I move forward, filling in some new areas and overpainting others to pull them back into the mid ground with mauve and alazarin crimson glazes to attain the overall color balance I want. I add some effective definition to the tree stump and deepen the midground dark areas to help the characters pop. Th edarkest areas are becoming overworked but I escape disaster with som ejudicious blotting an dam saved by the gnarly nature of tree stumps in general.
I am really struggling with the variegated leaves, having introduced yellow into the piece, but not wanting to drag the eye to that area. After hours of muting and overglazing those damn leaves, adding shadows and washing, then blotting (dabbing with damp paper towel or cotton to absorb color back off the paper and to blur defining borders) my gorgeous Arches paper is rapidly approaching a papier maché state.
I finally get the yellow glazed over without it turning green or too dirty, add the water droplets. At this stage the droplets are too clearly defined, but I honestly can't deal with any more overpainting or washing back at the moment so I just stop.