Guest Author - Lisa Shea

John Montroll is famous for his intricate shapes, and Origami Sea Life is no exception. Some of these shapes have over 200 folds in them.

This is definitely a book for advanced folders, and for them it could be a must-have book. The range of cool animals is immense, from seahorses to dolphins to lobsters and crabs. You could make special ones for gift giving, and groups of them for theme decorating.

The book is all in black and white - a drawing of the final shape is given, then drawings of each fold along the way. Text descriptions help make the folds more clear. In most of these shapes, the problem isn't knowing what to do. It is actually DOING it. When you have folded a single piece of paper 150 times and still have to do 50 more folds to it, you are making some incredibly tiny folds.

The classic shape is the Atlantic Purple Sea Urchin. To start with, you fold your paper so it has 8x8 tiny squares covering it. And that's only the beginning. You end up having to rabbit-ear 25 tiny points and then start folding them outwards. It's quite a challenge.

Still, the shapes are amazing and are very realistic looking. I highly recommend this for any advanced folder!

Origami Sea Life