BONSAI HERESY

[larlamonde]

Just ordered the book!

 

[Lazylightningny]

I just read through the first section on media. He gives strong support of akadama, and reasons why.

 

[Ohmy222]

Thanks! Glad you liked the illustrations. Yes my background is in graphic design and illustration. When Michael and I discussed the chapters to be illustrated, we originally wanted to have a lot more but it proved to be way beyond his budget. So we ended with 13 illustrations plus the cover.

Here is a quick look at behind the scenes. Many ideas were discussed and even executed in the process only to edit them to the final 13 illustrations. The cover was probably the only image that Michael had a very specific idea of what he wanted it to be.

Pencil sketches were first done and submitted for concept approval. Afterwards they were all digitally painted in a program called Procreate. Some you may recognize while others changed completely in their final versions.

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Thanks for the detailed walk through. the cutting room floor sketches are still top notch. Never used procreate but figured it was a vector type graphics package. Always said if I did it all over I would have been a graphic designer or industrial design student. Went to Georgia Tech and most of my friends were that or architecture majors. I went into industrial engineering. Glad you had the opportunity to contribute.

 

[Tidal Bonsai]

Just got my copy today!

 

[MACH5]

Amazing work. Some of them are reminiscent of Robert Crumb, with a little Ralph Steadman thrown in for good measure.

Yes I can see that sprinkled with a dash of surrealism.

 

[MACH5]

Thanks for the detailed walk through. the cutting room floor sketches are still top notch. Never used procreate but figured it was a vector type graphics package. Always said if I did it all over I would have been a graphic designer or industrial design student. Went to Georgia Tech and most of my friends were that or architecture majors. I went into industrial engineering. Glad you had the opportunity to contribute.

Thank you! I love and respect industrial designers and engineers. You guys have the power to make the world a better place by design. Procreate is actually closer to Adobe Photoshop (pixel based) but has some features that resemble what you can do in Adobe Illustrator. It is designed for the iPad. Cool program and fairly intuitive. I did not know anything about Procreate when I started illustrating the book so classic case of flying the plane while building it.

 

[amcoffeegirl]

I’m not too far in yet (page 40) but I do enjoy it so far and I love the art work!

 

[Lazylightningny]

I'm enjoying the section on DIF (differential in temperature between day and night). I didn't know about this phenomenon, although there's not much we can do about it other than move to a different location. Basically I think this supports the advice to grow plants that are natural not only to your USDA zone, but to your microclimate. Otherwise you will always be pushing that boulder uphill.

 

[Vance Wood]

I just read through the first section on media. He gives strong support of akadama, and reasons why.

Then how is this bonsai herasy? Many and legion are those who think Akadama can raise the dead.

 

[Lazylightningny]

Then how is this bonsai herasy? Many and legion are those who think Akadama can raise the dead.

Many who downplay akadama say so because it breaks down, turns to mush, and becomes compacted over time. Hagedorn says yes, that is true, but for some inexplicable reason, it grows fine roots in the core of the root ball. Some people see this mushy or compacted akadama and immediately rush to clean out the core of their root balls, when they should in fact be leaving it alone. This is not so much heresy as supporting the use of modern inorganic media, as all informed bonsai practitioners now do. I thought akadama was clay, but Hagedorn says it's volcanic in origin, just like lava and pumice. He says that trees grown in lava/pumice/akadama will support healthy root growth for years before repotting is needed. He actually likes that hard interior root mass, because he says it's full of fine root growth.

 

[cheap_walmart_art]

My copy and some others I've been meaning to pick up came in today!

 

[Lazylightningny]

I also picked up the Juniper Master's Series from Stone Lantern when I purchased Bonsai Heresy, and was really disappointed in how out of date most of the information is.

 

[cheap_walmart_art]

I also picked up the Juniper Master's Series from Stone Lantern when I purchased Bonsai Heresy, and was really disappointed in how out of date most of the information is.

Is that the one written by Wayne?

 

[Lazylightningny]

Is that the one written by Wayne?

Yes. It was published in 2007. A lot has changed in bonsai horticulture in the last 13 years.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Is that the one written by Wayne?

