Styled and wired my very first tree...

[avionfreak]

Not really sure what I was going for. I wanted to create an "Apex" using the three branches I didn't cut off. I think I need slightly thicker wire to really put the branches in the places I need them to be.

I didn't intend to cut off so much, but I really liked the movement of the base trunk, so I thought it would be nice to feature that, and have one "pad" that is opposite of the major bend of the trunk

I have another juniper to practice on so, we'll see how that goes

I watched a few videos and bought 2 books about the basics of bonsai so I wanted to just dive in and see how it went. It was a lot of fun! And I'd appreciate any critiques.

 

[Trigobontree]

Welcome to the world of Bonsai!

Yes. Thicker wire. A neat trick I learned is to take the wire and try to move the branch with it: if the branch bends, the wire will work, if the wire bends, you need a thicker (or to double up) on wire.

As this as your first tree, I think it’s great! I see wire, and little Jin action.

I agree with the amount of foliage removed might have been a little much, but it looks like you left the roots alone which hopefully will help with recovery. Next time I’d keep more foliage, and foliage closer to the trunk.

It’s hard to speak too much for the style with only the one angle. But I can see from this that the current trunk line is competing with itself, and the foliage, and my eyes are not sure what to follow to get to the apex. For example, the two strong blue lines are almost exactly parallel and my eyes go up the first one and then wants to follow the other one all the way down but your intended apex is off from a different branch.

But I think I can see what you were trying to do, and I think it’s awesome that you jumped in, went for it, and had fun doing it!