First attempt at carving

When I say first attempt, I mean first, ever. I did this mostly to build some confidence for using my rotary tool to carve up a tree. I tried to follow the logic of just carving in an irregular pattern, so that when the wood dies back, and rots out a bit, i can come back and make a final decision about what the hollow should look like. I would like some honest criticism wherever possible.




I'm kind of proud of this one. I think I worked with the natural shape of the tree pretty well.


I'll be honest, I'm not really sure what I was going for with this part. Maybe it will evolve into something better with time.

Any suggestions would be nice.

Looks pretty decent. I have one comment... try to avoid pockets where water will stand. This will only increase or speed-up the rotting.

aman wrote:Looks pretty decent. I have one comment... try to avoid pockets where water will stand. This will only increase or speed-up the rotting.

Isn't that the intent, if you are trying to form a hollow?

What is the species?

PeacefulAres wrote:

aman wrote:Looks pretty decent. I have one comment... try to avoid pockets where water will stand. This will only increase or speed-up the rotting.

Isn't that the intent, if you are trying to form a hollow?

yes, one of the most natural ways to finish the work is to let water collect and make the hollows you cant reach with the carver - use no preserver or lime S either, let it weather to a nice finish then preserve it after.

nice start

Billy M. Rhodes wrote:What is the species?

I believe it is morus rubra, or red mulberry. I have a couple more that I plan to collect this year.

This is sort of a random thought, but I think in the future, I will try to feature the heartwood of these red mulberries in any composition I create. As you can see, it's a very beautiful shade of orange-brown. It just seems like it would be lovely on any tree.

I should've mentioned that the container the tree is in is a dish tub. I forgot to put anything in the picture for scale, but one of those tubs is about a foot or more across.

Hello, look at this natural dead wood photographie on deciduous tree ( prunus mahaleb ) , the dead wood is not plate, making hollows and bumps will be better , to dig under the bark all around the dead wood .

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Not say that Mulberry will not work as Bonsai, but
1. I don't think I have ever seen one used.
2. The leaves are rather large.
3. I think the wood is very soft.

They exist, surge under the name Morus alba bonsai and Morus nigra bonsai
The name albo and nigra is not the coulor off the fruits
Nigra - dees berry's are more hairy than the alba's
I have a smal three off Morus alba
The leaves or not really big, smaller than Tilia

abcd wrote:Hello, look at this natural dead wood photographie on deciduous tree ( prunus mahaleb ) , the dead wood is not plate, making hollows and bumps will be better , to dig under the bark all around the dead wood .

[img][/img]

Yeah, that's what I was attempting to do with the middle trunk. I just didn't want to bite off more than I could chew.

Billy M. Rhodes wrote:Not say that Mulberry will not work as Bonsai, but
1. I don't think I have ever seen one used.
2. The leaves are rather large.
3. I think the wood is very soft.

The leaves actually reduce very well. After being pruned a few times, they can end up five to ten times smaller than the natural leaves. And from what I understand, mulberry wood is a little less hard than white oak.
I don't know how this will look in a couple years, but it's mostly a learning experience. .