Visualizing from the beginning

[squizzy]

Well it's apparent that treemans real identity is Mr Squiggle.

Squizz

[Elmar]

Hello Elmar,

I would like to offer you my sincere apology.

It was rude of me to intercept this thread, you had asked Treeman a question, for which i should not have interjected.

For this i apologise.

Kevin

G'day Kevin,
no apology necessary! I did take your suggestion on board but I am glad that that my embarrassment was hidden by the lighthearted responses above!

Truth be told, it takes me forever to "see" the tree... Last time I saw the tree within it was too late, we had a heat wave and they all died. This year has been all about keeping the little suckers alive and I have been successful so far. Instead of loosing all but one, I've lost only 2, one of which was an airlayer where I didn't allow enough space for the roots to expand and the other was tube stock I brought up from Perth and it didn't survive the shock. So I'm progressing, slowly, incredibly slowly, but I am making progress...

[bodhidharma]

Good thread and i have always admired the artists (on paper) amongst us. Hiro does exactly this and i have a few of his drawings. I have also found that you need to deviate sometimes as the tree grows and the plan changes a little bit. The tree does not exactly look like your vision but it is a great "Future" glimpse and a plan, and you need to have a plan.

[treeman]

Well it's apparent that treemans real identity is Mr Squiggle.

Squizz

That's exactly the thought I had when I did the ski man..

[treeman]

Notice too that I have not included back and front branches on the drawings. They are difficult to draw and just lead to confused images but you can't forget then in your final design. They are vital!

[Matt S]

I'd be lost without my sketches. Even though they are crude they are invaluable for:
- testing possible ideas, both in the initial stages of design or trying a new style.
- Reminding myself of the idea I had when I last looked at the tree. Ever picked up a tree you haven't looked at for a year and wondered what you had in mind previously? Constantly changing the design slows down progress.
- Capturing the history of the tree.

Elmar, finding the tree within can be tricky but if you are methodical you can do it even with very crude sketches. When faced with finding a design within a tree I find the following process useful:
- Decide on a couple of potential fronts.
- Sketch just the trunk of these possible fronts, including just the locations of the major branches. Sometimes I'll take a photo, bring it up on my tablet and then trace the outline on paper.
- sketch the tree over and over again with possible variations. If you get really stuck on ideas, get out some books or webpages that show variations on different styles and see if anything looks applicable. I sometimes use my daughter's magnadoodle to doodle out ideas when she's not looking.
- Choose your favourite and keep the sketch somewhere you can refer to later.

Practice practice practice. Find one of those bonsai articles that shows the before and after. Don't look at the final design and see if your ideas match the end result, or improve on it.

Here's an example:
This silly looking Juniper was in a bad need of a redesign. After staring at it for ages I decided this was the most interesting angle for the trunk.

juniper before restyle.JPG

This is the idea I had for a literati. I don't have all the other sketches but there were a lot. Note the high quality paper and drawing materials used

juniper sketch.JPG

The result after pruning, wiring and repotting. Still a way to go but now I'm happy.

juniper restyled.JPG

Matt.

[Kevin]

Hello Matt,
You must have posted 'The Little Champ' before - looks like a welter-weight.
I like it, looks good, nice work Matt.
Quite skilled with the pen too.
Practice makes perfect - they say!
I reckon Elmar needs some trees sent over - cannot draw without a tree.
Kevin