February 5

Question: What is my relationship to the main character?

What experience inspired me to create him/her/it?

Answer:
In the case of Orson Welles, when I was studying at the Delaware College of Art and Design I took a film history class, and when we learned about Orson Welles and Citizen Kane, in a lot of ways I was awestruck. Not only did I learn why Kane was such a ground-breaking film, but I found Welles himself to be a fascinating person. I wrote a report on one of his films, and I made him the subject of an outlaw ballad, which I later illustrated for a pseudo-children's book.
I could elaborate more on that, but I don't have enough time at the moment...

As for Roddy McDowall, it was around the same time as I was learning about Welles. The first thing I remembered him for was he was the voice of the recurring villain Snowball in Pinky and the Brain. I learned that he was also in Laserblast and A Bug's Life, which was my favorite movie when I was nine years old. A little later I learned that he had been in film since he was a child, so out of curiosity I saw How Green Was My Valley, and while I couldn't explain why yet I was, once again, awestruck.
I think it's because nowadays it's practically a law of nature that former child stars should be dysfunctional as adults, whereas McDowall not only continued work as an actor, but also turned out to be a responsible, functional human being. In a world full of self-absorbed egomaniacs, I guess I found it wonderfully refreshing to see that some celebrities are capable of humility.