My Time in the World of Fashion

See the CBS Feature Here

Under a canopy of bright lights wrapped in a furl of sound equipment and cameras, I sat knee to knee with Anthony Mason, the CBS This Morning Saturday anchor to conduct an interview about my role in the world of fashion illustration, some years ago and today. His own intimate knowledge of that world, having grown up in the midst of it, had our light conversation remain just that...a light conversation. The nervousness I felt being interviewed on camera vanished as we spoke heart to heart about the world of fashion illustration.  We spoke of how it had once shined so brightly, then dimmed, and is now re-discovered as a lost art. He asked how I found myself doing fashion art, and I told him of the fateful day I walked through the doors of Edith Obel's fashion drawing class at Cass Tech H.S. in Detroit into a world I didn't realize existed. There, I found the art skill that really resonated with me in the beauty of women and the fashion world that was devised for it.

Today, for evidence of people's desire to see these illustrations, one only had to witness the throng of people that flocked to the opening of The Visionaries exhibit curated by fashion artist, Bil Donovan, at the Society of Illustrators on East 63rd street. The exhibit was filled with over sixty fashion illustrations by the top names in the industry, compiled for FIT's Francis Neady's Museum archive, in which I proudly have works.

One could also find aesthetes clamoring for entry to openings spearheaded by the great global connoisseurs of fashion art, Connie and Ashley Gray, at their Gray MCA Gallery in London. As Anthony had seen in  TUNSTULL, From Fashion to Fine Art, co-written by Jelani Bandele, I had an extensive role in the fashion art world with clients such as, WWD, Vogue, Playbill, Bloomingdales, Ralph Lauren, L'Oreal, before launching into my current fine art and teaching careers.

To my pleasure, part of the interview featured me creating a quick sketch of photographer and dear friend Romney Mueller-Westernhagen. Besides lending her natural beauty and energy to this moment, she played a pivotal role in my career as an illustrator.

For many of us, whether in the fashion business or not, illustrations were a part of our lives, as we fingered through newspapers, magazines, billboards, posters, books and the like. They added aesthetics in our lives and contributed to a more artfully inspired community. The new fashion illustrators of today bring dynamic new version of the art, with new materials and more inclusive attitudes about beauty. Names like CarlosAponte, George Gozum, Leonard Cadiente, to name a few, are bringing new excitement to the storied discipline.

Be sure to watch Tunstull, Bil Donovan and Sara Singh on CBS this Saturday, February 29th during the 8:00am EDT hour.

For more of my fashion art: www.tunstullstudio.com
Photos by Romney Mueller-Westernhagen

Sketch of Romney for the interview

Tunstull and Anthony Mason

L'Oreal sketch (l.) and Autumn Stroll (r.)