Interview: So Young Selects The AUB GradList Illustrators 2026

 

 

 

The biggest learning curve from studying as an illustrator at AUB has definitely been discovering the journey of learning how to be daring, explorative and experimental in every creative aspect of my work. I think I had a lot of structured opinions during my first year about what I thought illustration had to be- remaining primarily digital in my materials out of fear of trying anything new. I’ve come to the realisation that new ideas won’t flourish without risk, and that experiments are everything when it boils down to creating illustrations that not only have an enjoyable process, but are unique, passionate, and meaningful in their appearance. 

 

What informs your practise?

I like to take a lot of inspiration from my surroundings and my personal life, often seeing how bizarre I can make it from its original source. When I made my short comic ‘Cueing’, it all stemmed from a summer of playing 8-ball pool every evening, and when I created my recent book ‘Rope Him In’, it simply spurred from an interest in the humble cowboy! Though it takes me a while to actually grasp inspiration, whenever I turn to my own life, I always manage to find something to put a spin on. 

How do you go about starting a piece of work? 

It begins with a lot of deliberating and a sufficient amount of sitting with an idea until it feels ready to put on paper. My development process is longer than the making-of, and more often than not, changes and adapts to how I’m feeling in the moment. Once the concept feels ready for development, I tend to use lots of paper and pencils to outline character designs, narrative directions, and general moods/tones. I do, however, have a habit of not being able to settle on a material to use for the project, which can make my process a bit lengthier!

 

I’ve always been attracted to artwork that is visually pleasing yet sometimes a little off-putting, I think that’s an attitude I try to bring to my practice. Something that catches your eye when skimming over, and upon closer inspection it may leave you with a few questions. Hopefully in a good sense.

 

Well, I’ve known since day 1 that I’ve wanted to be an artist, of what sort was always the undecided factor. And honestly I still don’t really think it’s decided. Creating things has just always been where I’ve felt most peaceful, like everything else going on in the world filters out. It’s what I enjoy most. So, I suppose what made me want to become an illustrator was just an innate feeling really.

 

 

I’ve definitely had stronger moments and weaker moments at AUB, but I can say with certainty that the stronger projects have been the ones that I enjoyed, like REALLY enjoyed. I tend to be a bit all-or-nothing with my work, so I always try and find an idea that I can get a little obsessed with. That way, doing the work doesn’t feel like work at all. My advice then, would be become obsessed with your work (but keep the work-life balance healthy yeah?).

 

 

 

Rebeca Sansores – @mo1ar_tooth

 

What made you want to become an illustrator?

I got really into comics through Gerard Way’s work when I was younger. Since then, I
unconsciously connected illustration and narrative to music and began creating a lot of
work reflecting that.

What informs your practise?

I have a group of artists who I noticed always influence and inspire anything I do. I have
called this approach to life and illustration the “Four Davids Method”. It is in reference to
Bowie, Byrne, Cronenberg, and Lynch. It is a nice coincidence that they all have the first
name David! I really love music and film, and I find that all their relationships to these
media created my favourite works. I use each of them to branch out and define the feel of
the current project.

Tell us about your Final Major Project.

My Final Major Project consists of a few mini projects, but my standouts are those I
developed for War Child Secret 7”. The project Aiding 33 Revolutions Per Minute
incorporates two promotional animations for their tenth anniversary, including the design
of a zoetrope. These animations encompass the processes, individuals, artistry and
positive changes achieved through the organisation and music. I also participated in their
yearly sleeve competition. My sleeve is a volvelle, and I screenprinted it! This project
encompasses my interest and relationship with music, animation and printmaking.

If you could work with a dream client, who would it be and why?

I would love to work with any artist or band willing to experiment with their visuals and
packaging. I love mixed-media projects and translating handmade textures and
printmaking to animation or 3D worlds, so I would love to take this into the music
industry. I think Gorillaz are the perfect example of the type of project I would love to work
on, or a band with an extensive graphic identity and history like Pulp! Overall, I would like
to work with all of those who have inspired me.

rebecasansores.com

 

 

 

Always bounce your ideas off of other people! Be open to the criticisms, improvements and positives that you get from everyone’s feedback, because my most successful illustrations are the ones that I have adapted the most.

