Kate Winter

Kate Winter is a Senior Lecturer on our BA Illustration degree, and a graduate of our MA Children’s Book Illustration. In 2024 she won the Klaus Flugge Prize for her book The Fossil Hunter, published through Puffin Books.

Can you tell us more about what do you do at ARU and outside of it?

I teach illustration, drawing and printmaking on the Illustration course, mostly first years. A lot of observational and life drawing, and storytelling too.

I’m also an author and illustrator of children’s books. I make narrative non-fiction historical books – they tell a story whilst also talking about real people and real events.

But this isn’t something I’ve always done. I’ve worked in many other areas including animation and film for commercials and music videos.

What inspired you to get involved with illustration in the first place?

I’ve always drawn, and always made stories in some form. After a long career in animation, I had a bit of a change of direction and decided to become an illustrator. For me it really tied into my previous career as a storyteller, and was a way to create an imaginary space within a book that would take people on a journey, just like film can.

I’ve always been inspired by the film industry, particularly documentaries, which I love, and I think of my books as documentaries. Illustration seemed like a natural fit for me. It allowed me to be creative and work independently as well. I quite like working on my own, being in control of a scene and allowing my imagination to expand on the page.

When I think back to being a child, there were lots of illustrators who inspired me. Books that I loved, that had really magical illustrations in them. I never really thought of making children’s books as a career until I was older but as a child I did make loads of books. Looking back, I realise there were really key moments when I met local illustrators like Gillian McClure, who wrote Witch Watch, and Jan Ormerod. They showed me that I could draw and do my art and make a living and a life.

So that childhood introduction to drawing was something that still inspires me now, and I hadn’t realised that I’d carried it with me all this time.

What was your own educational route into illustration?

I began with a fine art degree at the Slade in London. I applied thinking I would paint, and ended up studying sculpture under the wonderful Philidda Barlow. My work still had the storytelling element that I was interested in – I would make films that involved sculptures and props, sometimes with a script or written element.

Then I went on to work in the animation industry for 10 years, again using models and model-making, and then came to Cambridge School of Art to study the MA Children’s Book Illustration, having decided that I wanted to work in another way that was less commercial, and focus on my own way of telling stories, and explore the kinds of things that interested me. I knew some people that had done it, and raved about it, so I applied. And that was life-changing for me.

What’s the most valuable thing you took away from your MA?

It's an amazingly constructed MA because it begins with really looking in depth at how you draw, and through the process of drawing you discover yourself, and the things that are interesting to you. Then you go on to look at sequence and, and how to bring that into children’s books to create narratives.

For quite a long time, when I was making commercials and other things like that, I was working with other people’s storylines. I knew that I was slightly lost and wanted to discover who I was and what I wanted to make stories about, and that is what the MA showed me. It’s a brilliant course because it allows you to find your own voice – whatever that may be – and fine-tune who you are.

At the end of the course all the students get to take their work to the Bologna Children’s Book Fair, where all these books that are being published are shown, and the rights for them sold – so all the agents, publishers and buyers are there too. It’s an amazing opportunity to put your work – your portfolio or your dummy books – in front of them. And the students get to conduct meetings with all the agents and publishers.

Penguin saw my work there, and I later got a call from them asking about it. I was so unbelivably grateful to Lecturer Pam Smy and Course Director Shelley Jackson who were there promoting our work. Without that introduction, I don’t know that I’d have got a book deal.

How does the BA Illustration help students find a role in the industry?

We have a strong focus on preparing our students for industry too. The whole team come from a range of backgrounds in illustration, so we introduce students to the many different areas in which they could work. But we also teach them about managing their own practice, which is so important because ultimately, they are going to be working independently, and need to find ways to constantly make their practice better. From the very beginning we look at ways in which they can find stories and ideas to evolve their practice and keep working on their technique. It’s a little bit like being a sportsperson – you’ve got to have that ability to be disciplined and train and commit to the process of continually evolving and improving. That is all woven through the course.

