You be the Judge

Smoke

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Here is a different set of photo's from a past Joshua Roth contest.

Pick the winning tree from these.
 

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Last two...
 

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Please feel free to discuss these trees and why they work or why they don't.
 
I pick #2. In my opinion it looks to have the best clarity of conception followed by a nice execution.
 
Depends on what you are judging. The second tree has the most refined crown I think... But the first might have the most potential to be a good tree down the road. If you a re judging solely who made the best looking tree right now, it is 2 IMO.
 
It would be a benifit to all if comments are more concise as to what it is that actually allows the tree to give one that impression.

What does "nice execution" mean and what is a "refined crown"?
 
Initial impressions...

Tree 1: movement for the sake of movement, no clear design
Tree2: took a safe route. Not dynamic but not bad, a close second in my book
Tree 3 : big risk, big reward. Dynamic image, maybe too much Jin, but it does have good movement.
Tree 4: played it very safe, not bad, but this is a contest.
Tree 5: Dr Seuss Pom poms, no rhyme or reason to it.

Second post

Tree 1: perpetual bar branches, no trunk movement, too busy
Tree 2: get rid of left branch, define the rest better.
 
The second one of the first five looks to present the best finished image to me. However, it's hard to see the wiring (which may be a sign of good wiring skills) so that could be an issue. I would still call it the winner. The second photo of the second two looks like it could have been the winner if it wasn't for that branch shooting out from the left side. If it was cut back, jinned and the trunk was tilted a little more clockwise I would have called it the winner.
 
It would be a benifit to all if comments are more concise as to what it is that actually allows the tree to give one that impression.

What does "nice execution" mean and what is a "refined crown"?



I mean wiring, pruning, jinxing, etc... the more "technical" stuff to carry out the idea. Although the wire in this one you can't see but I will take a guess that it's probably well done.
 
Tree #2 first place.

Tree #1
Good movement at base that is lost in upper part of tree. No clear design. Duplicate branches that fight instead of complement each other. Too much deadwood that does not reinforce design.

Tree #2
Clear design and movement. Natural use of deadwood on one side of tree. I would personally break the canopy up a little more, and tilt the tree slightly to the right, but these are nuances.

Tree #4
I am struggling with the jin. It does not look natural to me. I like the design, but the deadwood is far too much for the tree in my opinion. I think once the bonsai has time to develop, and the descending branch becomes 50% longer, the jin will look more appropriate. I would have wacked off the jin.

Tree #5
I’m not seeing much design here that makes me think “bonsai”. It feels like a procumbens juniper in a landscape and not an ancient tree on a mountainside. No movement – just a sprawl. Imagine the bonsai you could make with JUST the right trunk… and jin the two left trunks…

Tree #6
Way too busy. It is a twin trunk that cannot work unless you dramatically reduce branches and foliage. Right now it is just a sprawl without design. You need to choose the primary trunk, first. Determine the design and the line, and then decide how the secondary trunk will complement the primary trunk. None of that happened here.

Tree #7
No design. Kept too many branches / too many elements. Deadwood where it isn’t needed. No refinement.

Tree #8
This one is close. I can see where the artist is going in terms of the future. However I think they are wrong  I would lop off the left branch, jin it about 2” from the trunk, and work on refining the right side of the tree. With the left branch distraction gone, they would want to refine the left branches in the apex and bring them down.
 
#2 is Peter Tea's winning tree from a few years ago....
 
Not sure if this is the best way to judge but I would rather have tree 1 on my bench to care for and enjoy.....Why....I'm too new at this to really know....I like the movement and it has just the right amount of jin to my eye.

Tree 2 has opposing trunks that emerge at almost 180 degs which just doesn't do it for me....I know the artist had to work with what they had and the canopy does have a nice flow and balance.

Tree 3 or 4 (can't read the number) I just don't get at all....We had better entries in our BSC....JMO

Tree 5 would look much better without that lower left branch growing on the ground....Now maybe repotted some way it would work but not like it was presented.

Tree 6 is too airy in the upper center and too dense/busy on either side especially on the right.....Might look better at a different angle.

Tree 7 is my 2nd choice but I would get rid of the jin on the lower left as well as the 2 right branches that stick out like a sore thumb.

Tree 8 would be a very good tree without that branch coming at the lower left...The foliage above the jin need to be moved up...It would be my 3rd pick.

That is a total newbie's look at work that I hope to one day in the distant future be able to even come close to.

Brian
 
This tree placed second....

Why do you think that was?
 

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Three quick virts doing what I would recommend above...

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Detail work still needed, but you can see how REDUCING elements dramatically improves all three designs.
 
Some concensus, so I'll prodceed.

When I posted these photo's you guys all blew me away. I totally misjudged this fickle forum because I figured no one would pick Peters tree based on comments in the other thread. All of a sudden the tree that looks most refined and has a balanced canopy and has been worked on with care and proper techniques is now a winning tree.

Yet....in the other thread, people are more hung up on some of the other trees that have more potential down the road while blowing right past the obvious attention that was paid to Stacy's tree in it's manufacture.

IMHO, tree one and the last tree, for me have the most potential. In fact I think they had the most potential for this contest at that time in the right hands. I have no doubt that Peter would have taken either the first or last tree to a different ending and probably would have won with any of them for that matter. I too am bothered by the Wye in the trunk and If I had been in Peters shoes I might have taken one of them off. His was the only tree wired in copper at that contest and it can be seen in the picture if you look. The canopy was amazing when seen in person.

The winning tree and the second place tree owner were both slated to go to Japan the year after. Peter went Michelle Daugherty did not. Michelle and her husband are currently looking for a permanent home for the Windsong Museum of Trees in the San Diego area. Matt Reel has help style a few of the trees in the collection.
 
Considering it took me prolly 30 minutes to type what I did, between watching TV and spell checking everything, I guess I didn't do too bad at analyzing these entries.

Brian
 
I made the mistake of scanning through the entire thread and saw which tree won before writing a reply, but tree #2 is the one I had picked after a first glance through the images. In this case, not only is it the most "detailed/finished" but the overall artistry is impressive...the silhouette is nice (though there could be a little more variation in the outline), there is variety to the foliage mass, use of deadwood seems fitting. Some of the other trees may turn out really well but this one has it all right now.

Tree #1 could be very good when it fills in. Tree #8, would also look good when it fills in and if that left trunk was removed as Bnut suggested.
 
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