Bunjin style or slant style

[Hillbillybonsai]

Been a beginner bonsai hobbiest for 18 years. Tried a Bunjin style on a Chinese juniper. Looks more like a informal slant style. Need feed back.

[rainbowgardener]

Bunjin is an extremely difficult bonsai style to do well.

It aims for beauty without pattern or regularity in a very stark form. It is usually not symmetrical. Here's a few examples of bunjin junipers I found that I liked:


https://peterteabonsai.files.wordpress. ... 012-32.jpg





http://dupuich.smugmug.com/Bonsai/Devel ... ondo-S.jpg

Not something I have ever tried myself, so I can't give advice about how to make yours more like that, but for me it helps to have inspiration pictures.

Welcome to the Forum! Hopefully someone will come by who knows more about bonsai than I do who could give you some more practical suggestions about steps to take.

[Hillbillybonsai]

Thanks.

[rainbowgardener]

Informal slant style seems more achievable. Here are some notes about that style:

In the slanting style, the trunk has a more acute angle than in the previous styles. The lowest branch should spread in the direction opposite to that in which the tree slants. The top of the tree is bent slightly toward the front. The lower branches are arranged in groups of three, starting about one-third the way up the trunk. In the slanting style the trunk has a more acute angle than in the informal upright style. The lowest branch spreads in the opposite direction to that in which the tree slants. ... The goal of shakan (slant style) is to balance the movement of the trunk with the placement of the branches so that the tree does not appear to be lopsided. [This would mean that the larger, longer, stronger branches would be on the outside of the slant and smaller branches inside]

http://brusselsbonsai.com/stylesofbonsai.cfm


http://shop.brusselsbonsai.com/images/s ... 01x179.gif

But there is a whole art to how you make this happen. It seems like you could use a mentor/ teacher/ peers to talk to. Have you looked for a bonsai club or teacher near you? It is really hard to learn this stuff on your own.