Share Your MAPLE LITERATIS

[Nybonsai12]

Closest i've got to a literati maple although doesn't really fit the bill. I've grown this one from seed and it's been fun. For the last two seasons i've debated layering off the top 3 or 4 inches and then chopping to just about the lower set of branches. for whatever reason i haven't done it. I kind of enjoy the long taperless trunk but the wiggle is all in the first few inches and it's begging to be chopped.

 

[SouthernMaple]

Chaparral honeysuckle

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Lodgepole pine

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Incense cedar

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incense cedar

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Lodgepole pine

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do people not know how to read? None of these are maples, go start a conifer literati thread.

 

[leatherback]

do people not know how to read? None of these are maples, go start a conifer literati thread.

That was 6 years ago. Is it really worth it bringing up now?

 

[SouthernMaple]

That was 6 years ago. Is it really worth it bringing up now?

definitely. Why is it still there? It really ruins the thread as I am now just getting into it.

 

[Gabler]

definitely. Why is it still there? It really ruins the thread as I am now just getting into it.

I get it. It bugs me when people ignore thread rules. However, this isn't the place to be a ruthless editor. Posts don't get deleted unless they're beyond the bounds of decency. It's just a few pictures of literati conifers. You'd do well to work for a publishing company where you can spend your days making writers cry by pointing out all their mistakes, and I mean that in all sincerity. There's good work for ruthless editors.

 

[leatherback]

Considering we have woken this thread, might as well post a maple

 

[Dan W.]

Here's my attempt so far Sergio. This is acer sieboldianum "seki no kegon". Great thread! There is some excellent inspiration here.

 

[Canada Bonsai]

Haven’t spent enough time thinking about the right angle for this one. Maybe next repot

 

[SouthernMaple]

Considering we have woken this thread, might as well post a maple
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beautiful tree and pot. Katsura perhaps?

 

[leatherback]

beautiful tree and pot. Katsura perhaps?

Thx.

Just a regular japanese maple (seed grown)

 

[Shogun610]

Here is an acer rubrum that I like to think of as a twin trunk literati. I planted 2 seedlings as close as I could a couple years ago. It's got a ways to go, especially the smaller tree, but I like it. It might get a smaller, shallower pot next year.

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I messed up and let wire bite in on the trunks, but I think the scars will be gone in an another 2 or 3 years.

Update ?

 

[VAFisher]

Update ?

This one didn't make the cut a few years back when I was downsizing and trying to upgrade my collection. I unpotted it and planted it somewhere in the woods behind my benches. I don't remember exactly where. I need to get out there and search around to see what it looks like these days.

 

[Shogun610]

This one didn't make the cut a few years back when I was downsizing and trying to upgrade my collection. I unpotted it and planted it somewhere in the woods behind my benches. I don't remember exactly where. I need to get out there and search around to see what it looks like these days.

Okay haha yes please check.. I’d be happy to rehome it haha

 

[JEads]

This is not my tree, but was in the last Taikan-ten. I am sorry that I did not catch the artist's name. Very inspirational.

 

[snowman04]

Closest i've got to a literati maple although doesn't really fit the bill. I've grown this one from seed and it's been fun. For the last two seasons i've debated layering off the top 3 or 4 inches and then chopping to just about the lower set of branches. for whatever reason i haven't done it. I kind of enjoy the long taperless trunk but the wiggle is all in the first few inches and it's begging to be chopped.

View attachment 539073

If you chop it then it won't be literati material. I would remove the lower one-third of the branches and see if it pushes more out the top...

 

[bellurius]

Hello guys, sorry to be so late but I think I have the opportunity to finally bring you a nice Arakawa Litterati project after all the years passed reading this post What do you think about it? Should i proceed?

First image is the actual state of the tree, second one -more or less- the project I have in mind.
All the rest ff the brunches will be air layered for sure

 

[Bonsai Nut]

I personally think about half of the bonsai in this thread are not literati/bunjin. That doesn't make them bad bonsai, but people need to brush up on the style (pun intended). Just because you have a tall slender tree does not mean it is a literati. I'm seeing a lot of standard informal, or slant style trees here.

A literati is evaluated solely by the line of the trunk, with minimal branches. It is supposed to look like a brush stroke - and evoke the spirit of a scholar's work in classic painting or calligraphy. It is a surreal, expressionistic form.

 

[Gabler]

I personally think about half of the bonsai in this thread are not literati/bunjin. That doesn't make them bad bonsai, but people need to brush up on the style (pun intended). Just because you have a tall slender tree does not mean it is a literati. I'm seeing a lot of standard informal, or slant style trees here.

A literati is evaluated solely by the line of the trunk, with minimal branches. It is supposed to look like a brush stroke - and evoke the spirit of a scholar's work in classic painting or calligraphy. It is a surreal, expressionistic form.

Is there some sort of test we can apply to determine whether a tree is literati/bunjin? After reading Zhao Quingquan's book and other material online, it still seems highly subjective to me, and I'm not sure I could explain the difference in my own words.

 

[Empty Mountain]

I personally think about half of the bonsai in this thread are not literati/bunjin. That doesn't make them bad bonsai, but people need to brush up on the style (pun intended). Just because you have a tall slender tree does not mean it is a literati. I'm seeing a lot of standard informal, or slant style trees here.

A literati is evaluated solely by the line of the trunk, with minimal branches. It is supposed to look like a brush stroke - and evoke the spirit of a scholar's work in classic painting or calligraphy. It is a surreal, expressionistic form.

Agree and for my taste the tree needs to have age as well. a twisty, young slender tree doesn't do it for me I want to see bark all the way to the top.

 

[bellurius]

Ok i partially agree, but what about my Arakawa?

I personally think about half of the bonsai in this thread are not literati/bunjin. That doesn't make them bad bonsai, but people need to brush up on the style (pun intended). Just because you have a tall slender tree does not mean it is a literati. I'm seeing a lot of standard informal, or slant style trees here.

A literati is evaluated solely by the line of the trunk, with minimal branches. It is supposed to look like a brush stroke - and evoke the spirit of a scholar's work in classic painting or calligraphy. It is a surreal, expressionistic form.

Agree and for my taste the tree needs to have age as well. a twisty, young slender tree doesn't do it for me I want to see bark all the way to the top.

Is there some sort of test we can apply to determine whether a tree is literati/bunjin? After reading Zhao Quingquan's book and other material online, it still seems highly subjective to me, and I'm not sure I could explain the difference in my own words.