My First Tanuki

[matty-j]

hey everyone

this will be my first tanuki and very excited to be honest

i have a few chunks of callistemon dead wood and started carving
and preparing one of them this afternoon still needs more detail added
in the 3rd photo there is a crack running from the end of the top section
to half way down the stump will this be a problem?
and in general what do you all think?

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[alpineart]

Hi Matty-j , mate i like pic 1 as the front of the Tanuki . I would be inclined to stand it up so the main section is just off vertical ,basically with the top in line with the base, that would show good movement , then placing a plant up the hollowed section then another possibly from the in front of the base and run it under , around and behind then up and along the top of the right lower fork . Remember the plant is the main feature , jins and shari should be behind where possible so the plant trunk can be seen as the live veins on the lower section and the foliage it the feature on the upper setion . Hope i explained that well enough .

Cheers Alpine

[kcpoole]

Nice colours in that timber
Ken

[matty-j]

Hi Matty-j , mate i like pic 1 as the front of the Tanuki . I would be inclined to stand it up so the main section is just off vertical ,basically with the top in line with the base, that would show good movement , then placing a plant up the hollowed section then another possibly from the in front of the base and run it under , around and behind then up and along the top of the right lower fork . Remember the plant is the main feature , jins and shari should be behind where possible so the plant trunk can be seen as the live veins on the lower section and the foliage it the feature on the upper setion . Hope i explained that well enough .

Cheers Alpine

thanks alpine much appreciated

this afternoon i finally got around to getting this one together and potted up
i'm happy with how it looks so far
i wanted it to be more vertical like alpine suggested but i was struggling to secure it
properly so i had to lower the angle but i can always fix that next re-pot
i have another juniper i wanted to add to the lower right hand side but i couldn't get it
to work convincingly but i don't see why i couldn't add another one later?

any comments or suggestions are very welcome

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[Qitianlong]

Awesome!! Did you just strap that juni on there, or have you screwed it into the wood?

[matty-j]

Awesome!! Did you just strap that juni on there, or have you screwed it into the wood?

hey qitianlong mate ive carved a channel for the juni to sit in
as i wrapped the juni around i had the dremel next to me and adjusted
the channel to the juni so it was a nice tight fit
at the moment its only cable tied because i ran out of time this afternoon
to add some screws and secure it properly

[Qitianlong]

i see! and the side of the juni facing the tanuki, did you leave that intact or slice it a little? So inspired to try this!

[matty-j]

hahah you sound just like me!!!
i said tho's same words a couple of weeks ago looking at some of alpineart's tanuki
you should take a look at these 2 by him very informative and very inspirational

viewtopic.php?f=131&t=13336

viewtopic.php?f=104&t=8102

to answer you question no i didn't intentionally slice it by i did damage
a lot of the bark an cambium along the way trying to fit and bend it into the deadwood