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Raymond Briggs' parents have proved an important source of inspiration to the author/artist. His father was a milkman; his mother a former lady's maid. Raymond's unique characterisation of Father Christmas is based on his father - "Father Christmas and the milkman both have wretched jobs: working in the cold, wet and dark." His parents also influenced the character of Jim and Hilda, the victims of nuclear fall-out, in When The Wind Blows.
In his own words...
The essence of being able to draw from memory is to be a mini actor. If the figure is to walk jauntily with its nose in the air, you have to imagine what that feels like.
I once kept a record of the time it took to do two pages. Pencilling - 20 hours, inking - 18 hours, colouring - 25 hours. And all that's after months of getting ideas, writing and planning.
People often ask about the technique in The Snowman... it is done entirely with pencil crayons, with no line in pen or pencil and no washes of ink or watercolour.
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