How I make things unnecessarily hard for myself (Part 1)

For May's Gardening Australia "The Big Picture" illustration I decided to paint on wood again, but to give it a pink undercoat first, rather than the usual white.  I thought it might give an interesting, warm effect.

The effect is debatable but when I scanned the picture into Photoshop it meant that there was an ENORMOUS amount of cutting out to do (just look at that leafy tree on the right!).

I believe that the cutting took as long as the painting.