Styling Inspiration Sources

ozzerbon

G'day Guys,

Was/still am, busy with restyling a Pyracantha - "Golden Charmer", and the question that dropped into my head, was what source material do other folk use for styling some of their trees?

The Pyracantha in question was up till about half and hour ago,
48cm high [that's 19inches], and has been wired and twisted this way and that [no scissors used] and so now the height has been reduced down to 13cm [about 5 inches], my inspiration source was taken from a mix of the miniature trees from the fascinating site of kyosuke Gun and Sachiko.

When completely satisfied I shall post a pic.

Nigel

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Attila

Hello Nigel,

This is a very good topic of discussion and a great source of confusion during the initial years of practicing bonsai.

Long ago I made an absolute rule to myself : I would NEVER use another bonsai as inspiration for my trees. To me this is obvious, and I would never be tempted to do so anyway.

As an analogy, most of the good lanscape painters wouldn't use another landscape painting as their inspiration. They usually use a real lanscape as their subject.

I take pictures of old trees that I pass by. I buy books about old trees, collect albums of landscape paintings (Hudson River school painters for instance), albums of Japanese woodprint masters (Hokusai, Hiroshige, etc.). I aso have books showing the works of famous Chinese ink painters (my library is growing faster than my collection of trees).

These are all great sources of inspiration to me.

When I work on a tree, I try not to think of images of bonsai. This keeps my mind fresh and unattached. Sort of a beginner's mind. Of course, subconciously, I have all the rules and guidelines in the back of my mind. But I try to apply them without focusing on them. If I used other bonsai as inspiration, instead of nature, the emphasis would be on the techniques used.

When I look at great bonsai, first I enjoy the experience. Then, I look at the technical details and the artistic effects used in its creation. I also realize that the end result is an abstraction of the real thing. So, I don't try to create an abstraction of an abstraction.

Best regards,
Attila

RonMartin(deceased)

Me I look at other bonsai. Not so much for inspiration but as a starting point. I see what others have done and try to improve upon it.
I am also lucky enough to have several of those old southern plantations near me. Some of them have been around since colonial times. Nothing like those old trees in their gardens to inspire one. Those trees have after all been maintained for several hundred years.
My best inspiration however comes from an unlikely place. Old Walt Disney movies. His animators could draw some trees. Especially in the Jungle Book and Sleepy Hollow. Those in Lion King were pretty good also.
Sorry, I am a bit weird. Mom must have dropped me more than once . Drain Bamage I recon.

Attila

Here is an interesting article touching on this subject.

Funny enough, it has Ron's cartoon mentioned in it.
Small world.

Attila

RonMartin(deceased)

Guess me and old Colin have more in common than I thought.
An interesting article. Guess I'll have to have a long talk with him next time he comes down.

ChrisM

you know ron, i have been cartooning since i was a child and have always admired the landscapes created by the disney animators, but i never thought to look at them for design concepts for my bonsai, that leaves a lot of movies that i must watch again and i may even take out some of my old stuff to see if i have ever sketched anything i may want to create. i guess you can find inspiration in the most unusual of places. thanks ron.

chris

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A bonsai is like a good marriage.You commit, for better or for worse, till death do you part. I DO!!!

thejimmyrigger

My job requires a lot of highway driving, and generally I'm not the driver so I've found some beauties on the side of the roads. I'm also in a large straight truck so the only thing blocking my view are the 18 wheelers.

Route 128 in mass. has a forty mile strip of semi cascades. By some of the exits are pristine little forest "plantings." Luckily the traffic is terrible (did I say that?) and I get the chance to really study them.

The MassPike with all its excavation through granite has made itself a model of cascades, birch and pine forest groups, and some nice root over rock specimens. Some exits left plateus (spelling?) that made perfect pine groups with younger trees spilling down the rocks.

Pines are used to control erosion on the local beaches. The weather and water is not nice to them and they grow into excellent literati.

Never thought of Disney as inspiration though, I'll have to pull out the old tapes. Lord of the Rings had some good ones too.
jim

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Jimmyrigging is much like jerryrigging, just go a bit lighter on the duct tape and wire coat hangers, and hit said broken item more. Remember: if it isn't broke don't kick it.

RonMartin(deceased)

Try this site
http://images.google.com/imgres?img...-8%26oe%3DUTF-8

Jase1972

Ozzerbon,

Books have been an important source of inspiration for me, in fact I read for about 6 months before I bought my first tree.
Even though, in the early day of growing bonsai I made many of the same mistakes that most beginners made, I feel I began to devellop a firm understanding of bonsai aesthetics. Now I am concerntrating on the next step, translating my inner ideas into a physical form in my trees.
I am confident this ongoing process will allow me to produce quality trees now and in the future.

Jase