Spruce Styling Challenge

JasonG

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Careful, I am sensitive:(..

Sorry buddy, I didn't mean to hurt anyones feelings, :)

.[/QUOTE]I did exactly the same thing with a virtual as soon as Al suggested it. I like it.[/QUOTE]


Good for you!! It makes a HUGE difference......

Jason
 
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Hey Chris,

Well I am going to jump on the bandwagon.... when I first seen your style job I thought you better reinvest in more Boon intensives, lol!!! That is a joke! :)

That branch has to go...... Too bad we didn't work out a trade lol!

Jason

Too bad in what way, would you have gone a different direction entirely?
 

JasonG

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Too bad in what way, would you have gone a different direction entirely?

No not really, I saw roughly the same thing in that tree as what you did with the exception that one branch would have been the first to go.

TOo bad in the way that it is an awesome spruce that I wouldn't mind having :)

GOod job Chris,

Jason
 
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No not really, I saw roughly the same thing in that tree as what you did with the exception that one branch would have been the first to go.

TOo bad in the way that it is an awesome spruce that I wouldn't mind having :)

GOod job Chris,

Jason


Hmmm, the day might come. We may need to talk. First I have to get the concave pruners out there... and then cut loose the wire to recycle! lol
 

Hans van Meer

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Hi everybody,
I thought i join in the restyling club. LOL. I made some virtuals to finally come to a design we all seem to see. You just all beet me posting it.:mad: So I will only show my final idea. :D
There is one thing I seem to prefer though, and that is to tilt the tree about 15 degrees to the left. This makes the movement of this trunk even more profound. And I puled the top of the tree to the right. I think this tree has a good future as bonsai if some changes are made.
Best regards,
Hans van Meer.
 

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Hi everybody,
I thought i join in the restyling club. LOL. I made some virtuals to finally come to a design we all seem to see. You just all beet me posting it.:mad: So I will only show my final idea. :D
There is one thing I seem to prefer though, and that is to tilt the tree about 15 degrees to the left. This makes the movement of this trunk even more profound. And I puled the top of the tree to the right. I think this tree has a good future as bonsai if some changes are made.
Best regards,
Hans van Meer.

Hi Hans!

The planting angle is possible, and pulling the trunk further to the right is also possible. I think you are a little optimistic in your choice of pot!:D

You know, I let myself get a little invested in the cascade idea, but of course the cascading branch is too thin. It sure looked fuller before I arranged it! I hardly removed any foliage other than the tops and cutting it back for back budding.

Glad everyone likes the material!
 

Hans van Meer

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Hi Hans!

The planting angle is possible, and pulling the trunk further to the right is also possible. I think you are a little optimistic in your choice of pot!:D

QUOTE]

Hi hi I know Chris!:D
It was late and it was the first one I came across!;)
As I was planning to say (along with the other virts I made), I understand why you were trying to go for a cascading branch on that right site. If the foliage would have been higher up that same right branch, it would have been perfect! But in this case it just wont work with the foliage so low placed! Not with out having to curl up the branches with wire. And we never do that! LOL
I think this is a good pre styling and that this tree has a lot of promise to it. I love the angles in the trunk, they will look nicely matched next to all that soft cascading foliage in the future. Just like a large sized one high up on a mountain would look. And that is what it's all about!
Keep us posted.
Hans.
 
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Hi Hans!

The planting angle is possible, and pulling the trunk further to the right is also possible. I think you are a little optimistic in your choice of pot!:D

QUOTE]

Hi hi I know Chris!:D
It was late and it was the first one I came across!;)
As I was planning to say (along with the other virts I made), I understand why you were trying to go for a cascading branch on that right site. If the foliage would have been higher up that same right branch, it would have been perfect! But in this case it just wont work with the foliage so low placed! Not with out having to curl up the branches with wire. And we never do that! LOL
I think this is a good pre styling and that this tree has a lot of promise to it. I love the angles in the trunk, they will look nicely matched next to all that soft cascading foliage in the future. Just like a large sized one high up on a mountain would look. And that is what it's all about!
Keep us posted.
Hans.

But that's not to say that the cascading branch won't develop in that way! With back budding or grafting, I could certainly achieve higher foliage. I wish the branch were thicker and more rugged. As it is now, the thin nature and smooth bark reveal that it is far too young for the tree. The sad truth is, the low right jin was a living branch when it was collected, and would have been an interesting balance to the too-heavy back branch.
 
