(Edit) I added more detail and feel a little better....
I don't like charcoal but it's my first try, so I'm going to try and develop my skill set and let go of my negative opinions. The picture didn't turn out good enough for me to like it, I'd give it a 2 out 5 rating because I had trouble with layout and design, catching the flow and details I saw in my minds eye when I see Goldberry and her lily pads by the her river Withywindle.
Picture rendered on charcoal paper with white and black charcoal pencils. There are few women who have an active role in the Hobbit story by J.R.R Tolkien. Goldberry has a minor role, she was a kind, wise, and a beautiful woman, many likened her to an elvish women but with a strong connection to the earth, especially water. Her voice in song sounds like a lively creek running over rocks.
Her husband rescued the hobbits and it was Goldberry who gave shelter to the hobbits at the beginning of their journey. Without these two characters there would be no adventures for Tolkien to write about. Goldberry and her Husband Tom Bombadil are older than middle earth and indifferent to good and evil and both seem to stay out of the struggle over darkness and light. Except they did save Middle Earth from darkness in a subtle way.
This picture represents the water and lilypads Goldberry must have around her when she is on dry earth. Bombadil found the Hobbits when he was gathering lily pads to take home for Goldberry from the river Withywindle. He accidentally found the Old Man Willow had eaten several hobbits and the river had put everyone to sleep that touched it.
Rendered on charcoal drawing paper with black and white charcoal pencils.
Her Husband Tom Bombadil seems to have mastery over the sentient trees in the Old Forest. However, he and his wife with cannot leave their land and the old forest used to cover all of Middle Earth, now there are only a few areas of old forest left and maybe Bombadil and Goldberry are trapped.
Willows like Old Man Willow like to eat unsuspecting humans, hobbits, and so on, they are very grumpy trees, most of their kin have been killed by two legged beings. They have ancient resentments against any one who wants to kill trees. Both the river Withywindle and the Old Forest are dangerous, dark, and brooding that hold many ancient and seemingly evil secrets.
Goldberry is a blonde in Tolkiens story and I'm trying to give the sense of light colored hair using black and white. That's really hard for me to do, but I have had practice, Bumbar my last Tolkien character was rendered in pencil and he has red hair, I think I pulled off representing red hair without using color.
Tom Bombadil was found by Goldberry when she grabbed hold of his beard and pulled him into the river Withywindle. The river had no effect on Bombadil and Goldberry fell in love with the plump, merry, bearded character. The origins of both characters are shrouded in mystery. I think both of them are elementals and not made by the creator....
Link to Goodberry's profile.
