New Eastern Red Cedar bonsai (at awesome price)

I recently purchased an eastern red cedar, it is about 3 feet tall and has a 3 inch trunk.

I got it at a silent auction for only $12 (I was the only bidder)

Could anyone please help me on how to turn this monster into a reasonably sized bonsai for me (1 foot or lower)

Here the pictures are.

Is it just my system or are these pics little more than thumbnail size?

fiona wrote:Is it just my system or are these pics little more than thumbnail size?

Yep, tiny for me too.

sorry about size.

I decided to leave it at full size and to trim it a bit, i made it into a Shakan-Ishitsuki style.

It is about 3 feet long.

Please give feedback, thanks.

PS: Sorry about picture sizes, it won't get any bigger.

It took about one and a half hours to complete.

Well, without bigger pictures it's impossible to give advice; they're just too small.

First things first - I've merged your two topics since they were about the same tree and they ran on from each other.

Second. how are you uploading these images because as Ryan says they really are not helpful in letting us see what you've done and then give advice. I've asked you this before but what are you using - cell phone or conventional digital camera? Tbh it shouldn't matter as these days even the most basic cell phone camera takes pics at 1mp. Have you read the uploading tutorial properly? (It is this one HERE ) Do you reduce the size of your images before you try to post them here? If so, don't - the system does it for you.

And so to your tree. Your youthful exuberance is to be commended and is refreshing. But I'm afraid it is in danger of getting in the way of good bonsai practice. From what I can see, I think you have been in far too much of a rush to do anything. I was interested to see you writer that it took an hour and a half to "complete" - do you mean it is a finished tree or just that the work you did yesterday took that amount of time to complete? Maybe it's because the pics are so small but I can't see any evidence of wiring or branch placement in your tree and that particular piece of material really needs this.

So how can you make it better? Here are some things to think about:

First, bonsai is largely about giving the appearance of age in a relatively young piece of material. Look at an aged tree in a park and what do you see? A thick trunk and heavy branches. Your tree has a long spindly truck and thin branches.

You can do one of three things: you could change your direction and go for a bunjin style where longer trunks and thinner branches are the norm.
Or you can reduce the height to give the illusion of a thicker trunk (it's about relative proportion).
Or you can put it into a deep container or the ground and let it fatten up naturally (as we advised for your yamadori)

I really think you now need a hands-on advice and guidance - even if it is only for a few months to get you properly started. If you haven't already done so, investigate clubs in your area and go along to them. It is by far the best way of getting a better idea of what to do, quicker.

Fiona is right. Personally, I would shorten this tree, using one of the lower branches wired upright to form a new leader/apex. But you are going to have to learn how to post bigger pics. My 74-year-old eyes simply cannot cope with something that small -- and photograph the tree against a plain background of a contrasting color.

When you get a new tree, it is hard not to start hacking away on it immediately. I try to do nothing physical to a new tree for several days. I'll put it out somewhere that I can see it from all sides, and I'll just look, using my mind as the pruning shears. That way I can prune it in several directions and change my mind with no damage done.

This process would be especially important with the Eastern red cedar, which is a very difficult sprecies to make bonsai from. That's probably why you were the only bidder.