For my entry in the Alice Walker show, I chose to do an illustration of the two most important characters in
The Color Purple, Celie and Shug Avery. I kept the style a bit rough as I thought a polished work would not convey the drama in the novel as well. I portrayed Celie as hesitant, eyes turned skyward as she talks to God, and clutching a letter from her sister. She leans against Shug, her mentor and ultimate savior, who stares the viewer in the eye, elegant and confident. Their backs are to each other, to emphasize their different attitudes, but they still lean on each other.
I used a 6B graphite pencil, making few erasures, overlaid it with color pencil and finally gave the whole illustration definition with sepia ink. The women's torsos are linked at the bottom of the drawing, as are their destinies.