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Technique: Improve Your Bonsai Though Diligence

In my previous article for Improving Your Bonsai , my best tip was the uninspired answer of " practice practice practice." At its core this advice is sound, but the answer I just gave is just regurgitated what I heard a thousand times over from other teachers and has not expressed much beyond that. Diligence is the key, but without Setting a Direction or goal this diligence might be wasted furiously wiring branches or other techniques that will neither improve your skills nor expand your creativity.

You may remember that statement from the second article. Once you tackle observation and setting your site, another problem may become apparent. For me it was my bonsai looked flat, and I couldn’t create things in perspective. This is where another key idea comes into place and why diligence pays.

Learn:

Simple enough isn’t it? The more you know about the world, about art that has come before, about history, science, anything, the more you will be able to draw upon. Creativity draws from your well of knowledge, and so the more you know, the more your creativity can grow. Learning about horticulture practices, botany of bonsai or about how a certain aspect of biology works can influence and inspire you in unexpected ways. Bonsai from the other artist can teach you more about dramatic setting and inspiration than anything else.

To get better as a bonsai artist is to establish a practice, and a Mental Workout

Be open to critique:

Part of the reality of being an artist is knowing that there will always be someone (and maybe a large group of people) better than you. Knowing this is inspiring, since anyone who knows or has experienced more than you can become a potential teacher. Ask someone you admire to critique a particular bonsai of yours. Sometimes a fresh set of eyes will detect things in 2 minutes that you’ve failed to see with your hours of work. Don’t feel like it’s a personal attack, be happy that this person pointed out something that would have remained hidden to you forever; your knowledge has increased because this person has helped you.

Critiques are the single best source of feedback that bonsai artist can use to find flaws with their trees and to improve their bonsai skills. When you critique, you are helping another person improve their tree. You’re moving the artist closer to getting their tree to a finished bonsai.

This guide has kept away from many of the basic principles of bonsai and specific techniques because it's only a directional aid. You now know that you must practice filling your visual library through studies, measure accurately to ensure that information is being absorbed, and learn depth as it's one of the most important principles in bonsai design.

There are of course certain unchanging principles in bonsai, but for the most part the best way to learn is on your own. No matter if you are in a bonsai study group, class or going it alone, your bonsai education is in your hands. The harder you work the better you’ll be, so best get started.