Tree leaves help

[Zia]

I'm trying to do a fairly generic floating island. I haven't really worked with trees at quite this same scale before too much, or at least not at this level of detail.



I'm having trouble with leaf clusters and what to do with the space in between them.

I started with generally roughing out the leafery with broad strokes.



Using that as a guide, I started making some clusters.



I feel like when I try to connect them more it just turns out... awful. Should I maybe make more clusters? Do something else entirely? I want it to feel like it belongs in the same image as the trunk, too, which is also difficult.

Thanks for any help!

[Decroded]

i like the idea i hope to see it progress.
a canvas that size is going to drive you nuts though.

since u have vertical elements of waterfall consider a canvas like this for your composition

also consider blocking in things in greyscale roughly at the very start and work up ur colours from there.
this helps with ur values. notice how ur tree has almost plastic-like speculars?

in case it helps ive just been doing leaves too and show my process here - http://wayofthepixel.net/index.php?topic=17575.msg157257#msg157257

[Night]

Try to first draw the skeleton of the tree (like without any leaves whatsoever, not even a suggestion of), don't draw it super detailed though, just the main limbs or w/e you may call them.
Now when you start adding leaves just mark out the general shape, based on the tree's branches (just keep in mind that around these branches you've already drawn there are around a few dozen smaller ones, which gives the tree this "puffy" feel to it; more leaves).
I'd also suggest when marking out the general shape of the tree's crown (the part where there are leaves) to use only one colour and the when finished start adding in different shades.

Another small thing I wanted to mention, around the edges of the tree's crown is where you would start seeing these "floating" leaves, just a nice little detail to add in.
Here's an example using your image:


edit*
Forgot to mention and do this in my edit; add some shadow being cast from the tree's crown on the trunk.

[Zia]

Decroded: I actually wanted to try a larger canvas, though the ultimate shape of the canvas will probably change to accommodate the waterfalls a bit better once I get to them. I'd prefer to continue working with the larger area, though.

For the plasticy comment - is the contrast too high? I tried lowering it a bit in the edits below, but I'm not sure how successful it was. In the past I haven't had enough contrast, so I might have overcorrected a bit.

I tried going with the branches method. It seemed to help quite a bit - thanks, Night. I added in a bit more shadowing from the crown, I think it could probably still use a bit more.





Still working a bit on further detailing, but I feel like this is a much more solid base to work from.


Added some leafery, changed the trunk colours a bit more. Changed the background I'm working with to be a bit bluer, since eventually it is going to be a skyscape anyway.




Added on quite a bit. Any general feedback or critique is appreciated!




Annnnd added a background.