Establishing the “Front” last?

[ghues]

One of the mantras we hear about (when we do the first initial styling) is to pick/establish a front first, then get to work with clean up, branch selection, apex establishment etc. There are many examples where at a later date the front might be slightly adjusted or even the back becomes the new front.
I thought if might be an interesting thread where we shared our stories on redefining the trees front?

Recently I’ve been styling some collected (2015/16 Yamadori) trees. I deliberately didn’t look for a front initially, instead I did a clean up; removing dead branches, extra whorl branches and a thinning needles/foliage in stronger areas. Next I wired all the branches and trunk (in some cases) from thick to thinnest, then stepped back and studied the tree from all angles (using blocks etc) to find a suitable front by studing the trees main characteristics (taper, branch angles/position, trunk alignment, potential apex position etc) and then adjusted the shape, angle of all branches and trunk. This was only to establish the general “frame or style” of the tree. I also left almost 90-95% of all branches to assist in its health and Vigor, a few of them will probably be removed in the future. Will post photos soon.

So show us your examples of different fronts on your trees.
Cheers
Graham

 

[ghues]

Here is an example of the idea in the above post. Did all the work first, removal of dead and/or very weak branches, wired it all and then looked at it from many angles and came up with the front, as in the first photo. The main trunk has many twists and contortions so the branches were shaped in the same fashion.
Second photo shows current back. After examining the base and upper root structure there might be a root/rock option which may provide another front option.
Cheers
From the GWN.

 

[Rip]

Not much experience on yamdori, but I will say that tree is beautiful and has a lot of potential!

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Most of the time when people change the front it is due to the fact that they didn't chose the right front in the first place

However there are times when you chose the best front for your tree... but then your tree changes, like when you have a substantial change to the branch structure, or your apex dies, or if an important piece of deadwood rots. These tend to be in the minority, however, because often the best solution is to adjust for or replace the missing branch - versus change the front of the tree.

 

[Lazylightningny]

Most of the time when people change the front it is due to the fact that they didn't chose the right front in the first place

That's most likely the case with me. I'll do a preliminary styling on a tree, with a chosen front, but then months or a year later, I'll spin the plant around and see the back with fresh eyes and know it's the better front.

 

[Zach Smith]

Here's a case where I found a new front, years after I first started working on the tree.

Original front

New front

 

[ghues]

Here's a case where I found a new front, years after I first started working on the tree.

Original front
View attachment 168269
New front
View attachment 168270

Great example, is it the same pot turned around too?

 

[Zach Smith]

Yes, same pot.

 

[Velodog2]

That's most likely the case with me. I'll do a preliminary styling on a tree, with a chosen front, but then months or a year later, I'll spin the plant around and see the back with fresh eyes and know it's the better front.

I do that sometimes, but always end by reverting back to the first, best choice.

 

[0soyoung]

Here's a case where I found a new front, years after I first started working on the tree.

It has taken me a long while to understand key elements of bonsai I like. This emphasizes one - apex 'must' come forward, toward the viewer. Your new front does this (plus with more sense of movement in the trunk). When the apex goes away, it tends to convey a feeling of trying to get away (from me, the viewer) - not friendly.

 

[sparklemotion]

I watched this demo by Walter Pall recently. He discusses styling a tree so that it looks good from all angles, though acknowledges that choosing the front first is the more standard way of going about it.

 

[sparklemotion]

I should add that while I am inclined to agree that 360 styling works when your starting material is as impressive as that hornbeam, I am skeptical that it is even possible on the vast majority of trees.

Certainly something to consider striving for, if it's right for the tree.

 

[Adair M]

Sometimes changing the front is necessary. Here’s a tree I bought, a little informal upright. After looking at for a while, I decided I didn’t like the chop scar it had in the front. Looking at the back as a front had the apex moving away. So, the only thing to do...

This:



Became this!



Now, there’s a change for you!

