Sketching for "The Waves, the Waves"

I have a twin sister who is an absolutely awe-inspiring writer! and I am totally unbiased, so no arguing please! You may be wondering what this seemingly random piece of information has to do with anything, apart from giving me an opportunity to boast about having a talented sister. Well, I'll admit I have an ulterior motive; namely, the excuse to say that I shall be illustrating a novella she is working on at the moment. From when I was very little I always wished that there was a job that both me and my sister could do together, and here is the perfect solution. Without wanting to give too much away, I'll say that it's a story about love, time travel (think The Time Traveller's Wife rather then anything overtly sci-fi), a house on the cliffs, selkie magic, 18th century tea smugglers, wartime austerity and the waves....in fact, the working title is The Waves, the Waves (it's kind of like a combination between Virginia Woolf's The Waves and Iris Murdoch's The Sea, the Sea thereby referencing two brilliant female writers in one fell swoop! Clever, huh?). It's a project we've wanted to work on together for a while now so it's exciting and also a little nerve-racking to start on it. I wanted to share the small start I've managed to make. One is only half started and one didn't go so well but in the spirit of documenting my progress, here they are.

" Coldness filled her glass-glinting self up to the brim and life poured gratefully out. She kept falling. Arms caught her and enclosed themselves about her, cradled her through the darkness. This, she thought, is what it feels like to surrender." 

Extract from The Waves, the Waves by Abra Hunt.

I had Daniela Drescher and Warwick Goble in mind when I started applying the watercolour to this drawing. I can confidently say that I was (if I'm honest more then) a little disheartened it all went slightly awry. It's something I may go back to but at the moment it's staying in the back of my watercolour pad where I can't see it.

"It took her nearly an hour to reach the main road and the toothy outline of the village roofs. At the junction she stopped and bent down to remove her sturdy walking boots, delving deep into the depths of her bag and coming out with a catch of tan leather heels."

Extract from The Waves, the Waves by Abra Hunt.

I'm planning on using watercolour again on this illustration. I will not be defeated by the watercolour!