For Weatogue, Connecticut–based illustrator Brian Lutz, everything that surrounded him growing up seemed to encourage his eventual path as a creative, from his interests in pop culture and skateboarding to his incredibly supportive family. He first studied graphic design at the Pennsylvania College of Technology and then transferred to the Tyler School of Art at Temple University to study fine art. “After struggling to find my way post graduation, I joined the low residency MFA in illustration program at the University of Hartford in West Hartford, Connecticut,” Lutz says, “where the program director was the legendary illustrator C. F. Payne and my thesis advisor was renowned children’s book author and illustrator Bill Thomson.” Under Payne’s tutelage, he discovered his passion for traditional media, taking the techniques that Payne described and making them into his own. “The end result for me is drawing traditionally in graphite with Blackwing pencils, sealing in the drawing with a brayer and a mixture of media, and then scanning the drawings in to compose and digitally color,” Lutz says. “I love making a mess with traditional materials.” Now, as a member of the board of directors for The Society of Publication Designers, Lutz sees many things in his career coming full circle—including Full Circle, his solo exhibition at the Pennsylvania College of Technology. His love of skateboarding landed him an illustration for Toy Machine, a skateboard brand he idolized from childhood. Inspired by his University of Hartford illustration professors Bunny Carter and Dennis Nolan, he pursued a career in both illustration and teaching, and now, “I teach alongside my mentor Bill in the undergraduate program in the very classroom I learned from Bunny and Dennis,” he explains. “This profession can be a rollercoaster with many ups and downs and twists and turns. For that reason, I try to always stay humble and generous to younger illustrators who ask questions, make work whether I’m asked to or not, and never give up.”