Ever wonder what all the talk concerning that scalene triangle is all about. Just why is it so important in bonsai. Most of them have more curves than straight lines so why not an oval.

Is that scalene triangle a triangle or just a group of reference points for height, width and depth. A boundary so to speak in which our bonsai is confined. If so why ?

Just how does a tree's growth pattern relate to that scalene triangle ? How does it make our little bonsai seem so big, so old and massive?

Why, of all things is it so important ?

I have posed some big questions here. The answers to which are not all that complicated but will take more than just a few words to answer.

Surprisingly enough most of the answers have nothing to do with bonsai.

Bonsai is more an art of illusion than anything else. We take something small and try to make it look as big and as old as we can.

Forget art for a bit and lets just go with the illusion. Think about what makes things look big.

Go to the tallest building you can find. Look up. The walls seem to converge. The top of the building will seem to lean toward you. Look left and right. The sidewalk and the top of the building will start to converge off in the distance.

These are the visual cues that the brain associates with a large object. In bonsai we exaggerate these cues. The angles of our outline are more pronounced. The lean at the top a bit greater.

In bonsai we crunch down a 60 foot tree to a much smaller area. The brain is fooled by the "triangles" we see. What was small is now big.

The answer to the first part of the question is perspective . Or better yet trickery. This has nothing to do with art, just setting the stage. Fooling the brain to think something is bigger.

Are we talking triangles or just converging lines.

All of us have seen that straight road that goes on forever. The edges of that road seems to almost come to a point way off in the distance. We know that the road is a constant 20 feet wide so why does the road appear to be much narrower way off in the horizon.

Our eyes distort the road. Items further away seem smaller. The brain interprets this as distance.

The same thing happens when up look up at a tall object. The sides converge.

This is something we can use to fool the brain. Convince it that our little tree is much larger than it actually is.

Consider the trunk of the bonsai. What is usually desired is a trunk with movement and good taper. Nothing new there. But does that taper make the trunk look taller. Older and more massive. Will increasing that taper make it look taller. Will a drastic taper seem to make it more massive.

The same goes with a branch when viewed from the trunk out.

With trees our brain associates age with size and mass. This taper gives us mass thus perceived age.

Using the same principle and looking upward the brain expects the lower branches to appear longer than those further away.

So now lets fool the senses.

We set the viewer up. We dictate where the eyes go to by adjusting the viewing height of our bonsai forcing the viewers eyes to a point about half way up the trunk of our little tree.

Now that the eyes are there we have all those converging lines radiating out from that spot. Presto, the tree appears taller, more massive. This is trick number one.

One thing to remember though is once I put all these converging lines together to form our bonsai is that I do come up with a triangle of sorts.

So now we are back to the beginning. Just why is that scalene triangle so important.

First and foremost is perspective. Forced perspective at that.

There are other more subtle reasons. The triangle implies:

1. Stability - The triangle is a shape with a wide base and therefore can not be easily knocked over (blown over?). The relativity of this to bonsai should be obvious, age=stability.

2. Scalene - symmetry is also a sign of stability but it does not include a lot of variety and/or interest. In bonsai terms, the symmetrical tree could become a tree by rote rather than a tree of artistic merit. Scalene is NOT symmetrical so avoids that problem but therefore needs stability of the triangle. Therefore a scalene (non-symmetrical) triangle.

3. Implied - By creating a bonsai with just the limits or corners of a scalene triangle evident, the artist requires the viewer to become a participant in the artistic work therefore adding interest for the viewer.

Are there other artistic schemes? Of course! Should all bonsai be forced into the scalene triangle format? Of course not!.

So where does the scalene triangle fit in? As a guideline; as a beginning; as a safety net; as a tool. Just another thing we do to fool the senses into thinking something is bigger than it is.

What goes on in that triangle is the artistic part of the equation. But first we must create the illusion. Give the brain what it needs to think on a grander scale.

Take a photograph of a large tree. Make sure that there is nothing else in that picture that will give one a sense of scale. No cars, buildings, people, etc.

That 60 foot tall tree is now reduced to a 3x5 inch piece of paper. But even in the photo it still looks big.

Look closely at that photo. Find those converging lines (or triangles if you wish). See how the brain was fooled by that small photo. Now all we have to do is repeat this in our bonsai.

There are other tricks we have to fool the brain. Visual weight is one that comes to mind. But that is a subject much more complex and deserves an article of its own.

The most important thing to remember is that all these tricks are just tools. Just like those scissors ,wire and concave cutters. Nothing more or less.

Like the artist's paint brush, they are just a means to create the art. How these tools are used is up to the artist. But how and when these tools are used will govern how successful you are. Learn not only the "rules" but understand them. Know what results you derive from them. Then select the ones that fit the composition you are working on.