Hey Mirai,
First styling on this Randy Knight collected Rocky Mountain Juniper.
I always start the design process by taking a step back and asking myself… what story is this particular tree looking to tell? I truly feel the believability of your design choices are the product of answering this thematic question. It’s the most important step. Anyone can learn to wire and bend branches in radical ways to impose their creative vision on a given piece of material. But this often leaves the end product feeling/looking contrived and unnatural.
This RMJ told a very convincing story of wind. To execute this theme, I carried the line up and out… compressed on the right, elongated on the left, and then crafted two apices with the primary one also serving as the defining branch. That choice breaks most all of the ‘traditional design’ principles, but you do see these forms represented in the wild. I’m not even sure this tree can be considered ‘bonsai’ in the traditional sense.
That said, I’m really stoked on this design iteration and I’ll continue pushing the envelope when the material asks me to.
If anyone is interested in seeing the full styling video or taking a peek at why I made certain decisions with this tree, hit the link below…
