bonsaiTALK Community - View Single Post - And Now, A Word On Nebari

I think the exaggerated nebari is just that - an exaggeration for artistic effect. Bonsai aren't scale replicas of trees, if they were, the leaves would be so small it would be difficult to see them.

I have a 15 foot japanese maple in the yard here with leaves that are about 1.5 inches across. To scale that down to a one foot tall tree, the leaves would be smaller than 1/8 inch! My bonsai maples have leaves at least 5 times that big.

So we come to roots, and it doesn't seem to me unreasonable that to depict a tree growing in nature, one might (and perhaps should) exaggerate the proportions of the rootage to some extent. How much, is a matter of taste and skill, because as OMC pointed out, radial root systems are not easy to develop.

Similarly the bunjin style is an exaggeration of the height and delicacy of a tree, and the formal upright and broom styles, an exaggeration of perfection one rarely sees in "natural" trees.

Somewhere between the freeform Chinese style and the (possibly overrefined?) Japanese styles, there is a lot of room for expression. Find your place, and put a stake in the ground, but leave some room for growth either way.

Regards,

Matt

20-Sep-2002	#72
TreeBay Tips:5¢ Advice:Free *MODERATOR GROUP* Join Date: Aug-2001 Location: Silicon Valley Country: USA USDA Zone: 9 AHS Heat Zone: 4 Posts: 9,742	I think the exaggerated nebari is just that - an exaggeration for artistic effect. Bonsai aren't scale replicas of trees, if they were, the leaves would be so small it would be difficult to see them. I have a 15 foot japanese maple in the yard here with leaves that are about 1.5 inches across. To scale that down to a one foot tall tree, the leaves would be smaller than 1/8 inch! My bonsai maples have leaves at least 5 times that big. So we come to roots, and it doesn't seem to me unreasonable that to depict a tree growing in nature, one might (and perhaps should) exaggerate the proportions of the rootage to some extent. How much, is a matter of taste and skill, because as OMC pointed out, radial root systems are not easy to develop. Similarly the bunjin style is an exaggeration of the height and delicacy of a tree, and the formal upright and broom styles, an exaggeration of perfection one rarely sees in "natural" trees. Somewhere between the freeform Chinese style and the (possibly overrefined?) Japanese styles, there is a lot of room for expression. Find your place, and put a stake in the ground, but leave some room for growth either way. Regards, Matt __________________ Want to be a seller on bonsaiAUCTIONS? Get authorized today! bonsaiTALK: Over 100,005.36 Megabytes Served this Month!