Draw It 3D: A Seriously Easy
Step-by-Step Guide to Mind-Melting, Eye-Popping Art! By the editors of
Klutz. Klutz. $16.99.
Make Paper Lantern Animals.
By the editors of Klutz. Klutz. $19.99.
Klutz project books are not
what they used to be, but they are still a cut above other arts-and-crafts
project assemblages. Often more than a cut above. Klutz is now a Scholastic
line, no longer a scrappy West Coast publisher with distinctly odd tastes and
concepts (the firm once named a secondary line “Chicken Socks”). But bits of
oddity continue to creep into some Klutz offerings, such as Draw It 3D. The spiral-bound, lie-flat
instruction book offered here manages to include a fair amount of technical
information about both art and science (since the way we see things, including
art, is a matter of science) – all while showing young readers how to create
three-dimensional-looking squid-fights-ape drawings, space sharks, photos in
which zombies seem to crawl out from under grass, anamorphic drawings (ones
that are only visible from specific angles), and more. In addition to all
needed art materials for creating various, well, creations – that is, a
mechanical pencil, pen, ruler and block eraser – Draw It 3D offers tear-out pages from which you punch out figures
such as a UFO, a soccer ball and a TV set, then photograph the figures in such
a way that they seem three-dimensional. There is also a genuinely fascinating
object to be created here: a stereoscopic viewer, also called a 3D viewer,
which lets your eyes see two slightly different pictures so your brain does the
work of combining the views and, as a result, shows the two-dimensional scenes
in what looks like 3D. The science behind this is straightforwardly explained: “The
two pictures are printed side by side and look almost identical. But when the photos
are separated by a special viewer, your brain has to do the work to put them
together.” This is different from the way 3D movies work – and the book
explains the difference. Also here are pages of “isometric grid” paper, “a
special kind of graph paper made with triangles. All the triangles are measured
at a precise 30 degrees.” This paper makes it easy to keep lines straight and
angled the same way – so drawings look as three-dimensional as possible. But
Klutz clearly explains, and shows, that for effective 3D creation, not all
lines need to follow the grid: there is a dramatic example of a huge dragon
looming over a castle, with the building following the grid and the dragon
being off it but still appearing three-dimensional. Draw It 3D is a treat for budding artists (no significant prior art
ability is needed to follow the directions); it is also great fun for would-be
monster makers and future video-game designers – video games use the same
isometric perspective in creating their worlds that artists such as M.C. Escher
used to create “impossible” drawings whose puzzling features continue to amaze
viewers. Kids seeking to create their own amazement will find a guide to it
here.
Matters are gentler and
certainly less outré in Make Paper
Lantern Animals. But this too is a Klutz everything-you-need-is-included
offering. Attached to the back of a clearly written book of instructions is a
box containing six mini paper lanterns, glue, tissue paper, facial features
(eyes, noses, mouths), ribbon, stencils, and “pretty pattern papers.” What to
do with all this? The idea is to make lantern-like objects to hang from walls
and ceilings – but definitely not ones
to illuminate anything, since they are, after all, paper: “Never, ever use a
candle inside or around your lantern. Make sure to keep the paper away from
flames or hot lightbulbs.” This is not a project for kids who tend to be on the
clumsy side: the lanterns are delicate and rip easily. However, Klutz helpfully
offers suggestions on what to do it a rip does occur: cover it with a
decoration, glue on tissue paper in a matching color, or simply tell everyone
you made the rip on purpose (the lantern-maker’s version of computer
programmers’ “it’s not a bug; it’s a feature”). There is a certain charm to the
instructions on how to assemble the lanterns: “Stretch the lantern and slide
the rings over the pointy bits on the frame thingy, one at a time.” The illustrations
actually make all this quite clear, and the “ingredients list” for each
possible lantern makes it easy to assemble exactly the right parts for a
specific project before starting it. There are 20 possible creatures here, so
kids can choose their six favorites. Among the possibilities, in addition to
the expected puppy, kitten, mouse and bunny, are a bat, flamingo, sea turtle,
koala, toucan, walrus and others. The last and most-difficult project is a
unicorn, and here the instruction book helpfully notes, “This one takes a
little time, but what do you expect? Unicorns don’t come easily.” True enough –
but Klutz continues to make crafts projects as easy as they can be, and as much
fun as they can be, too. Klutz is not what it once was, but it remains something
special: a producer of crafts projects that are not only enjoyable but also can
be genuinely informative.
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