Good thinking to attach the compatibilty color/wood charts. By reading that i cant be all wrong after all ...
I actually e-mailed with Andy at wudtone as well, regarding the subject. he's reply is pretty much the same as yours, and he also hinted about a method to speed up the coloring process, a method more often used with solid colors. I'll see if i dare to try it, or just go on with many layers. Next painting time is this evening.
I will definately update here as the process goes on!