The HistoryMakers

Glenn Tunstull was born one of four children on July 29, 1950 in Flushing, New York. Tunstull developed a passion for art at an early age, after witnessing his Uncle Leroy sketching a portrait of his parents. Tunstull's family moved across the country when he was young, from New York to Louisville, Kentucky finally settling in Detroit, Michigan, where Tunstull attended Cass Technical High School and graduated in 1968 with a concentration in commercial art.

Tunstull won a scholarship to Parson's Design School. He attended the school for two years before working for various pattern companies. By 1970, Tunstull was illustrating for Vogue magazine and was hired as the first and only African American illustrator at Women's Wear Daily. Well known for his work, Tunstull augmented his day work with freelance projects for major designers and department stores.

In 1975, at the age of twenty-five, Tunstull moved to Morocco and shortly thereafter, to Europe, where he worked in Paris and Milan, creating fashion illustrations for the Hermes and Kenzo design houses and for fashion publications including Marie Claire and Votre Beauté. Tunstull himself was featured in Italian Vogue for his work with WWD and Silvano Malto. He returned to the United States in 1977.

In 1979, Tunstull returned to New York City and began working for a variety of publications, including GQ magazine and The New York Times. In the 1990s, Tunstull began teaching fashion art at the Fashion Institute of Technology and model drawing classes at Parson's School of Design, his alma mater. In 1994, Tunstull served as keynote speaker at the Society of Illustrators Museum for the Best of Fashion and Beauty Illustration Exhibition.

In 1996, Tunstull shifted his career focus to watercolor landscapes depicting scenes inspired by his travels, particularly trips to Brazil, Jamaica, Australia and Martha's Vineyard, where he hosts an annual showing of his artwork. In 1997, Tunstull illustrated, Kai: A Big Decision, a children's book by Sharon Shavers Gayle. In 2000, Tunstull again made a shift in his artistic approach, continuing to work in landscapes but using oil paints, expanding his ability to portray different moods.

Tunstull was interviewed by The HistoryMakers September 13, 2007.