Design: Golden Mean Case Study #1

[Smoke]

Balance, as I understand it, is that:
1. The tree does not appear as though it is going to fall over. It has the appearance of a strong base which will hold it firmly to the ground.

2. If you were to divide an image of a tree into 4 quadrants, each would be balanced by the quadrant next to or adjacent from it. For example, the tree in this thread, image one, has balance. The foliage is counter balanced by the negative space adjacent to it.

This is not to say that symmetry is necessary for me in art, but that I prefer an image with balance.

So your definition is personal rather than universal?

 

[tmpgh]

So your definition is personal rather than universal?

I don't think of it that way. http://bonsaitonight.com/2010/03/30/balance/ seems to explain it way better than me. I don't have the experience with bonsai or writing about bonsai to explain it, I guess.

 

[bonsaiBlake]

Define balance as it equates to bonsai?

Your questions always make me think. . .

Imho and the way I've come to understand balance in bonsai, is balance is expressed differently in every style.

Windswept for example. Requires a large negative space with a large dense space to balancing on the trunk. This creates a dramatic sense of movement while keeping balance.

Balance can also be represented as a struggle of survival by the tree. The example in this thread does this well with a prominent live vein on the front of the tree clear to the viewer, balanced by the deadwood showing the struggle of life in harsh conditions.

As a informal upright Kimura's tree has both movement and balance. the upward climbing trunk, balanced by foliage reaching down gracefully.

 

[Vance Wood]

Back in the day----when they were debating pornography in congress one of the members came up with the following: I don't know for sure what pornography is but I know it when I see it. This is kind of the same thing we encounter in the discussion of balance----you know it when you see it. Imbalance creates the feeling of a tree falling over in the extreme examples, to having a tree unequal in foliage mass at the other end. Balance creates in the viewer the feeling of finality, stability and grace. In nature balance is crucial to the survival of a tree. Without balance the tree become vulnerable to the forces of nature that normally they would be able to ignore. To really demonstrate what I mean I need to go into musical examples which I will only do if requested to do so. To put it simply music is one place where balance and imbalance are used to make a composition work and become dymanic.

 

[Si Nguyen]

Balance is good topic for discussion. It deserves it's own separate thread.

I like these recent threads on Design Principles. Maybe somebody can start a thread compiling a list of design principles first, ie. Balance, Movement, Negative Space, Golden Mean, etc..., then after that, we can devote one thread of discussion to each principle. I am sure there will be some overlaps, and that's ok, at least it will be easier to follow. Many books on bonsai have already written about these design principles, but they could use a lot more discussion, imho.

 

[Vance Wood]

Some of you may remember years ago when I came up with this device which I patented and had the patent subsequently ripped off by people who used the pond basket etc. Now it seems that the cheap plastic substitutes are no longer good enough and maybe I can justify the price I have to charge for them. The originals were made of Red Wood a commodity I can no longer find locally. I have had to go to cedar but even at that those that I have made in Red Wood last for at least ten years and the Cedar seem to be close to that. Any way the patent goes back to the 80's

 

[tmmason10]

Your screen pots rock Vance. I would imagine people may pay a premium for something that looks that presentable.

 

[Smoke]

The second planter is out of balance with the other two.

 

[Vance Wood]

The second planter is out of balance with the other two.

Funny, you ought to see the fourth in the series. I started doing a smaller planter for the little guys before the Redwood ran out and the pond baskets took the market.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Just replaced the original images in this thread. They had gotten lost, but I found them in an archive.