This lovely little creature here is a demon spawned by the anger of nature herself. It lives in forests the world over and hunts solely at night. You'll never see one during the day and only rarely, especially if you're unlucky, at night.

Their almost ebony black skin is gnarled like the bark of the tree and whether they're at the forest edge, deep within or the scant few meters they will wander from their domain when hunting quarry becomes scarce they are almost indiscernible from their environment. The only giveaway is the glint of moonlight reflected from their smooth, though bark-like skin.

You may have encountered them before and not even known it; even looking straight at one you would be hard-pressed to tell there's anything there unless they wanted you to know. I guarantee you will have heard them; their subdued roar is the sweetest natural music of wind rustling through the leaves and branches of trees. When they move, deceptively nimbly for their warped stature, they creak like branches and trees swaying and the rattling of their quills brings to mind that of new-growth twigs clattering against each other.
This is something we've all heard, every time the wind blows. Have you never been confused, though, by hearing these sounds when the air is calm and still or from beside you on the opposite side from any wooded areas?

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Ok guys, now onto the "not-in-the-world-of-the-painting" talk. This is a creature I have illustrated for a short story I'm adding the finishing touches to. It draws inspiration from the various features of many hunters and other instances of nature's perfection to be not only an apex predator but the apex predator.

The idea behind this painting isn't what you see; it's what you don't as the creature is supposed to be perfectly camouflaged for the long, dark nights. The intention is that without the stars in the background, the darker areas of shade in its skin (much of it is intended to be pretty much the exact shade of the night-time background) or the reflection from its skin and quills it'd be almost invisible.

I do, however, have a little bit of a problem here. Since starting this image I have developed cataracts due to the misdiagnosis of an incompetent ophthalmologist (also one of the reasons I've forced myself to continue) so it is very difficult for me to draw something like this; something which is made up of either minimal contrast or drastic contract and no middle ground.

To me it looks exactly as I'd intended but there is a likelihood that it won't look like that to anyone else so this, in particular, is what I'd would very much appreciate feedback on.
Would anyone who feels like it please let me know if it is almost invisible against the dark background or not?
Do you feel the parts not depicting moonlight reflections are too easily discernible to you or not discernible enough?
Did you need to adjust screen brightness from a "recommended" level in order to make it as intended? I understand that this last one is going to be very much subjective but thanks to the unfortunate clouding of my lenses I have to have my screen dimmer than most in order to see it with any degree of clarity.

Additional: Is it just me or does it look better in the thumbnail/smaller image view? Something to do with the resolution of the bark-like (or intended to be so) skin.