 

 

I want people to feel like they’re being pulled into a story, that the worlds, objects and things that they’re viewing through my illustrations are almost tangible. I want the illustrations I create to feel playful, with interesting textures and bold colours- I like the idea that, by looking at my illustrations, people can feel how much fun I had when making them 

 

 

A lot of trial and error! I always thought that, with a personal style, I’d have to choose one medium and stick with it- but, after working on a lot of different projects and honing my skills, I realised that I could develop a personal style that translates across multiple mediums. 

 

I work both physically and digitally, merging handmade textures and digital line work to create visually interesting illustrations. Alongside this, I tend to keep my drawings to a limited colour palette, allowing the colours to dictate the whole of an object as opposed to a part of it. I like to think that it gives everyday things more character! That and playing with the visual makeup of an object, simplifying it into squares, circles and other shapes to give objects a more playful nature.

 

 

My dream client would be Liberty of London, more specifically, their annual advent calendar. I’ve always loved walking past the building in London, and every Christmas, I’ve always been excited to see the new design release, and really love Clym Evernden’s 2024 rendition. I would love to give my own take on the Liberty’s building and see it realised as one of their advent calendars. 

 

 

 

Kat Petitt – @kat.petitt

 

How do you go about starting a piece of work?

For me, starting a piece of work is about defining as many details of my project as
possible.
I have a preference for creating food and drink packaging, so I often start by taking
inspiration from the products around me. I look at crisp packets, drink cans, milk
cartons, cereal boxes – any product that I find visually interesting and want to recreate
in my own style.
I also find mock-up template websites a useful place to start because they provide
ideas of the types of projects I can create as well as canvas dimensions to work with.
Once I have an idea of what I’m creating, I have to fully define the details of my project.
So, I form myself a mini brief where I define the brand vibe, the clientele and my
deliverables. From here I am in a good place to actually start illustrating!

How did you develop your personal style? Who are your influences?

I only formed my personal style in the very final project of my degree. All my work before
this was in one way or another, a piece that catered to what I believed my tutors wanted
to see and work that I thought would get me good grades. When I let go of this pressure
over myself and really made work that I loved, my style almost formed itself.
I didn’t look to any individual artists when my style was forming, rather, I found apps like
Pinterest valuable as I took the most inspiration from individual pieces from a variety of
artists.

What is the biggest lesson you’ve learnt being at AUB?

The biggest lesson I have learnt is the importance of coming into the studio!
I found in final year when I was at uni three or four times a week consistently, I
progressed so much further than I had in the past two years working out of my bedroom.
I was able to build a stronger connection with my tutors, so as they became familiar
with me and my work, they were able to provide tailored feedback and support.
Being present in the studio meant I also had access to opportunities I otherwise would
have missed out on, such as, helping organise the Illustration Christmas party. I found it
also had such a mental benefit as I felt more on top of my work and never felt like I was
being swamped under.Establishing this discipline helped transform my work in so many ways.

What advice would I give to students starting the course in September?

In first year, I struggled to cope with how different uni was to my A Level art course. I
watched people around me flourish with no hiccups like I had and it was easy to feel my
work was inadequate. However, as time went on, I found my feet, I picked things up and
finished the course with a body of work I am really proud of.
So, my advice would be to remember that everyone moves at their own pace, and just
because you may not see yourself moving as fast as the people around you, that doesn’t
define the strength of your work.

katpetitt.co.uk

 

 

 

 

 

What made you want to become an illustrator?

I want to make art that someone will see and relate to in some way whether it’s the cover for their favourite book or packaging on a product they enjoy. I like that illustration is art you can see everyday and I want my art to be that.

How do you go about starting a piece of work? Does it start as a pencil drawing? What is your process?

I always start in my sketchbook, most of my work is done traditionally then scanned and cleaned up later. I find working traditionally helps me worry less about making mistakes and more about just making work, if I don’t like something I can turn the page. Typically a piece of work will start with the idea for a creature concept which I can then exagerate and abstract to make them  wierder and more decorative.

How did you develop your personal style? Who are your influences?

My work has always been fantasy inspired but throughout my degree I have become bolder with the choices I’ve been making both with shape and colour. I used to focus more on trying to include lots of small intricate details but I’ve found the work I enjoy most has focused on shape and form more. I am influenced by artists like Gemma Dunnell and Camelia Pham as well as medeival manuscripts and any art that unusual creatures.

