making progress from lessons learned

The more I learn about sketching, the more I want to learn! I have opened a can of worms! Now the craft is becoming more challenging with more decisions to make before even placing the first pencil mark.   Which lead to use? What size of paper to use?  I picked these two photos to sketch to get the raindrop on a leaf down to a science and also to show motion in flowers.  These photos were captured on a recent hike up towards Sparrowhawk Tarns.  The leaf is about an inch in size and the flowers are between one and two centimetres.  

After watching numerous tutorials in prior months and again this time around, then putting time into practicing on scrap paper, I am happy with the outcome of the raindrops.  The small collection of water on the left side of the leaf is another story!   I have since learned those are not flowers but succulents.  Being succulents then there would be no motion like there can be with petals of a flower.  Only one succulent tickles my fancy and that is the one on the bottom right.  I considered a do-over with this project then passed.  I still might one day though!  

With the leaf I feel I called it a complete project at the right time, but with the succulents I should have stopped sooner and kept it simple with just the plants rather than adding the other items.  Once I started on the others items with the coloured pencils, it was too late to scale back! Chalk it up to lessons learned!