The year of the pine. Mihai's new obsession
- Thread starter Mihai
- Start date
I go more in depth in a thread in an “advanced” forum topic on this site. I think the easiest way to find it is search on threads with “Adair M” as the author, and with “fishhooks” in the title.
Mihai
Shohin
LanceMac10
Imperial Masterpiece
What is the thought process behind wiring "flatter" as opposed to a more upward position?
Tighten up your angles. That is, you have primary branches coming off the trunk, right? The secondary branches coming off the primaries should make about a 30 to 45 degree angle off the primary branch.
See:
Doing this will keep the tips moving “out”, away from the trunk. And the overall outside profile of the branch will be more or less triangular. (Rather than rounded). And, it keeps you from having any branches turning inward, back towards the trunk, which is a major fault.See this diagram:
Here, the tips (and branches) are not properly set.
Tips are going every which way, some even backwards towards the trunk.
After wiring and placement:
The tips are all pointed out, there’s no crosses branches, each tip has its own space. The tips on the interior, are wired to be a little higher that the ones on the perimeter. They provide “height” to the pad. It’s a layering effect. The upper drawing shows the layering.
Those interior twigs providing the “height”, will someday become the primary branch, so it’s important to train them well. You see, the branch will eventually grow too long for the design, and will have to be cut back. Those upper secondaries can be used as replacement primaries. This repeats over, and over. So, always strive to develop new interior branches for the long run sustainability of the bonsai.
Everyone on this site is so focused on the “creation” of bonsai, they don’t think about the long term maintenance and sustainability if the tree. I have had many people criticize this tree:
As being a “green helmet”. It’s not! Yes, it’s full of foliage, but not just around the circumference. It’s comprised of layered pads with foliage going all the way back into the interior. Its not hollow. And because of that, it’s sustainable.
New growth grows up. Naturally. We don’t have to train it to do that.
Find my “fishhooks” thread. You will see the whole tree where the tree grew “ up” after wiring. What we have to do is keep the tree “styled”, but in a way it looks “natural”.
In nature, the branches and pads are larger, and the weight of the wood and foliage tends to keep the pads growing “out” rather than “up”. On the miniaturized scale of bonsai, we have to use wire to mimic the effect of that weight.
LanceMac10
Imperial Masterpiece
Thank you for the rapid response.
Mihai
Shohin
This is basically the first branch of the tree. This is as acute as i can make it without squishing everyting together.
I was afraid to wire the super young branches so there are things sticking out of profile.
This is a branch on another pine i did this year. A lot cleaner methinks.
Found the fishhook thread. Thanks a lot!
That top picture is much better!
On the second picture, you see the first branch on the left? That wire is much too small to be effective. And it’s wired wrong. You have the wire running in between the crotch. It has no holding power that way. The wire should always go
Around the outsides.
See this diagram:
Look at Fig 3. The wire loops around the outside.
When there’s other wire, it takes a bit of planning to match it up!
See Fig 15:
If you can master Fig 15, you’ve mastered wiring!
Here’s an example Kimura did using different colored wire to make it easy to follow:
PiñonJ
Omono
I would add a caveat to that. The finer the branches and foliage (e.g. JRP), the more you can drop the pads and turn the tips up. As an example, here’s a Lodgepole (collected by @Arcto ) that I styled at Mirai in June. When I was done, I thought I had the tips at a good angle, then Ryan came along and turned them all up more (and, of course improved on the styling in general). It gives the tree a more feminine and elegant look.
Yes, you have them slightly up. But not straight up.
JRP are weaker than JBP, and when you drop the branches severely like that, it further weakens them. Turning the tips up slightly gives them back a bit of strength. The same would be true on a JWP, too.
0soyoung
Imperial Masterpiece
I like that tree. Loopy, different, and very interesting
Tycoss
Chumono
I have
I have no decent pines ready for styling yet, but I’m saving this post for when I do. It is very detailed and well reasoned.
Vance Wood
Lord Mugo
People are often critical lf those things they cannot do themselves and this tree is one of them. A truly unique JBP.
I’m glad you got to see it, Vance. A picture doesn’t do it justice. You really can’t see the pads and depth from a photo.
Working this tree taught me more in 5 years than I knew about JBP after working with them for the previous 35 years!
coltranem
Chumono
Vance Wood
Lord Mugo
You're correct; without hands on you really can't understand, second best is being present when it is done by a master in a Demo.
Tyler has some mad skills!
