Visualizing from the beginning

[treeman]

It's easy right? Well maybe for some but I'm finding that making drawings of your intended design help tremendously. Not only does it give you a guide to fall back on as you go but it also serves to stimulate your imagination and enthusiasm while you do it. Normally or at least traditionally we learn the basic 1,2,3 branch arrangement and use that basic technique when we have new material in front of us. But if we want to stray a little from the conventional we are working blind and the blueprint which served us so well in the past becomes useless. This is particularly the case if we seek a more abstract design with branch placement in completely different configurations to what we are familiar with.
In these cases, the value of sketching becomes very clear. It is almost guaranteed that as the tree progresses, minor or even major changes will occur. That s the nature of working with living material. However in my opinion, without some kind of guide to refer to the progression of the tree will at best be slowed and at worst reach a stage where we are completely discouraged with the result. There is no real need to go into great artistic detail in the sketch but all the major branches should be included as well as their angle of emergence from the trunk and their general future direction. Of course the more detail you include the more inspiration you are likely to find.



Here are a couple of very raw pieces of material which some growers may not even give a second look at. It's worth remembering though that trees want to grow and develop and with the right techniques they can develop a lot faster than we might imagine! (Would you rather start with a trunk with no branches or a seedling?)

The first one is a Black Pine which was ground grown but had all it's braches cut off after grafting 2 buds as the heavy branches used to gain thickness are basically useless. So basically, the tree is going to be built from scratch.

The material with last years grafts shown

001.JPG

Here I will need another main branch

002.JPG

So on it goes....The arrow shows a close up of the previous graft as well.

004.JPG

The tree with the large left branch removed as it is now being fed by the previous graft.
The arrow on the right points to the branch which must sustain the new graft. It will be cut off in one year.

005.JPG

This is my sketch of the intended design for this tree. You may consider this to be a distant dream however with multiple grafting and a firm plan it wont take as long as you think. The basic skeleton of the tree (primary and secondary branches) will be completed in 2 years and from then on aggressive feeding and grafting and other ramification techniques will shorten the time it takes to reach your goal.

006.JPG

More to follow...........

[treeman]

Another one. This is an older J.chinensis ''Kaizuka'' It has very coarse foliage for this size of tree so it has been grafted with 'Itoigawa'' shimpaku in several areas. These few grafts are enough to fully take over the role of the existing foliage in a matter of 2 years.

Notice the vigorous juvinile (needle) grwoth as a result of heavy pruning a couple of years ago.

008.JPG

Due to lack of material, only 6 grafts where put on the top of the tree but that will be enough for this job.

009.JPG

And 2 lower down.

010.JPG

The drawing. Most of the grafts where included as future main branches. Some may require removing at some time? This is a very simple design but you could make it as convoluted as you want. The sky's the limit but the point is to have a vision and a plan when working with very raw and basic material. Obviously if you can shape the entire tree in one sitting, there is no need for a drawing as you can paint the picture with your hands! However, even in this case, several sketches will open up a world of possibilities you may not have thought of.

007.JPG

[Lane]

Thanks Treeman, this is a timely thread as I have been planning to do some sketching of trees in development.

I have just been chopping and wiring and asking questions on here then letting the trees next move dictate the direction but after seeing Pavel do drawings for plans I decided I must also do the same.

I was actually finger painting with a three year old when naturally I started drawing bonsai!

[Elmar]

I love your "simple"
Scetches, Treeman. But for someone like myself who is limited to simple stick-figure like artistic skill, what would you suggest?
As you've stated, I often look and look and am baffled where or how to start.
I have taken notes from DVDs of famous Bonsai Artists showing their process of what they look for (so I can get a formulae to follow) but often still don't "SEE" the bonsai within!
I'm 200Ks away from the nearest club or shop or anything so that is not always an option...

Looking for clues on how to develop myself.
Appreciate your time.


Cheers
Elmar

[Kevin]

G'Day Elmar,

Let's just forget about the pencils for a second.

When broken down, what Treeman is doing is an extremely technical horticultural procedure, that has required possibly hundreds of hours of previous experience, the acquisition over a period of time of necessary, vital and possibly expensive equipment and created beforehand an environment that's also conducive in producing his desired goals. Also, I presume this is what Treeman enjoys doing - something along the lines of Star Trek and the Enterprise - "where no man has gone before".

Mike, the above and below comments are intended as compliments.

This is not about you Elmar and what you do or don't have - Treeman is seriously skilled, extremely well researched as well as previously practiced in almost all aspects of Horticulture and Bonsai.

Personally Elmar, i suggest you do as i do and practice Mindfulness. Walk outside or go for a drive and look around, what do you see, smell, taste - seriously, really think about these types of things. I'm sure you have done this many times before - images appear in the clouds, unusual visions on the horizon, etc. And no, it wasn't those yummy cookies from the CWA stall.

Really look at items within nature. To help with your bonsai, seek out the flora, it doesn't matter what it is, anything from lichen to an Acacia. When you allow your mind to shut out everything and completely focus on what's in front of you - you will see - just the same as when you last laid on your back and gazed above, your mind would have seen anything from the walls spinning to billowing boughs of eucalyptus on a dry summers afternoon.

