Hi! I’m doing my first design so that means I’m overthinking EVERYTHING, lol. I chose as the front the pic with the number 1 but while cleaning and wiring I saw the exact opposite (Pic with No. 2) and though it would also look good as the front.
BTW, That very first lower branch that sprouts almost at the base, it’s gonna go.
Would be grateful for your feedback!
I like that you were pretty consistent with branch shape and flow for the most part… Up and out. It gets a little lost on the bottom branches though.
I rather enjoy the bottom branch. It could also help increase the girth of the trunk/base in the long run. I could see it used as a secondary trunk in the design, especially in pic2.
Just my scribbles, sometime it’s hard to tell what’s happening in 2D. You’re off to a good start!
Hey! Thank you so much for taking the time to give me some ideas and even scribble them. Will keep them in mind 
I also like the marked up image with the secondary trunk and the branches flowing up and out. The branches need to either flow up and out or out and up. A mix generally does not look good, particularly if there are down/out/up in the mix. The exception is the lower branches on larger trees that have fallen due to gravity over many years while the upper branches are still going up a bit .
Oh man, thank you Mary. Awesome feedback. Didn’t know about the “always up” part. Great to know.
It is not really a rule. More of an observation of how trees grow. Branches grow towards the light and gravity pulls them down. In bonsai, the tree has to tell a story of how these two things drove its growth. Unfortunately, we do not have hundreds of years and a hundred feet for the tree to tell its story. We have to help the much smaller tree tell its story since gravity has less impact on the smaller tree in fewer years, we then have to hope that other folks will continue to help it tell its story after we are gone.
To be a bit melancholy, it is a bit like our relationship with pets. We outlive them and have to tell their story to the next generation. Trees will hopefully outlive us so they have to tell our story to the next generation.
Wow man. That was a nice analogy. You are very right. I am so focused in doing the “right design”, that I forgot the story the tree wants to tell. The struggle. Thank you very much again. That is very inspiring.
