Forests Near or Far View

midwestbonsai

personally I dont think that by placing trees with a larger trunk in the back of the forest would make it look like a far view. I dont seem to understand this logic. I think if you made a forest like that it would look out of place, and just palin wrong.

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pikemaster64

Near-view forests, with the larger trees up front, give the impression of standing close to the edge of the forest and looking slightly up. Thus, the closest trees appear to be the largest ones. (A near-view forest bonsai will use differently sized trees to get this illusion.)
To immagine a far-view forest, think of a small grove of trees a ways away. The closer trees actually are smaller, and the perspective does not make them seem any larger than they are. So to immitate this in a bonsai, the trees in front would have to be slightly smaller than the larger trees--but not as small as the small trees in a near-view forest. Probably the trees at the edge would start to look strange if they were any less than half the size of the larger trees. Two-thirds the size would probably be more realistic.
To maintain the illusion of a far-view forest, the trees should probably be planted as they would be placed in a full-sized grove. There would be smaller trees around the edges, with the more mature trees in the middle. (This would mirror the way a grove would develop--the original trees would seed the area around them, making a new generation of smaller trees around them.)
Of course, like any good forest, the trees should be distinct--the foliage shouldn't become a thick mat laid on top of the trunks. It would probably be advantageous to plant the trees somewhat more sparsely than they would be in a near-view forest. (In a near-view forest, small trees can get sunlight that shines between the trunks of the trees in front; in such a far-view forest, the trees in the middle of the grove must have a bit of space between them and their neighbors to get enough light to live.)
It should also be noted that while near-view forests place small trees just behind the large trees to increase the illusion of depth, this would not work too well for a far-view grove. The best way to create depth in such a grove would be to place trees a realistic distance behind and in front of each other, to mimic the spacing of trees in full-sized groves. Thus, the pot for a far-view forest should probably be more round than that for a near-view forest. (That is, while near-view forests usually use long, skinny pots, a far-view forest would benefit from a pot about as wide as it is long.)
Basically, a far-view bonsai forest should be pretty much a miniature version of a grove of trees that you would see growing out in a field, and should be styled more naturalistically than most near-view forests are. This also means that a far-view forest would have a less obvious "front" than a near-view forest would.
Pikemaster

sauce

Not bad Pikeman, Very good description IMO. I wish I had a picture or sketch, it is so much easier to visualize the intent of a far view planting if you can actually see it. I'm still looking for a picture. Midwest I think you would appreciate and understand the reasoning much more if you could actually see it, it is a visual effect that relies on the mindset of the viewer. As I said I think this composition would require more trees, I don't think it would look convincing with 5 or 9 trees. Eleven might work but more would probably be better.