AusBonsai

From this


to this


Test run.

What should i have done? What can i do? What do you think?

thanks

P.S The first picture was taken after I pruned out alot of the bottom branches.

Hi and welcome monk3y!
I would be looking to let the tree recover from the pruning, watering and basically feeding it for the rest of the growing season i order to let it regain its vitality.
Then late next winter or early spring, I would repot with a change of angle, standing it pretty much upright at a slight angle (it may need a stake for support untill it adjusts to the angle change?). Then once it has recovered from the repot etc and is again growing vigorously, I would then look at reducing some more branches and wiring the few that you choose to retain to style as a literati.
It is a long term plan that is reliant on patience and the trees health, but I believe you could get a good result out of it within a few years.
Best of luck with it and sorry if it is not what you wanted to hear in terms of the time frame etc ...just my opinion.
I am sure others members will offer you different opinions and options.
Cheers, Dario.

Thanks for the reply

I was expecting it to take that long before it would start to take shape into anything so its all good

That was actually my first idea when it came to repotting (setting it upright) so at least im doing something right haha

This was the first I heard of the literati style so i looked it up and i think it suits me...random yet manages to have some sort of a shape