Babysitting Koi Draft

This was inspired by a pond at UWA where the koi like to hide under the duck so it looks like the duck is fostering the koi. Of course at uni the ducks are much more plain and there is no bamboo. I decided to make this particularly Asian because my mum likes bamboo, and since we have koi why not throw in a Chinese duck? This is only meant to be a draft of something I'm going to put on this canvas. [link] I never liked that piece so I'm going to do something constructive with the canvas and finally make something my parents will be proud to display around the home. I want to get some constructive criticism on the composition, colour, light direction and technique of this piece before painting it onto the canvas. With this piece I guess I'm aiming for picturesque realism.

Looking at this piece myself I know more detail and care need to be taken for the bamboo leaves, to make them thinner and such. I guess there is also something I'm a little uncomfortable about the deepness of the water where the fish seem to be. I guess I need to put the bamboo further back or something or add some details into the water to make it appear more shallow. The water also needs more highlights for the ripples. The fish also tend to look like they're on the surface and the light direction for them is different to the bamboo. This was painted with poster paints, brushes and impasto. I'm going to go on to do some experiments with a knife and see how that turns out but if anyone can suggest techniques that'd be great.

I used many pictures on this site as references:
Bamboo: [link]
Koi: [link]
Duck: [link] PS, if anyone can tell me the actual title of this duck I'd be grateful.

Also, this tutorial on photomerging is always great [link]

New version here!: [link]