Creating Balance in Bonsai Design
Jun 15th, 2011 by Jane R.
Bonsai is an ancient art form that has been practised in Japan and China for hundreds of years. Over time certain styles and preferences have evolved as good practice in bonsai tree design.
When creating a look for your own bonsai tree, it’s best to pick one preferred viewing angle and stick to it. Perhpas it could be an angle that offers the most graceful, tapering view of the trunk, an attractive arrangement of branches or an interesting view of the root structure. This will become the front view. When looking at the tree from the front view, you should envision your eye level being half way up the trunk of the tree.
To create a nicely balanced bonsai design, there are three main sections of the tree to consider in relation to each other and to the container: the trunk, the root spread, and the branches.
The branches form the overall shape or silhouette of the tree, and you should aim for a spiral arrangement of branches going up and around the tree. The heaviest layer of branches should be the first one, which should appear about a third of the way up the trunk. Like the trunk, each branch should taper towards the end. Branches can be pruned and trained with wires to achieve a pleasing shape.
The trunk should taper towards the top of the tree, and the angle and line of the trunk should be clearly visible. Interestingly textured and coloured bark adds character to the tree, with a more mature, weathered look.
Character and maturity can also be added by exposing an interesting root formation. For a balanced look, the roots should extend out from the tree in many different directions, giving an appearance of age and stability.
Of course it’s possible to find a pleasing shape and design in many ready grown bonsai trees for sale, but the process of applying your own unique creativity to the tree begins once you can start caring for it yourself.
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