Autumn leaves watercolor painting

This watercolor painting was done on a 15 x 15 inches cold press watercolor paper taken from a watercolor pad.  The watercolor paper seems to have a different texture and characteristic than what I have been used to which is the Arches watercolor paper.  It takes watercolor paint well but the paint seems to dry to a dull finish.  I used the wet in wet technique in this autumn leaves study starting from the top left corner.  The overall color is painted in and around the shapes.  Somehow I lost the drawn outline and end up with an abstract of orange and yellow color instead of a painting of autumn leaves.  Then I took the reference photo and started to outline the various shapes with a heavy felt tip black marker.  After I did that to the reference photo, the shape of the leaves reappear and I can go over the watercolor painting with darker shades to outline the leaves.  What I have learned is that I need to study the subject carefully and identify each of the subject and it’s relationship with the background before I start to paint.   I would also like to experiment a little bit with a lighter outside border to increase the impact and interest of this autumn leaves watercolor study.  Will show the final painting in a few days.