Tell us about your Final Major Project.

For my Final Major Project I created a range of  surface patterns with the intention to use my characters within these patterns trying to balance the abstraction of them with the decorative way they were being portrayed.

What made you want to become an illustrator?  

 

My relationship with illustration began with picture books. Like many kids born post Where the Wild Things Are, I was (and still am) obsessed with Maurice Sendak. My grandparents had a VHS tape of the animated version of In the Night Kitchen that they would play for my sister and I whenever we were over their house. The whole thing terrified me; the illustrations of Mickey and the three bakers who try to bake him into cake permeated my childhood subconscious and never left. My whole life I have loved making art but it wasn’t until I was older that the depth with which these stories had impacted me really sunk in, and I realized that this is what I wanted to do. Inconveniently, this epiphany came to me after a full year of doing a degree in engineering. So after wrapping up the year, I dropped out, applied to AUB, got a Sendak tattoo, and here we are! 

 

Tell us about your Final Major Project. 

 

Because picture books are what brought me to AUB, I felt like finishing my degree off by making one was the logical conclusion. In addition to Sendak, I’m also a big Beck fan, the lyrics “get crazy with the cheese whiz” was both my senior yearbook quote and the inspiration for my Instagram handle. Originally, I wanted the story to be loosely based off one of my favorite Beck songs, Missing, but after tirelessly workshopping the idea, I decided that there were too many disparate elements to create a coherent storyline. In the end I landed on the idea of a boy who finds a sick lizard who needs to be cared for, and the adventure they go on to bring the lizard to his grandfather. I was still determined to incorporate my favorite line “the sun burned a hole in my roof, I can’t seem to fix it” into the book; which is why at the end, the main character finally gets to his grandfather’s house to find him sitting under a hole in the roof where the sun comes through. Instead of fixing it, the boy moves his grandfather out of the sun beam for the lizard to lie in it. I tried to incorporate all the elements that I loved about my favorites picture books into my story: the sense of being alone, but also the resulting feelings of adventure and autonomy that make the loneliness exciting. 

 

 

What I want people to feel when they look at my work depends completely on the brief I’m working on. Even though the emotion I’m trying to convey is rarely the same, my approach to achieving it usually is. Although a lot of illustrators like to communicate feelings through detail and explicit hints at the message, I prefer to focus on implicit signifiers such as color, texture, and composition. I’m not the most patient person, so I like illustrations that elicit emotions as soon as I lay eyes on them. If the message is happy or exciting, I want to feel that way before I even fully understand what I’m looking at. Once the viewer takes some time to read my illustrations, I like to maintain a level of ambiguity that gives the audience space to project their own meanings onto it. Even though I like the emotional impact of an image to be pretty instantaneous, I really hate when I feel like I’m being told exactly what to think or feel.  

 

   

Post uni I want to do more experimental personal projects. I think the style of illustrations that are quite abstract but still somehow manage to convey what’s going on are my favorite to look at, so I’d really like to do more stuff like that. I’d also like to incorporate other elements into my work, more storytelling, photography, moving image, and comedy. I sometimes feel confined by a blank page, so I think it would be beneficial to have other creative outlets to not only inspire, but also bring into my illustrations.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

How do you want people to feel when they see your work?

When people look at my work, I hope they emotionally resonate and connect with it rather than simply looking. I strongly believe in the beauty of imperfection and the idea that not every piece needs a finish. I enjoy creating grainy textures and an analogue quality, even when working digitally, because it evokes emotion and adds a sense of depth. Ultimately, I hope my illustrations feel tactile, as though people can almost feel like they can touch and experience in a 4D way, as much as they see it.

What made you want to become an illustrator?

I still remember trying out Paper by FiftyThree as a child and being amazed by the ability to bring life to a drawing with nothing more than an iPad and stylus. It left a lasting impression on me and sparked my interest in digital illustration. I loved the feeling of being able to create almost anything, and it was then that I realised I could tell stories through the people and worlds I portray in my work. 

If you could work for a dream client, who would it be and why?

TFL would be pretty cool, I love trains! The idea of creating work that’s seen and experienced by so many would be really meaningful to me.