Charcoal drawing - a streaming path

Walking around our favourite woodland last month we came across this path only to find that the heavy rains had turned it into a stream.

I loved the look of the water describing the shape of the path and the structure of the trees to the side. I didn't have my sketchbook because of the weather but I was able to take a series of photos to get the scene. The images nagged me, and called to me and so I've had to have another go at trying to draw water...

Getting the background tree structures in was fun and relaxing to do. I was building up to the water challenge...

Here I'm starting to tackle the textures showing through the water...

And here are the first tentative marks of flowing water, its so difficult to know just how dark or light these marks need to be.

If I darken them I can always take away again with a putty rubber...

Time to take a step back now and have a think about this.