 

[ghues]

It has taken me a long while to understand key elements of bonsai I like. This emphasizes one - apex 'must' come forward, toward the viewer. Your new front does this (plus with more sense of movement in the trunk). When the apex goes away, it tends to convey a feeling of trying to get away (from me, the viewer) - not friendly.

Even though you weren’t talking about my Shore Pine..........Your thoughts made me look at it again......the other convention with the apex is that it should come back over the base......(I’ve seen 100’s of fantastic looking examples in nature where this isn’t the case-along rivers reaching out etc), so I’ll see if I can move it towards the base and other smaller trunk....that would put the middle branch on the outside of the curve and provide a more triangular silhouette - with the smaller trunk providing the right base of the triangle. Something to look into.....

 

[Velodog2]

I should add that while I am inclined to agree that 360 styling works when your starting material is as impressive as that hornbeam, I am skeptical that it is even possible on the vast majority of trees.

Certainly something to consider striving for, if it's right for the tree.

I have developed some of my own rules with regard to styling trees. One that I find very useful is to make a tree look natural from all angles. Note that it doesn’t have to look good - just natural, without strange or incongruous branch angles, etc. that are contrived in a misguided attempt to make a design work. I have found, without exception, that if I follow that rule then the chosen front will look better as a result. When I am reviewing a tree I’m working on by spinning it round, and I see something out of place on the back or a side I will correct it without hesitation or concern about what it will do to the appearance of the front, as I’m confident it will only help. And it does.

This may be similar to Walters concept. Certainly not every tree can look good from all angles, and every tree will always look best from a certain angle, but we can try to make every tree look as good as possible from every angle.

This may run contrary to what we sometimes see done by Japanese masters who apparently contort exotic yamadori branches in extreme ways to provide a certain illusion when viewed from the front. I am not questioning their techniques at all as they are masters and I am not, and this method may be justified in certain situations, but that is way above my pay grade to worry about and I do what works for me.

 

[Vance Wood]

I should add that while I am inclined to agree that 360 styling works when your starting material is as impressive as that hornbeam, I am skeptical that it is even possible on the vast majority of trees.

Certainly something to consider striving for, if it's right for the tree.

You don't know until you try it for yourself. I have found that for the most part the chosen front can be made better by paying attention to all sides of the tree assuming the tree is not so extreme that one or more sides are impossible like in the wind swept and the cascade.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Here's a case where I found a new front, years after I first started working on the tree.

I would argue that the angled chop didn't prioritize the best front, so the apex is now on the back of the tree. You are shifting it left and right, but at the end of the day you still have a belly on the tree with the top of the tree pulling away from the viewer... and only the apex coming forward.

Did you do the chop? It is hard to see in a 2d medium... I may be completely wrong if there is something on the other side of the tree preventing it from being usable as the front.

 

[dirk hoorelbeke]

It depends, sometimes the front is obvious and there is no other option. In first and second styling leave as many options open as you can. The branches you leave are options and they create taper and character. Only chose when you and the tree are ready.

 

[Vance Wood]

It depends, sometimes the front is obvious and there is no other option. In first and second styling leave as many options open as you can. The branches you leave are options and they create taper and character. Only chose when you and the tree are ready.

Sometimes that is true but if you have over the years payed any attention to any of my redesigns you may have noticed I am not adverse to creating a new front.

 

[coh]

Most of the time when people change the front it is due to the fact that they didn't chose the right front in the first place

Or...your taste/preference changed over time. Besides, what is the "right" front anyway? I've seen enough cases where experienced artists disagreed on the exact front of a tree to realize that it's not usually a clear cut type of thing.

I think often people design their trees into a corner which restricts the tree to only one front. For instance, removing branches so that there is the typical L-R-B sequence with no "eye-pokers" and leaning the apex significantly in one direction kind of eliminates certain potential fronts, unless one is willing to proceed with a significant time consuming redesign. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with that (single front approach), though I am more impressed with a tree that looks good from multiple directions as compared to one that has to be viewed from a very specific position, otherwise it looks ridiculous.