Progress on the Kookaburras

Here are the kookaburras nearly finished.  I took the photo at an angle so I could get a little hint of the gold.  The background was a multi-step process.  First was a layer of burnt ochre watercolor pencil.  I applied it as smoothly as I could and then dampened it with a wet brush.  Unfortunately the paint slid around on the fixative, so I couldn't get a smooth look.  To mask the problem, I blotted it with a tissue and got a mottled look that I rather liked.  Then I put on a second layer of watercolor pencil, this time a little darker - bistre.  As before, I dampened it and blotted it with a tissue.  The final step was dry-brushing gold acrylic down from the top and up from the bottom with a fan brush.  I used Liquitex Interference Gold and Golden Bright Gold (which is very yellow looking).  I tried a bit of copper but it was too much so I removed it as best I could.

The one change I'd like to make is to re-do the lettering.  The lines should be spaced more evenly, and I'd like to see it in a dark red.