A B O U T
My life as an illustrator began at age eight, when I covered my parents' coffee table in tiny doodles while watching cartoons in the basement of our home in Teaneck, New Jersey. They were less than thrilled — but looking back, it was probably inevitable.
A passion for drawing led me to study graphic design at Carnegie Mellon University, and later to a summer program at Yale, where I discovered a love of travel that would shape everything that followed. In my twenties I lived in Italy for nearly three years, working odd jobs and slowly trusting that illustration was the path I was meant to follow. That time abroad — wandering, observing, filling sketchbooks — became the foundation of both my visual language and my way of working.
In 2016 I earned my MFA in Illustration from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. Since then I have worked across a wide range of applications — children's books, greeting cards, fabric collections, puzzles, editorial illustration, and licensed products — while continuing to push my practice forward independently. A daily commitment to making and posting work on Instagram (@carluccio7) has kept experimentation at the center of everything I do.
I currently teach illustration at Columbus College of Art and Design. I am presently developing an artist retreat to launch in the summer 2027 (retreat link here). Whether in the studio, the classroom, or somewhere in the world with a sketchbook, curiosity remains my most reliable compass.
