Design: Golden Mean Case Study #2

[Bonsai Nut]

Maybe that's a topic for a later thread.

No I think it's completely appropriate. One thing I am finding as I try to create these case studies is: where are the primary design lines for each bonsai / tree? Where is your eye going and exactly which ratio is most important for determining whether a design is in balance or not?

For example, in the case of Gene's design, the ratio of the descending branch to the height of the tree is the most important (in my opinion). Would it change if you WIDENED the tree? No. Would it change if you made the tree taller? No. (at least not in a relative sense). But what if you changed the angle of the trunk? What if you changed the MASS of the foliage in the upper part of the tree?

I don't know...

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Bump for love... an old thread where the original images had been lost, but I still had them in archive and re-added them to the thread. I will go back and find Golden Mean example 1 and do the same.

 

[JackHammer]

So tree number 3 is the only tree that fits best practices / conventions. ( to my knowledge)

- The first branch is 1/3rd up the tree.
- There are 3 points, lower (man) mid (nature?) and apex (God).

For the discussion regarding Gene's tree, is it possible that rather than starting the branch at the first 1/3rd, the first branch appears or should appear at the 2nd 1/3rd position. All of the subsequent design aspects are compacted into 1/3rd of the complete picture. This seems reminiscent of literati in this regard.

Are literati trees really just regular trees with a trunk that is twice the length of the foliage?

 

[Baku1875]

Bump for love... an old thread where the original images had been lost, but I still had them in archive and re-added them to the thread. I will go back and find Golden Mean example 1 and do the same.

this stuff is interesting. I'm working on a project of taking photos of the most interesting local trees in my area and quantifying the proportions to see how it can be applied to containerized stuff.

Trunk girth to primary branch girth ratios as well. Will post my findings here.

 

[FreshAirSunshine]

I look at it and the whole thing looks too top-heavy. I’d want the top of the lower left pad to touch the top of the blue line drawn, rather than the bottom of the pad being above it, or I’d want the foliage to be more sparse if higher up. Overall the pads convey a design that is too heavy to start that far up a trunk to me. Looks like the trunk will snap.

 

[FreshAirSunshine]

That’s part of the reason I like option 2, but then there’s too much foliage mass. Genes would be ideal, but would need to be lower down the trunk IMO

 

[HandyGringo]

What did you use to make the images? Just wondering if there's some kind of software or website that makes it easy.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

What did you use to make the images? Just wondering if there's some kind of software or website that makes it easy.

I used Photoshop. I have been working with Photoshop for over 20 years

 

[HandyGringo]

I used Photoshop. I have been working with Photoshop for over 20 years

Ah, so you are doing it the hard way. I was hoping that some genius had developed a Bonsai sketching software for us. Imagine being able to just use a brush that gives you juniper foliage or pine needles, JBP bark, JWP bark, deadwood, etc.

I'm surprised no one has done it yet tbh. Great mockups by the way.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Ah, so you are doing it the hard way. I was hoping that some genius had developed a Bonsai sketching software for us. Imagine being able to just use a brush that gives you juniper foliage or pine needles, JBP bark, JWP bark, deadwood, etc.

I'm surprised no one has done it yet tbh. Great mockups by the way.

Actually... when I am feeling highly creative, I create a custom pine needle brush with bundles of three or five needles. Then I give it a slight randomized angle, and dither scale and the color a bit, so that it is all slightly randomized as I paint. I can paint branches full of needles and it looks pretty good (IMHO).