You also need to be adaptable as an illustrator and think about not just working in one area. So, I work in children’s books, but I also teach. If I wasn’t teaching perhaps, I’d be spreading my wings in the editorial direction. I do book covers for different writers, and I would illustrate other writers’ stories if I had the time. And of course, things like design work and product design. There are so many areas in which illustrators can go, so it’s an interesting to work out where you fit and where you could expand your practice to, and that’s something we explore within the degree.

What opportunities do students have to connect with industry on the course?

Our students get to do many live briefs over all three years, which are brilliant. The briefs will be very specific, and they need to work to a timescale. Usually, it’s competitive too. They need to present their project to the client – they’ll always get feedback, which is amazing – then some students will be selected to have their work used.

We had a live brief with Jesus Green Lido, to design flags to commemorate their one hundredth anniversary. Our students could really interpret it in any way they liked, and they produced some wonderful drawn images. I think work by about ten of our students was chosen, and it’s still hanging on these beautiful banners all the way down Jesus Green and around the pool. That was a really fantastic brief, and a great example of how you can use observational drawing and illustration..

At the end of the degree, the students also have the chance to show their work in the graduate showcase here at Cambridge School of Art, which is attended by lots of industry professionals and agents. They also show their work at New Designers, a show in London that’s open to the public and attracts lots of people from business and industry too. They manage the stand there, talk to potential clients and get to understand the industry a bit more. There’s also a Spotlight prize awarded by the AOI there, which a few of our students have won.

What piece of advice would you give to your younger self?

To really believe that I could make it as a creative. Because I worried a lot about whether I could be an illustrator, somebody that draws and makes things. But what I’ve learned is that there are so many areas in which you can work. I would tell myself to believe in myself, work hard and go for what I wanted to be – because I couldn’t be anything else. This is what I need to be!

What is your favourite thing about studying in Cambridge?

I actually grew up here too! Cambridge is an amazing city, but the thing that makes it incredible is its museums. It feels a little bit like a mini-London, in that it has access to all these incredible collections, and world-famous ones too. So that for me is a massive plus to studying here.

Our connection to Cambridge University means that those collections are available to us on the course, so we work with them a lot. At the moment my students are working on a project in their museums – I have two students in every single one – doing reportage, and really drawing everything about those spaces. The work they produce will culminate in a publication that we’ll put in the museums in the form of a newspaper – an example of how drawing can interpret spaces and provide new narratives and new connections for visitors.

It’s also a lovely example of how drawing can connect our students to new spaces – it helps them feel more connected to these places by going into them, really observing them, and working with the curators there, to learn about certain exhibits and the story of the museum or place. It’s a chance for them to feel really at home in this amazing city.

What projects are you currently working on (both at ARU and outside)?

The Reportage project in the museums is my main project with the students at the moment and I am considering using it as a good starting point for some work in the print room next term.

I am starting to think about doing a PhD because I am so interested in how observational drawing can form connections. I witness this first hand through the projects we set but also through our students gaining confidence across the university and connecting with other courses and collaborators. The brilliant George Butler, who was a student at CSA many years ago, came in to talk about his reportage drawings made in Ukraine. The act and slow, quiet activity of drawing and talking meant he was able to record some extraordinary human stories – stories that can’t be caught when taking a quick press photo. The more I teach drawing the more I am sold on it’s importance and power.

In my own illustrative work I am just finishing a new book on the cave paintings of Lascaux in France. They were found in 1940 by a young boy names Marcel Ravidat. The story is about how he found the caves and all the questions we have around their meaning that are still relevant today. As with The Fossil Hunter, I have been lucky to work with a specialist in the area. Jamie Hampson has been advising me on some the interesting elements of cave and rock art and how we might interpret them. I worked with Jamie when I was 21, and spent time in South Africa recording and tracing bushman rock art for Witwatersrand University. Everything comes full circle!