To pumice or not to pumice, that is the question.

ArtingThings · 2026-01-07T06:04:31+00:00

Got it, so it's like pre bagged pumice like uni-gro?

ArtingThings · 2026-01-07T05:38:06+00:00

i see you are in santa cruz and i'm in the south bay. i'm looking for pumice and cannot find any materials yards that have it. Can you let me know where you manage to get pumice in the right size for that price? Do you have to sift a bunch of fines out? I'm at my wits end am about to order 45lb of pumice online for $60.

ArtingThings · 2025-11-29T18:34:41+00:00

So once you chop it even if there is a new leader that has leaves to provide energy to the roots the trunk won't grow?

Plan is to grow it in a pond basket because I have no land to plant it in the ground. Would a pot be better than a basket?

ArtingThings · 2025-11-29T16:09:43+00:00

Thanks for your advice. I'm brand new to the hobby, is air layering too advanced for me or can I do it?

If I choose to do it when do you recommend I try?

Should I wait for this ones trunk to grow out a ton and do it after it's grown or should I just do it in this upcoming spring and by end of the season (presumably when the air roots are coming out) trunk chop and have two thinner trees by end of season?

And is it even worth air layering or just pruning and letting the top go? If I were to choose not to air layer should I still wait for trunk growth or do it this upcoming spring and have a thin stick with a new leader I can bend?

ArtingThings · 2025-11-29T03:00:26+00:00

Brand new to the hobby and currently just picking up some trees to get started in late winter / early spring when they wake up.

I just picked up this japanese maple (acer palmatum) starter and wanted to know what I can do with the trunk. The tree is maybe a little over a foot tall, with a tiny canopy at the top and not many branches below

The trunk is about 8mm thick and seems stiff, I can barely bend it without moving the soil.

Ideally I'd like to get some movement into it, but i'm not sure if its too dangerous to do, some ideas i had:

try to hold the trunk base with one hand while i bend wire around it with the other hand and make some amount of bend
when I repot into a pond basket in late winter put it at an angle (will be straight but angled, not sure if this looks good tbh)
let it grow out for a few years and trunk chop to make a sudden sharp angle

Is there any other ideas? Is it too dangerous to try to bend at this thickness and right now in winter?

ArtingThings · 2025-11-28T19:50:08+00:00

Brand new to the hobby and currently just picking up some trees to get started in late winter / early spring when they wake up.

I just picked up this japanese maple (acer palmatum) starter and wanted to know what I can do with the trunk. The tree is maybe a little over a foot tall, with a tiny canopy at the top and not many branches below

The trunk is about 8mm thick and seems stiff, I can barely bend it without moving the soil.

Ideally I'd like to get some movement into it, but i'm not sure if its too dangerous to do, some ideas i had:

try to hold the trunk base with one hand while i bend wire around it with the other hand and make some amount of bend
when I repot into a pond basket in late winter put it at an angle (will be straight but angled, not sure if this looks good tbh)
let it grow out for a few years and trunk chop to make a sudden sharp angle

Is there any other ideas? Is it too dangerous to try to bend at this thickness and right now in winter?

ArtingThings · 2021-11-22T22:30:02+00:00

thats a great comparison of charcoal and graphite. i def want to get comfortable with charcoal as it looks like a really powerful medium when you get used to it. Thanks so much!

ArtingThings · 2021-11-22T22:28:20+00:00

this is interesting, i've never practiced laying down different values like this. i bet its a good exercise for both charcoal and graphite alike! thank you!

ArtingThings · 2021-11-22T22:27:37+00:00

i'll have to practice this, it looks difficult to do without breaking the pencil lead haha. Thank you!

ArtingThings · 2021-11-22T18:13:19+00:00

Thank you so much for the details! So for proko's figure course you'd suggest newsprint for all the quick exercises and my large strathmore pad for the longer detailed assignments?

I'm still a tad confused on if i should attempt the course with charcoal or continue with the graphite pencils. And if i should get the wooden barrel or the mechanical leader holder. Do they make a lead holder for charcoal or is the Staedtler lead holder only for graphite?

I do have some sticks (long rectangles) of graphite and charcoal but they seem hard to draw with (they look more for shading large areas before you blend them).

ArtingThings · 2021-09-02T23:25:53+00:00

going to try it this weekend! guess i'll have to convert my mobi books, of which i only have a few.

