Demo Forest

RonMartin(deceased)

Last July Jupiter Bonsai had me down to do a small demo. I managed to put together a forest of Black Olives. I really liked the results. Thought I would share it with everybody.
It doesn't look as good in two dimensions. I did do an animation of it and it does show better there. Pity the animation is way too large to show here (3 meg)
I feel pretty good about this one. Pretty close to the best I can do.
Pity I was just a hired hand. I would have liked keeping this one. But now it does belong to Jim Moody. That is the way it should be I guess. It was after all his trees and his pot and I did get paid.
One of these days maybe I'll get to keep one that I like.
If anyone wants to see that 10 second animation let me know and I will send it to you. Better contact me at rmartin@dycon.com though, It won't go through as a PM on the forum.
I will display it at the Asheville NC show this weekend if I get a few more leaves on it. The picture you are looking at is about 3 weeks old and it has filled out some.

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bo-02.jpg (65.9 KB, 242 views)

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dbz12fan

I have seen this one in person and must say it looks much better in person. I do think it could use a smaller pot though.

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Charles Bevan
Vero Beach, Fl

RonMartin(deceased)

So Mr. Charles what kind of pot would you put this forest in.

DavidN

looking good Ron. Well done.

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dbz12fan

I just centered it in the same pot and shrunk the pot a little bit. I also added a bit more foliage on the far left tree.

Did you have an option on pots when you did the demo or were they all the same?

Attached Images

bo-02.jpg (36.7 KB, 202 views)

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"Success demands understanding"-Andy Rutledge

Charles Bevan
Vero Beach, Fl

pdbbonsai

nice composition Ron. Very pleasant on the eyes as is.

Paul

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RonMartin(deceased)

Charles
There is a thing we use in bonsai called visual weight. This actually has nothing to do with the actual weight of the object just its visual dominance in the composition. It has to do with negative and positive spaces, complex vs. sparse areas, light vs. dark,etc It is how we make the eyes of the viewer go to the spot in the composition that we want them to. Maybe you should ask your teacher about this. You might find it an interesting subject.
Since the picture was taken there is a bit more foliage in the center of the forest. That is where it needs to be. Putting it where you did in your virtual seems to pull the eye out the left side of the pot. Centering the forest in the pot did nothing to help bring they eye back into it.
With a bit more experience you will understand what I was trying to do when I put this forest together.
Yes, I did have my choice of pots. I chose this one based on what the final product would look like four months down the road. The area that it would be displayed in was considered also. A whole lot went into selecting that particular pot. The pot will do just fine when I clean it up a bit.
I plan on displaying the forest for the first time this weekend in Asheville NC. Guess I'll get to see how many people agree with your suggestions then.

Jonny D

THats a nice job Ron, congrats!

jonny.

RonMartin(deceased)

Thanks for all the positive comments. I'll let everyone know how the critique goes on this thing when I get back from the Asheville show next weekend.