Like me, Tyrus Wong grew up in Sacramento, scribbling drawings on recycled paper.

Okay, that sort of diminishes everything he went through. An illegal (trigger warning, Republicans!) immigrant to post-earthquake San Francisco, he powered through discrimination and prejudice to quickly rise through the ranks at Disney, almost single-handedly defining the look of 1942’s Bambi.

A Disney strike and World War II killed the momentum of the Asian-American artists group he helped to found. In spite of that, he earned U.S. citizenship, continued to contribute to animation and fine arts, and spent his later years designing and flying beautiful kites in the sunny skies near his California home.

His New York Times obituary from 2016, when he died at 106, tells it better. Having a soft spot for joyful centenarians, I decided to portray him in his later years, bringing an ephemeral splash of color to the skies over San Francisco Bay, glass half-full, all smiles, satisfied with his contribution to the world. Few of us will have such hard-earned luck, but Tyrus’ smile gives us something to aim for.