Where did you grow up? How did that shape you as a person and as a creative?

I grew up in Beirut, Lebanon, a beautiful city known for its distinct gasoline smell. My dad worked at a company and used to steal … I mean borrow office supplies, so there was never any shortage of paper and pencils at home. Without any brothers or sisters, drawing became my pastime. Then it became an obsession and a passion. I remember drawing a realistic horse when I was 6 or 7 years old, and my teacher was really impressed, showing it to all the other teachers and students. I think that had a big impact on me.

Why did you choose to pursue a career in illustration?

It wasn’t really a choice. I always knew that I wanted to do something that involved drawing, so I naturally gravitated towards illustration and animation. I wanted to study painting when I finished school but ended up studying graphic design as a compromise for my parents, who thought that painting was not a legitimate way to make a living.

What excites or inspires you most about being an illustrator?

I like the process, which is sitting and staring at a blank page or screen. I also like sitting.

What would you say unifies your body of work?

Maybe an appreciation for the absurdity of life. There are certain themes I keep going back to: tears, rich people and capitalism, old hairy people, cats, and war. I try to be brutally honest with myself and my audience whenever I draw anything.

You have such an impressive and diverse body of work. Can you tell us more about some of the driving forces behind your work?

A desire to create interesting work that looks beautiful. Aesthetics and ideas are equally important to me.

Your “20 Ways to Die in Lebanon” project with your wife feels very impactful. Can you share with us some of your thoughts that went into it?

Living in a country in full collapse, you strangely start to get used to all the horrible things happening around you, probably in an effort to adapt and find a way to keep going. My wife, being a researcher, started documenting all these events, and I had an impulse to draw them. I guess we were trying to make sense of it all. The series ends with the Beirut port explosion, which led my wife and me to decide to immigrate to Canada.

We love your series for the NY Times. Can you share with us some of your creative process for these images?

I like projects where the brief is very simple because it allows me the freedom to basically draw whatever I want. In this instance, I just had to include a newspaper in every illustration. I started with drawing the eyes of a woman on the brink of tears, trying to hide her face with a newspaper. I think most people feel that way after witnessing massacres every day on our phone screens for the past 10 months.

What led to your interest in writing and illustrating children’s books? Can you tell us more about that?

Children’s books were really precious during my childhood. I remember receiving a children’s book as a gift—it was the best feeling ever. I would get lost in the story and drawings for hours. I also have a different appreciation now, looking at children’s books as an adult. I love creating books that work on different levels, where children can view them in one way and adults in another. That’s what I try to accomplish with my books.

Can you share with us what some of your personal and career goals are with your illustration work?

I just want to be able to keep drawing and making a living out of it until I take my last breath.