Those Pine and Juniper Master Series books were collections of articles previously published by Bonsai Today...which were translated from the Japanese Kinbon magazine.

 

[leatherback]

Those Pine and Juniper Master Series books were collections of articles previously published by Bonsai Today...which were translated from the Japanese Kinbon magazine.

Is the content still valid though? Previous posts seem to indicate.. not really?
has so much really changed?

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Is the content still valid though? Previous posts seem to indicate.. not really?
has so much really changed?

Sure, but the articles are written by several different authors and cover a range of different topics, so some of the information can be a bit conflicting. I don’t recall any content that isn’t still valid. it’s also important to note that these articles are from the late 80s-early 90s, and the trend was perfectly manicured pads, tightly wired branches, heavily carved trunks, and bright white bleached deadwood. The trend has relaxed a bit now to a slightly more natural look. I have seen interviews showing Kobiyashi has moved to the wild end of the spectrum, and Fujikawa is still on the manicured end. Both still ”valid”, just a matter of personal preference.

There may be some problems with translation in these articles as well. I think those Japanese Kinbon articles were translated to Spanish, and then to English, in Spain by non-bonsai people, for use in the Bonsai Today magazine. If you read closely, you will find captions that don’t match the photos from time to time.

 

[Lazylightningny]

Sure, but the articles are written by several different authors and cover a range of different topics, so some of the information can be a bit conflicting. I don’t recall any content that isn’t still valid. it’s also important to note that these articles are from the late 80s-early 90s, and the trend was perfectly manicured pads, tightly wired branches, heavily carved trunks, and bright white bleached deadwood. The trend has relaxed a bit now to a slightly more natural look. I have seen interviews showing Kobiyashi has moved to the wild end of the spectrum, and Fujikawa is still on the manicured end. Both still ”valid”, just a matter of personal preference.

There may be some problems with translation in these articles as well. I think those Japanese Kinbon articles were translated to Spanish, and then to English, in Spain by non-bonsai people, for use in the Bonsai Today magazine. If you read closely, you will find captions that don’t match the photos from time to time.

I only got a short way into the book, and they were already advocating use of organics in soil and pinching off all the buds a juniper has produced with fingertips. I was so disappointed I almost threw it in the garbage, but I figured I'd give it another try after I finish Hagedorn's book. This book should be sold for it's historical value, not for any modern practical value.

Hagedorn writes in his book about current juniper horticulture, which is to leave all those little buds alone, and only cut runners with scissors. Pinching all those buds off, unless you have an extremely strong tree, is going to kill your juniper. I tried it last year and killed a big San Jose juniper.

 

[Lazylightningny]

Is the content still valid though? Previous posts seem to indicate.. not really?
has so much really changed?

As @Brian Van Fleet said, these articles are from the 80s and 90s. Bonsai horticulture has changed greatly since then.

 

[erich_raudebaugh]

Thanks! Glad you liked the illustrations. Yes my background is in graphic design and illustration. When Michael and I discussed the chapters to be illustrated, we originally wanted to have a lot more but it proved to be way beyond his budget. So we ended with 13 illustrations plus the cover.

Here is a quick look at behind the scenes. Many ideas were discussed and even executed in the process only to edit them to the final 13 illustrations. The cover was probably the only image that Michael had a very specific idea of what he wanted it to be.

Pencil sketches were first done and submitted for concept approval. Afterwards they were all digitally painted in a program called Procreate. Some you may recognize while others changed completely in their final versions.

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Thanks for sharing your sketches, I love seeing people's iterations (I'm an architect but love art). The art in the book is great, but I wish there was more of it. However, I used to be involved with publishing and the prices for color printing are crazy high.
I like the size of the book and the overall quality of printing. So far the book is pretty great, because any new or interesting information is invaluable to me. Some of the things that I'm already doing, Micheal has gone into great detail to explain, and so I feel like I'm on the right track even if it isn't new to me (like retaining a dense akadama-grown rootball for decades- why cut off all the ramification you've built up underground?).

I've been reading this book plus another that I've wanted to get for awhile.