Although Roald Dahl is adept adept at painting a vivid picture in the minds of his readers, his actual description, of with his characters' or settings' physical appearance is quite sparse. While this is in a way beneficial, leaving room for a certain amount of creative freedom on my part (although the story is set in a definitive era, with its own styles and fashions), it is my wish to be as true to Dahl's original vision as possible. The sparsity of description also makes it more important to incorporate any features which Dahl deemed it necessary to put into words.
Neither have there been many prior depictions of My Uncle Oswald, that I have been able to find. Aside from front covers, editions of the book are not illustrated, and I have only come across one portrait of the titular Uncle, looking very suave and of the era, but not in my mind the 'youth of quite piercing beauty' Dahl describes. Consequently I was not weighed down by the influence of previous incarnations.
In order to ensure that my interpretation of the devious Oswald and his seductive partner in crime Yasmin were as accurate to Dahl's vision as possible I wrote up quick character profiles, gathering together Dahl's own descriptions, as well as making my own notes about their personalities based on their actions and behaviour. This process I believe was helpful in allowing me to really focus on each character, understanding their motivations and immersing myself in descriptions of their characteristics, building up a strong mental picture before attempting to translate this to the page.
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