Now I'm going to let you in on another drawing board secret. Have you ever noticed when you look at something - I mean really stare at it - whatever is in the background behind the thing you are looking at is blurry? Your eyes can't focus on all the details everywhere all at once. You can only see the sharp details of the thing you are looking at. So as an artist, I can tweak my image to help the viewer understand what is the focal point using this principle. It is called an 'atmospheric fade'. I try not to overuse this technique, because can exaggerate the depth of field too much and the image becomes unrealistic (not good in botanic illustration!). But sometimes it is useful to help put things in their proper perspective in space. So in my branch, take a look at the little stem furthest back:
Well, the photo isn't great, of course, but I drew that little stem with every bit as much detail as the rest of the branch. But there's going to be a problem making that next little stem down the branch appear in front of the other. So, I took my kneeded eraser and went over this whole area carefully to remove some of the graphite. What this does is make it look just a bit fuzzier and lighter than the rest of the image, so your brain with think, "Aha! That little stem is behind all the others!" and the picture will make sense. See if you can tell the difference:
What this does is force you to look at other parts of the image more closely. The fuzzy, light stuff in the back will 'fade into the atmosphere', much as it does in true life. OK now look at the whole finished drawing and see you like the overall effect:
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