Brian Van Fleet
Pretty Fly for a Bonsai Guy
I like your "virt 6"... I envision this Tosho to eventually have a flatter foliage profile. On a design like this, usually the living foliage should never extend higher than the tallest Jin/Shari.
California Juniper First Styling
- Thread starter thomas22
- Start date
thomas22
Chumono
I was posting my last vert at the same time this post. There has been a couple of votes for vert 6. I haven't ruled out anything yet and I probably end up with a combo of the current verts. Thanks for you 2 cents.
wireme
Masterpiece
Better!
I still think a bit more and a less full canopy. Someday perhaps I'll learn to make a virt!
0soyoung
Imperial Masterpiece
I think Sorce's idea (aka virt 6, I think) is the dope (as he might say 
).
Having the wavy upper trunk dance through the foliage is quite interesting to me. I would be tempted to tilt it a bit more that direction to add emphasis to this.
). Having the wavy upper trunk dance through the foliage is quite interesting to me. I would be tempted to tilt it a bit more that direction to add emphasis to this.
thomas22
Chumono
Tilt it a bit more left of right?
0soyoung
Imperial Masterpiece
Left in the sense of the virt.; so that the the lower trunk slants a bit more (is less vertical).
thomas22
Chumono
Eric Group
Masterpiece
That is a cool trunk line, but all the favored designs seem to be leaning heavily away from the viewer if this is the desired front. This may well be an "a-typical" design, but that kind of lean backwards tends to make the tree look unbalanced and cause the... Scale to be off. Even the example of a well done similar style tree BVF posted above shows a trunk that is more vertically oriented, and though it twists away from you at some point, the foliage turns to face back towards the viewer in the end and still works.
Just some food for though... This is a point I have had brought up about many trees of mine with these sinuous trunk lines in the workshops I have been to with Kathy Shaner.... She was very specific about the feel and direction of the movement.
Just some food for though... This is a point I have had brought up about many trees of mine with these sinuous trunk lines in the workshops I have been to with Kathy Shaner.... She was very specific about the feel and direction of the movement.
0soyoung
Imperial Masterpiece
Good point, Eric.
What if we took the Sorce/virt6 (maybe with a bit more slant) then rotate about 20 minute counter-clockwise. Main trunk is still seen as gently waving leftward slant. Then the dance of the upper trunk through the foliage is also seen as left-going but is instead cumin' atcha rather than running away. The dance of the upper trunk through the foliage is the story for me and this rotation might make it become 'invisible'.
... but, it might work.
@thomas22, got a pic from this view (rotate the tree 20 minutes counter clockwise)? Then lay the Sorce/virt6 canopy on it.
thomas22
Chumono
I love the team work. I will work on a vert for this plan when I get home from work tonight.
wireme
Masterpiece
Oso put me in to an ap to use. First try..
This is the kind of thing I keep seeing in the trunk, not meaning to say it's any better than previous ideas here.
This is the kind of thing I keep seeing in the trunk, not meaning to say it's any better than previous ideas here.
thomas22
Chumono
I really like it. There is more balance in this vert than the others. The only problem is the trunk angle as it leaves the soil. Do you think I could get it to look natural and not forced?
I did my own vert for comparison to my others. Thanks for taking the time.
thomas22
Chumono
This is the vert I was leaning towards until recently but I still may do some variation of it. This definitely is the rugged masculine look.
thomas22
Chumono
I took your and @Osoyoung advise and tried to tilt upright and twist a bit to minimize the trunk leaning away but I didn't look so hot. The leaning is fine but when you twist you lose the lower right jin behind the trunk and the nice curve on the right at the soil level becomes an eye poker. The top did have some improvement though. I know it is hard to give styling advise with pictures.
People are probably getting sick with the verts by now but I want to get this right the first time.
wireme
Masterpiece
Yeah, that's the question eh? Hard to say from here and without exposing more of the base. If you did really want to take it in that direction and it didn't work in a regular pot there would probably at least be a creative container solution that would work I would think.
Anyways thanks for making the virt, very close to how I was picturing the tree and I'm glad to see it.
Good luck with whatever you do, the tree looks to be growing very well for you so you're in a good position to have something before too long.
thomas22
Chumono
Update: I decided to move towards Vert 6 in post 7 per but with probably a tilt upward and slight turn clockwise. Here are a few not so good current pics with slightly different angles. I wired a few main branches and treated the dead wood. I'm going to repot into a shallower training pot in a few weeks. Comments welcome.
CasAH
Chumono
I think having the foliage frame the trunk from behind as in the first two pics and was suggested really makes the trunk pop.
IrishCrow
Mame
I love this tree. It's beautiful!
