Throwing back the sea!

Breaking from gardening tasks this sunny afternoon, down to Musselwick Sands for a low tide swim. A team of children were working very hard on sea defences; of course, the rising water was going to defeat them. As the waves started to seriously attack, the older siblings began piling sand even more furiously; but littlest one decided that they’d be most use scooping water up from the castle walls, and racing out into surf to indignantly fling it as far as they could. Talk about hard work!
The first image is the full scan; I thought I’d include a cropped version which has more punch…?

Various pencils, fine biro, some scratching out

Throwing back the sea!
Throwing back the sea! (Cropped)

La fille et la falaise

Or, The girl and the cliff; but I think it sounds better in French. Sketched on a warm late afternoon last August. Her family were preparing to head home; possibly to be sure of not having to carry anything, she started very slowly sauntering along the tideline. The scale of this youngster compared with the cliff, with a foreshortening (“telephoto”) effect, made a compelling composition.

Pencil sketch
Size A4

La Fille et la falaise