A lot of 'mess' in the background, but it also feels so thematic and painterly. I'm really liking this. Other than some of the dark speckled pixels I'd say you should not overly labour this. It's like pixel concept art or something.
@felchqueen When the part which intended to draw it is over, it is my problem that others become dull.
I agree the main trunk with the moss is great, but it gets lost in the 'messiness' of the background.
I'm not going to lie; a lot of this could be cleaned up, especially the water and background at the far left. However, the colours and pixelling of the moss on the main trrunk is fantastic, and the composition works splendidly. As is, I'm on the fence with this.
As everyone else seems to I also love the texturing on the tree and moss. I dony have a problem with the indistinct background, I think that if you replaced the light grays on the background for some other more muted color it would no longer compete with the tree and serve as a fuzzy backdrop hinting at woods. For me the only thing that disrupts the illusion on this piece is the 2 pixel width line that breaks the outline, intrudes into the tree trunk and tapers into a 1 pixel width at the end, it breaks the visual flow of the piece. I think that if you fixed that and removed the light grays from the top half of the background the piece would work very well visually. But that's just the opinion of a fan. Hope it makes sense.