Shiny Things

I was taking a break from my WIP color piece.  I began this drawing while not feeling well and on pain meds.  Needless to say, laying it out was an adventure and I had a really tough time with the perspective.  Imagine that!  I was not happy with it until today when I almost started over.  But, I tweaked the shading and worked on the highlights and voila!  I am feeling a little timid about using the charcoal pencil and stepping out of my comfort zone, but I will try to keep utilizing it and hopefully it will grow on me.  I'm going to try another of the coins and use both the charcoal and the graphite, too.  2B pencil with charcoal pencil for the real dark areas.  4 x 4 inches on Strathmore paper.  I picked up these little trinkets while I was in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia for a girl weekend a couple of years ago.  We were doing the whole spa experience and we were so relaxed.  The town is small and quaint with galleries and boutiques everywhere.  I found these little coins in one of the shops and couldn't resist.  They have little totems on one side and words on the back to describe them.  The backside of the man in the moon with the star says DREAM, the music note says LISTEN and the heart says LOVE.  I have about half a dozen of them that I keep in a little black satin pouch.  Sometimes I put them in my pocket and just like feeling them there and rubbing them like a worry stone.  Buying these little coins earned me the nickname Magpie from my friends.