To jin or not to jin. That is an idea to think about. First of all there needs to be a reason for a jin. It has to be believable and it has to be in the correct place. Remember, a jin does not make a tree look older unless it is old.

You would not find a jin on a young tree. While bending the branches down and giving movement to the branches helps to age the tree, mature bark is necessary to make the picture believable. Next, should jin be above a branch or below it? Did the lower branch die from lack of light, therefore it was a small branch and a small jin? Or did the storms and snow slide and/or rock slide hit the top branch and leave the lower one alive? The story must be believable. The two cannot both be present in the same tree. Another question arises: How many jins should there be? If it is believable, then do it. But remember, once a branch is jinned, it is dead.

Usually jin inside the tree are short because they are from weak branches, because there wasn’t enough light to make them strong. Even so, give them movement. Do not be satisfied with straight jin. Usually they are about a half inch to three-fourths inch long. They should stand out like little jewel points. They represent where branches were once but have died.

Longer jin are usually on the top or all on one side—wind effect, etc. There can be a lot of jin then, and close together. If jin on the top is curly on one side, the other side must have the same movement. Top jin might be due to weather or slides. Here the inner branches are alive because the top has protected them. These branches must have movement because they have struggled to survive, and can even poke up a bit above the top jin to see the light. In real life top jin are twisted because of slides.

Shari are created by similar factors. An inner branch dies from lack of light, and when it falls off it tears some of the trunk bark off. Maybe a rock slide hit the middle of the tree, causing a wound in the trunk. A sharply bent trunk could have a rotten spot in it and lose the bark, causing shari. Lightning can strike the trunk, and animals can do damage. Insects, disease, etc., can all cause shari. So shari does not look right on young trees.

When you carve shari in the trunk, follow the line of the trunk and give it movement. Sometime after the shari has healed, remove the cambium again, which will produce a second rollover on the edge of the shari.

Short jin can be quite white, but larger jin and shari should be more gray.

(November 2004)

Tag: John Boyce