Rules/guidelines

Should a bonsai only have one viewing angle (front)?

  • Yes

    Votes: 2 11.1%
  • No

    Votes: 16 88.9%

  • Total voters
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I've looked online, but I seem to find different information at each corner.

Im not exactly the type of person that follows guidelines as if theyre engrained in my DNA.
Bonsai is an art form, thus the beauty is in the eye of the beholder. There are several "rules" that don't sit well with me. Although I'm new, I don't think my opinion will change much, if any in the years to come.

With that said... Am I the only one that doesn't enjoy the concept of a front? For some unknown reason it makes me cringe thinking that there should only be one viewing angle.... The backside can offer something for the eyes too. Lol
 

base797

Mame
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I was the same way and was sure I would never adopt the "front" mentality. Over time though, you will come to understand that there is simply a preferred viewing angle. It doesn't mean that you abandoned your personal conviction, rather that your understanding has transmogrified and evolved into seeing the very best option that the material offers.

Patrik
 

GrimLore

Bonsai Nut alumnus... we miss you
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Am I the only one that doesn't enjoy the concept of a front?

You will and probably without thinking about already do ;) For example they plants that really stand out at shows, exhibits, sales, and competition you are normally looking at positioned to show their "best".
On the other side of the fence there is no reason not to grow your plants and train them to be nice from a few angles. Over time however you will come to understand that one angle will be the one you display and work the most. It is just natural.

Grimmy
 

dick benbow

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From my time "in grade", round pots may have been made to allow the tree as it matures along with your eye to be enjoyed as to where we find the best view at the time. As indicated by the others who posted ahead of me, the longer one works at devloping the perfect tree from numerous angles, the more one realizes, the tree with a good front and back is kind of a rarity. :)
 

Smoke

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Rule number one: A Good view of the trunk should be seen nearly to the top. Lower branches should be seen leaving the main trunk.


Rule number two: To see this all the way around the trunk is nearly impossible.


The back and sides should be more than acceptable, but there will always be "ONE" best viewing angle. To have "BACK" branches for depth, virtually precludes that view as being a front....
 

Smoke

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The next shot will be me potting it into its final pot and really expose the flare. That is when I can finally start really getting some twigs.

Old soil line
old soil line.jpg
 
Last edited:

sorce

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Yeah.....

Spend all those years....
Get into a show....
Only to have the judge say another "front" is better.
And your friend likes another "front".
The Critique Master likes another "front".

And the whole time you're worrying about that "front", a cold front blows in and kills all your trees!

There's more important "fronts" to be worried about!

Then there's this....
Objective Bonsai Design..
Starts at about 30 min.

Sorce
 

Leo in N E Illinois

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@Dorky_gearhead - I pretty much agree with the excellent comments above. I just want to point out a mistake I made myself, and repeated often the first 20+ years I dabbled with bonsai.

Don't choose a front too soon on young stock. I would often have a stick in a pot, it would be maybe 1/2 inch in diameter, not thick enough to make a believable tree. In general even the smallest of bonsai that get recognized at shows have trunks over 2 inches in diameter. So clearly I would need to let the stick grow and develop. But I would pick out a front for the stick anyway, and then conciously or unconciously prune off any new branch buds that happened to sprout that blocked the view. This would slow trunk thickening and limit future design possibilities. When starting with a stick, most of the branches on it will be removed when the trunk is finally big enough in diameter to actually begin bonsai styling. Branches that are on a 1/2 inch stick, by the time it hits 2 inches diameter will be too thick to be used, so they get cut off. But most deciduous trees have a collar of latent buds at the point where the branch joins the trunk. It is these buds that will become the branches for your bonsai.

So until the trunk you have is near the diameter you want for your finished bonsai - don't worry anout picking a front, it will only set you back time wise getting to a ''finished'' bonsai.

The Japanese ''rules'' are merely guidelines, not absolute at all. But they do represent a complete, coherent design aesthetic, and if you don't know what to do are useful for solving design problems. They are worth the study, but try to understand the why of each ''rule'', because they should only be applied with purposed intent, rather than slavish compliance.
 
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