Japanese White Pine JWP Literati progression
- Thread starter Adair M
- Start date
WNC Bonsai
Masterpiece
Yes that caught my eye too. I just finished watching Colin Lewis’ Craftsy videos on wiring and this is one thing he made a point of. Great videos if you haven’t seen them and they are free!
River's Edge
Masterpiece
Beautiful image and nice tree in the making. I would be inclined to describe it as more of a slant style informal upright at this stage of development. If the foliage is being retained to hasten the development and becomes sparser with age it has all the makings of a nice literati.
Nice work Adair, with or without the Land Shark.
DirkvanDreven
Shohin
I really like this pine Adair, but I don'the see a literati pine in it. I see a moyogi with a thin trunk. The way you wired the branches suggest that you are forming dense foliage pads.
A literati should have few slender branches with sparse foliage in my opinion.
Thanks nevertheless for sharing!
A literati should have few slender branches with sparse foliage in my opinion.
Thanks nevertheless for sharing!
I would tend to agree. A slant with Literati proclivities! Lol!!!
Since I brought the foliage down, it becomes less literati in that most literati have most of their foliage up in the apex.
I still think the lower right branch is too heavy, but I can always Jin it later.
River's Edge
Masterpiece
It could also grow uninhibited first for a couple of years and thicken the lower portion a bit before jin. Also the back portion of the lower right branch near the trunk could be reduced or eliminated, keeping the front portion. A scar on the top from breaking with downward pressure or being rubbed by wild animals like land sharks could be realistic. It's your tree so i am willing to suggest all sorts of interventions. LOL
Yes, I was referring to the back branch of the lower right branch. The front branchlet is ideally proportioned, but maybe a little short.
cmeg1
Imperial Masterpiece
Looks great.
I’m trying to figure out which image I like better,but I suppose something had to be done to control shoot angles and such for future development as a bonsai.
Great job!
I’m trying to figure out which image I like better,but I suppose something had to be done to control shoot angles and such for future development as a bonsai.
Great job!
Potawatomi13
Imperial Masterpiece
Am going for a future image resembling this:While not true Literati much enjoy/appreciate sparse/open structure style.
If the trunk had been thicker, I might have gone with:
To my eye, the denser foliage on the second tree is consistent with a thicker trunk. A thin trunk should have shorter branches, and be less dense.
The primary flaw of my tree is lack of age. JWP just take a long time to make good bark.
And a literati should look old, which my tree does not. Yet. It’s starting to get flaky on the lower section of trunk, but it’s going to be a while, maybe as much as a decade, for it to get flaky all the way up.
0soyoung
Imperial Masterpiece
I think this is a more exciting direction for your tree (from @William N. Valavanis blog):
BTW, are you done with this one for now?
For sure! But my tree doesn’t have that kind of movement, sadly.
Yes, I’m done with it for now. I’m still working on the Z Tree.
0soyoung
Imperial Masterpiece
Yah, that trunk is to 'die for', but I actually was most impressed with the 'dance'/nuance of the sparcely foliated pads - sort of illustrating my 'stairway to heaven' notion. All that motion in the trunk gets lost in my memory and I can 'see' it on your tree with the addition of some shari.
But, maybe this just illustrates why I struggle artistically --> trying to put lipstick on a pig and expecting the Mona Lisa to appear (not meaning to imply your tree is a pig).
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At this point, my little tree doesn’t have a thick trunk. It’s not even an inch in diameter. Well, maybe an inch, but not much more.
My other white pines have more substantial trunks:
I think I just need to let this little pine have time to mature. Bonsai is a marathon. Literati can’t be forced.
Spring update:
There is a branch that bothers me: the third branch, the “back” branch. It arches too much. It cascades, but the shape is it comes off straight from the trunk, then turns down in a curve. It should drop more straight at where it’s attached to the trunk.
I’ll have to fix that later as this time of year is a bad time to be messing with the branches. All the new growth is fragile.
But the approach will be to attach a little piece of rebar (or maybe a heavy chopstick) to straighten out the arch, then guy wire down the rebar to the downward angle I want. This puts all the bend right at the beginning of the branch.
Like this:
Like Fig 16.
There is a branch that bothers me: the third branch, the “back” branch. It arches too much. It cascades, but the shape is it comes off straight from the trunk, then turns down in a curve. It should drop more straight at where it’s attached to the trunk.
I’ll have to fix that later as this time of year is a bad time to be messing with the branches. All the new growth is fragile.
But the approach will be to attach a little piece of rebar (or maybe a heavy chopstick) to straighten out the arch, then guy wire down the rebar to the downward angle I want. This puts all the bend right at the beginning of the branch.
Like this:
Like Fig 16.
Hartinez
Masterpiece
Great diagram. May try this on a juniper I’ve got.
Dav4
Drop Branch Murphy
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No notching the trunk/branch base for this one? Just wondering
I don’t think I’ll need to. The branch is thick pencil size at the trunk/branch joint. I should be able to just carefully bend it.
