Progress is made...

But now I'm stumped.

The background clean up is done, but I really have no clue how to smooth the shading the way I want.  Sigh.

Debating pitching what I've done thus far and starting over, maybe with a method that produces less speckling.

But, for what it's worth, a larger chunk.

I like the background...but what to do with Petrus?  I don't want to flatten the colors...More thought is required.