Before/after where you prefer the "before"

[Cosmos]

Inspired by this post on Bonsai Bark.



What the hell happened there.

IMO, that wild tree had the promise of such interesting tension-filled designs, and the result is way too close to conventional pine styling (even though I realize it probably breaks a few rules).

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

What probably happened, is that a conventional bonsai stylist has worked this tree in a conventional way, probably for a conventional show with conventional judges.
If you see the backlash that people get for coloring outside the lines (even if they do it with great care and sound reasoning), I can imagine some people play it very safe. I get it. And I also get why some people would like to see more experimental designs.
Now what I'm interested about, is what you would have done differently if this pine was yours to style.
I'm trying to imagine what I would have done, but mostly - in the 4 ways I envisioned - it still ends up like the one in the last pic. The right branch is really defining the shape in my eyes.

 

[defra]

I dont have pics ready but i guess all of the tree's i styled when i was just started with bonsai looked better before i touched them LMAO

 

[Cosmos]

What probably happened, is that a conventional bonsai stylist has worked this tree in a conventional way, probably for a conventional show with conventional judges.
If you see the backlash that people get for coloring outside the lines (even if they do it with great care and sound reasoning), I can imagine some people play it very safe. I get it. And I also get why some people would like to see more experimental designs.
Now what I'm interested about, is what you would have done differently if this pine was yours to style.
I'm trying to imagine what I would have done, but mostly - in the 4 ways I envisioned - it still ends up like the one in the last pic. The right branch is really defining the shape in my eyes.

True, the artist is Italian, this tree could have been styled for a particular show where the judging is very traditional.

I wouldn’t touch any material close to that quality, haha, I’d just ruin it in minutes. It would have been interesting to see what a Walter Pall, a Dan Robinson or a Graham Potter, for example, would have done with this tree.

 

[DrBonsai]

I find it interesting that my son who was just passing by and saw the photos casually said, : " I prefer the before picture".
I asked him why and he replied "It looks more dramatic and unique". He had no idea what the post was about and only has a casual exposure to Bonsai.