First Time Jin on Cool Larch

CrisisM0de

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I found this larch at a recent bonsai show and immediately ordered jin pliers and concave cutters. Well, those arrived today and I immediately got to work. I cleaned up the dead branches around the bottom and tried my hand at making jin. To be honest, I am not loving the work that I did and I don't think its just because they are still yellow from the lime sulfur. I am curious what others think and what I might have done differently, or what I can do to correct something.

The wiring is not mine. I'd be interested in any opinions on styling as well.

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Wires_Guy_wires

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I've made jins like these, and about a year later I cut them short to fit to the scale of the tree.
I believe jins fit a design well if they are accessories to the design. If they're long and thin then they'll disturb the view. It's very rare to find jins like that in nature and I think that's why you're not that satisfied with the result.

But before cutting them short, I can recommend trying to wire them in a gnarly shape.

I think the lowest jin could have been a bit thicker and technique-wise I think maybe you removed a bit too much of the wood. This is a difficult thing with branches that are already dead, especially when using pliers. The bark and wood tend to dry into each other making it hard to remove just the bark. But a metal wire brush can usually help with this. I'm not sure if soaking the bark beforehand will be beneficial.

I am by no means an expert, but I think this might help you on your future endeavors.
 

CrisisM0de

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Thank you for your suggestions and help. I agree that it is rare, in my mind it was going to look so stylish it wasn't going to matter! o_O

I thought it would keep most of its shape and be this wicked long, sharp jin, but it ended up pretty wimpy. I think my best best for 'wicked looking jin' is now to follow your suggestion and cut them short, I will try to get a point on them with the cutters. I will keep a wire brush in mind, I can see where that would have helped. I tried so hard to only get bark and little bits of wood, I didn't realize how thin they were going to be after just taking the bark. And then I had to fight with the sticky pink bits of bark leftover.

They look better today, but still unimpressive. I have one more larger one to do this afternoon (green outline) unless I decide to just chop it (red outline) for another hard angle which I think would be equally cool.

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sorce

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I would style this with an ONLY that first branch future in mind.

Saving everything above just for health and trunk building.

That branch's movement is excellent and it should be within good next taper size soon.

I vote cut the Jins off.

Sorce
 

CrisisM0de

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@sorce @badatusernames I did consider that the future might just be the first branch... I am going to Jin the curved branch in the middle for more practice and shorten the other two so I can see how they look, but I do think they’ll end up coming off... just didn’t turn out like I thought.

the person I got this from said his vision was windswept / informal upright... however the second branch is wired back and away from the tree’s front while everything else is ‘windswept’ to the right... is there something I’m not seeing or understanding?55CDC39D-B2BD-4AA0-A10C-0C28A98F6754.jpeg4E416B00-D48A-4369-B2BD-F4C97F67FA2C.jpeg
 
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@sorce @badatusernames I did consider that the future might just be the first branch... I am going to Jin the curved branch in the middle for more practice and shorten the other two so I can see how they look, but I do think they’ll end up coming off... just didn’t turn out like I thought.

the person I got this from said his vision was windswept / informal upright... however the second branch is wired back and away from the tree’s front while everything else is ‘windswept’ to the right... is there something I’m not seeing or understanding?View attachment 375301View attachment 375305

honestly, my guess is that because windswept is one of the hardest styles to pull off, either I don’t know how to do it right or he doesn’t, because I’m not seeing it
 
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I agree with the windswept thought in it is very hard to pull off.

In my honest opinion I would try to find a different planting angle. Since there is so much movement at the base, start with what base and line views look best, then plan on the style. Based upon your branches that you have and where you see it's future.

Good luck
 

sorce

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I don't see it either ....

A tree moving completely in one direction doesn't have to be "windswept".

The F in the "branches" is what makes me want to cut that all off.

Sorce
 

CrisisM0de

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Well I cleaned the rest of it up after work today. I shortened the jins and I think they did look a lot better, but in the end this looks nicer. I did jin the other branch for practice and then removed it. So, all in all I think it's a nicer tree and I got some valuable practice. I think removing the jins freed up options for the front of the tree and so I am not really sure what that might be. I see a few options though... I don't think I want to change the angle.

The first picture seemed like the front to begin with, but that first branch is moving away from the viewer and I don't really want to change anything drastic about that branch.


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I saw the most potential here somewhere. But, the beauty of art are all the ideas and possibilities!20210517_214433.jpg
 

Tieball

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Much better....good removal of those branches. Good options available now.
 
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