The crab comes alive!

Every project goes through the same metamorphosis. I find a subject that inspires me. With gusto I go at the project. I choose the perfect fabrics. I do all the tracing and preparation work.  I begin to assemble all the little pieces of fabric, and I look at my project and think, “What was I thinking! This looks like a cartoon!”
Well, this crab project did not fail me. I got to the stage where I looked at the project and thought, this crab looks like ET! I started thinking a duck might work instead…
After a break, I was drawn to my sewing machine and began to add color and texture to the crab. Remarkably, it now actually looks like a crab! So, here is a photo in progress of my crab.The background needs attention, but at least I have something to work with now.

Here is a question: Should the background be lighter? Can you see the crab or is it too camouflaged?

I would like to give credit to Aharon Zuckerman, who photographed this crab somewhere in Israel and then graciously said I could use it as the subject for a quilt. Thanks, Aharon.
This is the original photo.