Just drawing like I know what I'm doing

So, I was up until 2:30 AM working on letters for calligraphy class. Just decided to go for it. I first tore pages from a paperback novel in japanese, using the calligraphy as vertical lines..odd and random tearings laid in linear fashion for the background, some of them upside down so the lines would be consistent. I bought YES paste..and I like it a lot..did not seem to wrinkle and the edges were easily fastened down. Sometimes torn edges are a problem. Anyway, when it was dry I sanded and glazed the whole thing. I chose to do a "C" for China (even thought the type is Japanese) and also for Carole, because I was born in China. I tried to find a C in my books that had a form that looked good with the Calligraphy I had pasted. Found a Baroque C that I altered so the forms worked. Drawing my own version, I drew it onto the collaged background, filled it with black and gold and then, drew a vine shape with several leaves and pods and flowers that serpentined through and around the letter. Painted it all in with black and then overpainted with tan, beige and fawn colors...very monochromatic, but a lot of contrast. Also, looking old and worn. I especially like that I left the bottom edge ragged and hanging over. The idea for the vine with Pods, etc. came from a book of japanese design that I had. Now, it was very tempting to just make a decal of this page and overlay it on the letter, but remembering the dissatisfaction I had with the last piece informed me that I must draw and draw and draw instead of copying. I now have learned two things. One, that you have to work to learn stuff and two that you have to work often enough to remember what you learned from one. This should allow me to proceed and even, perhaps, learn something interesting while I am still here. Ya think?
I also made a second letter on a silver (aluminum) leaf ground. An "F" with curly vines made from random spirals and having leaves added and painted in. This looks OK but is less than wonderful..after all it was after midnight when I began it and I was determined to finish before I went to bed (2:30 AM remember). So maybe I have learned a third thing...It will be frustrating if you begin a project when you are too tired to give it everything. I will probably forget number three and do it again...that's just the way I am. I now go off to make more ART...YaY!