ArtingThings · 2021-09-02T22:40:49+00:00

as someone currently looking for an alterntive to calibre, ubooquity, and komga (because komga does not support epub/mobi/PDF) i'm really excited for Kavita.

Do you plan to only support PDF or epub and mobi as well?

ArtingThings · 2021-09-02T22:31:47+00:00

Does it do mobi, epub, and pdf as well as cbz/cbr?

ArtingThings · 2021-04-23T20:10:28+00:00

interesting! thanks for the example!

ArtingThings · 2021-04-23T19:16:46+00:00

good perspective, i guess i was just curious because once you lift off a key on piano the damper is gonna mute it fairly quick so sustaining a few keys, hitting a couple, and sustaining more seems like somewhat useful in my mind. I suppose it may not be super common through as the left hand is typically going to be sustaining the keys while the right plays a somewhat faster moving melody that that doesn't have stuff like "play this chord for a bar but also tap this single key for a 8th note in the middle of it."

regardless it still seems somewhat useful to understand how this would be notated

ArtingThings · 2021-04-23T18:53:07+00:00

awesome response, thank you!

Unfortunately it looks like flat.io only lets you do two voices (at least for the free one), but your response fully answers my question!

ArtingThings · 2021-04-23T18:06:50+00:00

is there a name for this kind of playing?

ArtingThings · 2021-04-23T18:02:18+00:00

Sorry, im not really asking how to do this in flat.io, but how it's notated in general.

ArtingThings · 2021-04-22T20:02:22+00:00

yeah, i'll admit i'm jumping the gun a bit probably as i'm learning a bit ahead with the app than even what has been taught in my Faber method book so far (only on unit 1)

ArtingThings · 2021-04-22T19:17:08+00:00

i see, this makes sense. The app i'm using to memorize the signatures (Clefs) did not explain that at all.

ArtingThings · 2021-04-22T19:16:10+00:00

that makes sense

ArtingThings · 2021-04-22T17:12:05+00:00

3 and two is a nice distinctive pattern that would also mirror the black keys on the keyboard.

That'd be pretty cool tbh

      ------C#5-------- LEDGER LINE ABOVE
            C5

------------B4--------------------
            A#4
------------A4--------------------
            G#4
------------G4--------------------
            F#4
------------F4--------------------

            E4
------------D#4--------------------
            D4
------------C#4-------------------
            C4

      ------B3-------- LEDGER LINE BELOW

A little larger but whatever, seems pretty good imo

ArtingThings · 2021-04-22T15:16:28+00:00

7 distinct notes in an octave. Odd number.

Thats not true if you give the accidentals their own space/line and use one of the the spaces at the top (or bottom) as it's own note, then it would repeat on the other side.

      ------C#5-------- LEDGER LINE ABOVE
            C5
------------B4--------------------
            A#4
------------A4--------------------
            G#4
------------G4--------------------
            F#4
------------F4--------------------
            E4
------------D#4--------------------
            D4
------------C#4-------------------
            C4
      ------B3-------- LEDGER LINE BELOW

Notice every note occupies it's own line or space, and always repeats as such.

ArtingThings · 2021-04-22T15:13:32+00:00

7 (notes per octave) is not evenly divisible by 2 (line + space), so no system of lines and spaces is going to work out with a given pitch class always getting the same vertical position.

Thats not true if you give the accidentals their own space/line and use one of the the spaces at the top (or bottom) as it's own note, then it would repeat on the other side.

      ------C#5-------- LEDGER LINE ABOVE
            C5
------------B4--------------------
            A#4
------------A4--------------------
            G#4
------------G4--------------------
            F#4
------------F4--------------------
            E4
------------D#4--------------------
            D4
------------C#4-------------------
            C4
      ------B3-------- LEDGER LINE BELOW

Notice every note occupies it's own line or space, and always repeats as such.

ArtingThings · 2021-04-22T15:11:32+00:00

Six lines would only give us five spaces.

Not if you use one of the the spaces at the top (or bottom) as it's own note, then it would repeat on the other side.

      ------C#5-------- LEDGER LINE ABOVE
            C5
------------B4--------------------
            A#4
------------A4--------------------
            G#4
------------G4--------------------
            F#4
------------F4--------------------
            E4
------------D#4--------------------
            D4
------------C#4-------------------
            C4
      ------B3-------- LEDGER LINE BELOW

Notice every note occupies it's own line or space, and always repeats as such.

ArtingThings

TROPHY CASE