The Impatient Artist

I've been working on a pen & ink drawing of a bunch of pasque flowers for about a week now. I manage to put down a few more dots each day during my lunch breaks and such. This weekend I got impatient with the process and wanted to see what it looked like with some color added. So that I didn't ruin another good drawing (See - I am learning), I scanned the not-completed pen & ink drawing and printed it out on a piece of bristol paper and then added watercolor to the printed piece.

Overall I'm pleased with it so far, but I discovered two important things through this process:
1). my new printer ink is not as waterproof as my old brand was and
2). I may have gone a little too heavy with the pen & ink in some areas. I think that I should have been a little more judicious with the ink shadowing and allowed the final watercolor step to imply shadows, too.

Now I need to figure out what to do with the background (oh, those dreaded backgrounds!) - pale green wash to imply other plants? Pale blue wash to imply sky?

In this case, I think my impatience paid off by satisfying that instant gratification side of me that had to know if this would be worth all the effort in the end. Now I can go back and complete the drawing in ink, easing up on the rest of the shadowing, and then add the watercolor to the original with confidence.