grouper52
Masterpiece
As do many bonsai folks, I find myself - in my mid-sixties - increasingly interested in the Literati style. The fascination with such bonsai is supposed to hit around this age, and especially in folks who are "Literati" sorts of people - the web is full of descriptions of who, exactly, these "sorts of people are," and you can decide for yourself, but I think I fit the bill.
That there are "Rules" for this sort of bonsai seems a bit counter-intuitive, since Literati folks are supposedly the sorts who are not interested in a lot of rules, or at least no longer so at their stage in life. These rules, if you aren't aware of them yet, are easy to find on line, and I'll leave that education for you to engage in if you need to.
My first real interest in bonsai - even before my association and friendship with Dan Robinson blossomed - was the Chinese Penjing style, which is a style that gave birth to, and highly valued, Literati. My most prized bonsai books were always those scarce tomes of Penjing trees, among which were gorgeous examples of the Literati style.
So, although a few past examples of the style can be found among the trees posted in my old album here on BNut from my Puget Sound days, I thought it might be fun for myself and others to collaborate here on a tree in this style, seeing it from start to completion together. The thread may last many years until the tree is complete, or may die out quickly due to lack of interest, or my circumstances changing as I age.
Good traditional bonsai material - fabulously rampant in the Philippines lowlands - is almost impossible to find here in Baguio, but at a little cluster of nursery material stalls in a park in the center of town I have noticed a great many thin and gangly things I would never pay attention to except as Literati material. Among the many boxwood for sale most are worthless as potential bonsai material IMO, or are already ruined with annoyingly boring left-branch-right-branch-back-branch attempts at bonsai styling. But one stall had a number of trees that stood out due to tall, thin, untrained, sparsely foliated forms with qualities that made me think of Literati. I chose one that I thought had the most promise for that style, and it is pictured below. It cost $12.00, stands 36" tall, and sits in a 9x9" grow pot on top of a 8x8" tile: when our house here is finished, I will grow it for however long it takes in the ground, however, before transferring it back to a suitable bonsai pot. It starts off, BTW, although you cannot see them very well right now, with well-formed nebari.
My proposal, for all those who want to chime in or just follow along, is to post pictures of the tree from 4-8 different angles each time after a series of cuts/chops is decided and finished, revealing the next possible changes to be made further up or down the trunk. The final decision at each step of the way forward will be mine, but I think the potentially lively discussion generated will be both instructive and entertaining to all, and may certainly influence my decisions. This process could take years or not, depending on the need to let the growth apically develop more or less each time after a previous change.
Because the old Chinese masters of this art form did not use wrapped wire, I will use none, but instead rely mostly on simple Lingnan-style clip-and-grow techniques throughout the initial styling phases, augmented when needed by the use of guy wires (the Chinese would have used ropes/strings, but never wrapped wire) and perhaps wedges to move/place branches/trunks. Only at the very end of the long process might I revert to using wrapped wire for final small-branch/foliage placement, but only if the terminal foliage can't be done well in any other way.
Here's the first set of four views to show the base from all angels. Which view would you pick just from the view of the base alone? And would that decision change as you see the trunks ascend?
The nice movement two inches from the base puts this view high on my list, but see if you think so or not with the next two
mages of the base and lower trunks/branching:
i
Then, since the fundamental decision at this point is which of the two main trunks to keep, here are photos showing the branching involved up higher in those two options.
I'm going to be in and out of town for the next week, with very possibly limited access to the internet some or much of the time. I certainly won't be making the first cut until I get back, so feel free to discuss it among yourselves if you like. If there's no interest, no problem either.
That there are "Rules" for this sort of bonsai seems a bit counter-intuitive, since Literati folks are supposedly the sorts who are not interested in a lot of rules, or at least no longer so at their stage in life. These rules, if you aren't aware of them yet, are easy to find on line, and I'll leave that education for you to engage in if you need to.
My first real interest in bonsai - even before my association and friendship with Dan Robinson blossomed - was the Chinese Penjing style, which is a style that gave birth to, and highly valued, Literati. My most prized bonsai books were always those scarce tomes of Penjing trees, among which were gorgeous examples of the Literati style.
So, although a few past examples of the style can be found among the trees posted in my old album here on BNut from my Puget Sound days, I thought it might be fun for myself and others to collaborate here on a tree in this style, seeing it from start to completion together. The thread may last many years until the tree is complete, or may die out quickly due to lack of interest, or my circumstances changing as I age.
Good traditional bonsai material - fabulously rampant in the Philippines lowlands - is almost impossible to find here in Baguio, but at a little cluster of nursery material stalls in a park in the center of town I have noticed a great many thin and gangly things I would never pay attention to except as Literati material. Among the many boxwood for sale most are worthless as potential bonsai material IMO, or are already ruined with annoyingly boring left-branch-right-branch-back-branch attempts at bonsai styling. But one stall had a number of trees that stood out due to tall, thin, untrained, sparsely foliated forms with qualities that made me think of Literati. I chose one that I thought had the most promise for that style, and it is pictured below. It cost $12.00, stands 36" tall, and sits in a 9x9" grow pot on top of a 8x8" tile: when our house here is finished, I will grow it for however long it takes in the ground, however, before transferring it back to a suitable bonsai pot. It starts off, BTW, although you cannot see them very well right now, with well-formed nebari.
My proposal, for all those who want to chime in or just follow along, is to post pictures of the tree from 4-8 different angles each time after a series of cuts/chops is decided and finished, revealing the next possible changes to be made further up or down the trunk. The final decision at each step of the way forward will be mine, but I think the potentially lively discussion generated will be both instructive and entertaining to all, and may certainly influence my decisions. This process could take years or not, depending on the need to let the growth apically develop more or less each time after a previous change.
Because the old Chinese masters of this art form did not use wrapped wire, I will use none, but instead rely mostly on simple Lingnan-style clip-and-grow techniques throughout the initial styling phases, augmented when needed by the use of guy wires (the Chinese would have used ropes/strings, but never wrapped wire) and perhaps wedges to move/place branches/trunks. Only at the very end of the long process might I revert to using wrapped wire for final small-branch/foliage placement, but only if the terminal foliage can't be done well in any other way.
Here's the first set of four views to show the base from all angels. Which view would you pick just from the view of the base alone? And would that decision change as you see the trunks ascend?
The nice movement two inches from the base puts this view high on my list, but see if you think so or not with the next two
mages of the base and lower trunks/branching:
i
Then, since the fundamental decision at this point is which of the two main trunks to keep, here are photos showing the branching involved up higher in those two options.
I'm going to be in and out of town for the next week, with very possibly limited access to the internet some or much of the time. I certainly won't be making the first cut until I get back, so feel free to discuss it among yourselves if you like. If there's no interest, no problem either.