I've tried to make this a tad light hearted, but seriously, Mindfulness is extremely beneficial to all and if you really want to create as Treeman creates - it's called practice and research over many years. Edit: Looking at bonsai age, we have 24 - 25 years of hard work and thousands of hours of research ahead of us Elmar.

Kevin

[melbrackstone]

And on top of Kevin's wonderful suggestions, you could try looking at bonsais and attempting to draw what you see. Keep trying to draw the shapes you see, and eventually you'll see the shapes...

Sounds weird, but it really works.

[treeman]

"Kevin"

When broken down, what Treeman is doing is an extremely technical horticultural procedure, that has required possibly hundreds of hours of previous experience, the acquisition over a period of time of necessary, vital and possibly expensive equipment and created beforehand an environment that's also conducive in producing his desired goals. Also, I presume this is what Treeman enjoys doing - something along the lines of Star Trek and the Enterprise - "where no man has gone before".

Mike, the above and below comments are intended as compliments.

This is not about you Elmar and what you do or don't have - Treeman is seriously skilled, extremely well researched as well as previously practiced in almost all aspects of Horticulture and Bonsai.

Thanks for the compliments Kevin but in all honesty, It's 10% skill and 90% practice. If you look at a tree in Bonsai Today for example, and you really, REALLY would like to have one like that, then you just go about doing whatever it takes to do it. (do it - not buy it because you wont find one) Track down (or grow) the material, study, study, study. Don't do just one but do 5 or even 10. One will be good (maybe all will be good?) What you want is to make as many mistakes as possible because they are what you learn from. Don't settle for ''good enough''. Learn the required techniques like grafting, layering, ground growing, wiring, and most of all understand the way the tree ''wants'' to grow before you ask it to grow the way you want. (that means you need to know the capabilities of the plant so you can fully exploit them) After that, will can rightly EXPECT results. You learn that by reading, looking at good (the best) examples wherever you can and most of all growing growing all the time.
Don't worry about how the tree looks now, keep visualizing how it WILL look if you do this or that to it. I like to share all my discoveries with anyone who will listen. Just as the authors of all the great Japanese articles in the old magazines do. I'm really only copying what they have already done a million times before. All the information is out there for anybody to find. Some people like to keep their secrets to themselves. Personally I don't give a s**t.

Personally Elmar, i suggest you do as i do and practice Mindfulness. Walk outside or go for a drive and look around, what do you see, smell, taste - seriously, really think about these types of things. I'm sure you have done this many times before - images appear in the clouds, unusual visions on the horizon, etc. And no, it wasn't those yummy cookies from the CWA stall.

Really look at items within nature. To help with your bonsai, seek out the flora, it doesn't matter what it is, anything from lichen to an Acacia. When you allow your mind to shut out everything and completely focus on what's in front of you - you will see - just the same as when you last laid on your back and gazed above, your mind would have seen anything from the walls spinning to billowing boughs of eucalyptus on a dry summers afternoon.

I've tried to make this a tad light hearted, but seriously, Mindfulness is extremely beneficial to all and if you really want to create as Treeman creates - it's called practice and research over many years. Edit: Looking at bonsai age, we have 24 - 25 years of hard work and thousands of hours of research ahead of us Elmar.

Kevin

All excellent and indispensable advice. But back to the drawing, I would strongly suggest that if you find it difficult to visualize and transfer an idea to paper, that you practice that until you have mastered it. It helps you ''see''. You may find it just as difficult to transfer that same idea into a living branch if you don't. There are plenty of good books on sketching as well as any number of art classes you can take. Anyone can draw. (at least in a basic way) It's an innate human quality. You just need to learn it

[Gerard]

Even a poor drawing can help with decision making, do you move a branch or remove it?
I have sometimes taken photos, printed them in black and white or even greyscale and then made drawings on top of the photo.
When making sketches you can add future branches and taper much faster than waiting for growth

[treeman]

I have taken notes from DVDs of famous Bonsai Artists showing their process of what they look for (so I can get a formulae to follow) but often still don't "SEE" the bonsai within!
I'm 200Ks away from the nearest club or shop or anything so that is not always an option...

Elmar. Let's be honest. What has anyone ever leaned from a demo? Answer....not much. Demos can very entertaining and can even be inspiring but the only way to learn is with your hands. Going to workshops is much better than watching a dvd or a live demo. If you can't do that. Go on line and buy a book on how to draw and start drawing. Plant seeds, wire the seedlings, watch them grow, experiment. Hands on is the way..........If you have the time, get your hands dirty every day. You cannot fail if you don't want to.

[NAHamilton]

But for someone like myself who is limited to simple stick-figure like artistic skill, what would you suggest?

There is nothing wrong with stick men drawings, they are made up of lines and so are Bonsai. I've made a few variations on Mike's pine drawing (you're welcome to use them if you like ), moving the branches and putting it in a pot. I'm not going to rush out and get them framed but they do show Mike's design if branches were moved.

01.png

02.png

03.png

Cheers,
Nigel

[treeman]

cd.PNG

[Elmar]

OK OK, I'll stop using that as an excuse!

And thank you.

[Rory]

cd.PNG

[NAHamilton]

cd.PNG

Now I'll rush out and get it framed

[Kevin]

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