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So here's an update on the tree...it's been getting stronger yet and budding back well. I removed the massive branch at the back and the cascade which was really too thin. John Kirby and I repotted it last year and this year Boon and I lowered the branch and rearranged the foliage. Nothing was removed except a couple of misplaced buds.
 

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mcpesq817

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Coming along nicely, thanks for the update.
 

grouper52

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Hi Chris.

The tree has come a long way, but I have a question. Is there some reason you decided to slant the tree rather than keeping it upright?

I understand why, in bonsai, we slant trees, but to my eyes, this tree would look much more convincing as a tree if it were upright. For me it would lose none of the interest that the movement of the trunk provides, and would simplify and make obvious the design considerations. Creative carving could then also bring to the image even more convincing and interesting features.

Just my 2 centavos, but I wonder what your thoughts are along those lines. Either way it looks like great material.

Take care.

Will
 
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This tree never was very upright except in the ground. This planting angle was part necessity from root system and part benign neglect. It will, no doubt, be more upright in the future but I doubt it will ever be completely upright. I expect another ten degrees or so, whatever it takes to bury that root properly.

Creative carving is what scares me a bit. I do NOT want this to be ruined by bad carving. So I have to work on my carving techniques on scrap deadwood to try to approach a more natural look. Suggestions?
 

grouper52

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This tree never was very upright except in the ground. This planting angle was part necessity from root system and part benign neglect. It will, no doubt, be more upright in the future but I doubt it will ever be completely upright. I expect another ten degrees or so, whatever it takes to bury that root properly.

Creative carving is what scares me a bit. I do NOT want this to be ruined by bad carving. So I have to work on my carving techniques on scrap deadwood to try to approach a more natural look. Suggestions?

A study of trees and deadwood in nature, either in person or via pictures, will give an idea what's possible and realistic and pleasing to look at. Then maybe some sketches or virts to see what would look good on this particular tree.

I think that if you are timid, which is really understandable with a major piece of material such as this one, where you have invested a lot of work, hand tools and traditional jins and shari are the best place to start. Since a shari represents only a recent scar, to give an impression of even greater age you can then take it deeper to the saba-maki or even uro stage of depth over time, deepening or texturing then to suit your needs and comfort level overtime. Hand tools can be used for this level of carving, but not very easily or effectively. Power tools, if you've gained some familiarity with them and feel a need or hankering to move into that realm, are the way to go - but not everyone does.

You've undoubtedly given all this some thought, and have heard or seen others' approaches both on forums and in person, but I could give some thoughts about specific tools and such if you're interested. Generally though, even simple, small shari and traditional jins would add substantially to the kind of image of an old survivor you are trying to create.
 
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I do have some ideas, and the first one is a trick I saw from Behr Appleby. I want to try that first and then see what kind of results I get before I get too deeply into the mechanics of it.
 

Brian Van Fleet

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A good friend of mine; a lifelong artist and art teacher is an excellent carver, he has great vision and can really sculpt a convincing story well with power tools. I tend to grind away until profanity flies and I'm left with a nub.

At a recent Kathy Shaner workshop, I deliberately brought a juniper to learn some carving basics. I was provided with a gouge, a knife, a pick, and some simple directions:

-Draw some small ovals on the trunk/branches at dips and curves; basically circling some interesting points along the trunk and branches.
-Draw the oval in a place where the water line will reroute and improve the taper or visual movement (carve the front, and the sides swell left-to-right, carve the side, and it pushes outward front-to-back).
-Using power tools you will carve away some of the "natural surprises" hidden in the tree, so try to use hand tools.
-Use the gouge; find and follow an existing line...open it up, you may reveal a soft spot...dig it out
-Clean up the edges with a knife.
-Use a brass brush that plumbers use for cleaning up the inside of 1/2" copper pipe to knock the "fur" off the carved areas.
-Later, when the water line has rerouted, you will have a more muscular look to the trunk/branches, and more layers to carve later.
-Bend branches that will become jin while they are still alive; it is more convincing and will hold the bend faster. Carve some ovals in these branches, that way you will have more interesting wood to carve later.

I actually enjoyed carving when I had that direction, and while hers were far more tastefully done than mine, I learned some of the "whys" behind carving, and that made sense, much beyond my previous approach of simply carving because I had a branch to carve.
 
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I feel very fortunate that this tree escaped any damage whatever in our storm destruction yesterday morning. I'll post some pics tonite.
 
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Here's the first photos of the results:

P1013186a.jpg


P1013188a.jpg
 
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