and wreaths etc. The "Starburst" modular is an elegant adaptation of a bird base and most impressive. The "elephant" by comparison, doesn't do it for me and misses the essence of the subject somewhat.

Intermediate is next, a 59 step dog that also seems to lack the proper proportions. The "checkerboard prism" interestingly produces an unlikely modular from a fish base. The "flapping bird" is going to challenge many folders. I always feel you're asking for trouble creating flapping birds, unless they get anywhere near the beauty of the original. This one, to my eyes is rather over-folded.

The advanced section comes just over a third of the way into the book, which probably tells us where the author's heart lies. The "floral design" made from a blintzed fish base is elegant and Shen-like. The "crane with a crane as a head" will tax the accuracy of many folders and 74 steps produce quite a simple looking ghost, but with five fingers per hand.

After advanced, comes "expert", including a "pig with wings" (of course!), a Fujimoto style "snowflake", a 58 step "weave design" that surely must have a simpler solution and finally, 100 steps of "folding outside the box", literally a pair of hands, folding a square, coming from a box.

The diagrams (by the author) are drawn to a very high standard and in general, the book is attractive and eye-catching – let's hope Tuttle have finally lost their previous dated approach to design. It's a shame there is no reference to any origami societies.

So, who will get (or "get") this book? Fans of Schafer's weird and wonderful world will undoubtedly enjoy it. Beginners will struggle from the very first model, but those who value a challenge will find plenty to amuse them. The one Amazon review says "This is the best origami book I have seen. I am definitely giving it to a friend who has been sitting around with a broken leg."  For me, many of the designs lack class. It's almost as if the concept of the model redeems the amount of work required to produce it.To be frank, I found only a few models inside that inspired me to fold them and it isn't a book I will be coming back to very often. Then again, I am a jaded old hack, maybe you need to be young to get the most from it. I get the sense that Stern, if he continues, will become a gifted folder and creator, but we've seen him slightly early in his "career", before any recognisable personal style has emerged.

 

Quirky? Moi?

Spotted in Waterstones today, a recent book of mine. OK, it wasn't displayed like this, but it didn't take 5 seconds to replace the book that *was* on display (which shall remain nameless) with this epic tome.

I half wondered if a store detective might have pulled me over on the way out ;)

I was fascinated to see the heading above it, which I tend to disagree with! I wonder how many other authors are sad enough to pull stunts like this in the desperate hope of another sale?

 

The Mighty Boobs

Noel Fielding is well known amongst the younger generations as half of the "Mighty Boosh" comedy show. More recently, he seems to have gone solo with "Noel Fielding's Luxury Comedy", described as "Psychedelic character-based comedy show half filmed and half animated, with music provided by Kasabian's Sergio Pizzorno".

I watched an episode, (which seemed to be a subtle variation on his MB work) and was delighted half way through to see one of his characters have a go at origami. Even better, he folded and modelled a pair of "comedy breasts", much beloved of Paul Gascoigne and Blackadder. On closer inspection, these seemed to be the version with nips created by Uwe Hollerbach, based on a design of mine from "Adult Origami".

This classic, long since out of print, has been somewhat of an albatross, since it (along with the viral publicity pics) placed me quite firmly in the "weird" camp for a while. In my view, it was no more than the origami version of naughty seaside postcards and overflowing with irony, plus the models were great. But of the 40 odd books I've written, this one seemed to create more of a fuss. My wikipedia entry even makes reference to it, as if it's a central part of my creative oeuvre.

It's all water under the the bridge now, but still nice to see the models (or variants) live on!

Every day I write the book

Apologies to regular visitors if things have been quiet of late, but life has been busy. Aside from an unprecedented month of gigs (band & solo) I've been under the cosh with books.

The Halloween project with Dover has reached the stage where my loyal and highly attentive proof-reader has begun to email back the vast list of corrections required and I'm working through these. One model in particular was so badly sequenced that I've had to redo about 8 (3D) steps from scratch. Why I didn't take the time to get it right in the first place is a good question.The early version of a "werewolf" (shown right) has since been revised to make it less of a "were-rabbit" ;)

Other errors are just plain silly – missing turnovers etc. I usually add these after the steps are complete, but this requires me to pay attention and I'm getting worse at this as the years crawl interminably by. The two earlier books (also for for Dover) are now complete and awaiting printing – details my master list.

In addition, I'm about to begin work on no less than 4 new book projects (although three are quite short) and the deadlines are essentially "ASAP". So at least for the moment I can actually feel I'm earning my whack towards the household expenses, which is nice!