The American West is a wonderfully unique region of the United States. On the surface, these often dry and dusty canyons and plateaus feel almost void of life but in reality it is quite the opposite. For centuries, this region has sparked the imagination and it has been transformed into a cultural and historical mixing pot where the lines between reality and pop culture blur. It is home to the Wild West, the Navajo Nation and some of the most iconic national parks such as Yosemite and Yellowstone.
In 2025, the American West continues to inspire those who have traversed its vast lands including American artist Zachary Glenn Tutor who uses his canvas to capture the very essence of this region and his lifelong passion for it.
Zachary Glenn Tutor is a second-generation artist known for his oil paintings and drawings that focus on the American West. For as long as Zach can remember he has always had a passion for the American West as he grew up on a strong concoction of spaghetti westerns, Cormac McCarthy novels and taking cross-country road trips through the Southwest.
After leaving art school, Zach spent many years perfecting his craft in graphite creating photorealistic land and cityscapes, which he would do in tandem to his curating work as Supersonic Art, a globally acclaimed online platform that celebrates art and artists from all across the world.
In 2019, Zach began exploring the American West from a fine art perspective after discovering the works of Logan Maxwell Hagege and Glenn Dean. He would spend the next few years using his skills in graphite to produce Western landscapes reminiscent of his previous work before finally transitioning to painting in oil in 2024. Currently, Zach resides in Oxford, Misissippi with his wife Katherine and their cat Honey and dog Eudora.
“I don’t want just a sentence to form in someone’s mind when they look at my work, I want a novel or a lifetime to form.”
Interview with Zachary Glenn Tutor
What is it about the American West that resonates with you so deeply and why does it inspire you to draw and paint?
As an artist, I have no choice but to try and create beauty and there is nothing more beautiful than the entirety and idea of the “West” or Western United States to me. It’s an obsession, a magnet to my soul and being. I don’t believe there’s been a time in my life when I haven’t thought about “The West.”
The colours, the history, the people, the wonder, the mystery, the flora, the fauna, the air, the landscapes, the light, the dreams, on and on… I don’t believe there is anything more American than the West and the idea of the West, and so, as an American wanting to pursue American subject matter I don’t believe there’s anything better to devote my infinite desire of creating to.
How do you approach a new painting in terms of narrative and storytelling? And what does your creative process look like?
I’ve been drawing western landscapes, figurative works, and horses since I can remember, so I have sort of a backlog of ideas to pull from. And to explain better, I should backtrack slightly and explain that I wasn’t aware until late 2019 that I could actually produce works in the Western genre as a fine artist.
It seems laughable and embarrassing now, but that’s what I thought (and I’m sort of ashamed that I wasn’t pursuing it regardless but have discovered that many Western artists, such as Maynard Dixon, came to focusing on the subject matter in incredibly similar ways). I had been so deeply curating Supersonic Art which was focused entirely on Pop Surrealism and New Contemporary art world that I overlooked anything else, and in my personal work I was producing photorealistic cityscapes and landscapes of Los Angeles and California.
Once I became aware of artists like Logan Maxwell Hagege and Glenn Dean, it was like finally plugging myself into an outlet and powering on for the first time. Even so, I still produced only black and white works of western landscapes before finally jumping or leaping, really, to painting in late 2024. I had never truly painted anything, ever. However – I’ve been lucky enough to have painting lessons from my father, world renown photorealist Glennray Tutor (https://glennraytutor.com), for my entire life.
With all of that in mind, I’m still sort of figuring out my creative process with painting. I’ve kept a sketchbook for decades and I have a notebook that I write ideas down in, I’m constantly working in both of them. When I get what I think is a really good idea that works in a doodle or a sketch, I’ll refine it to a presentable drawing with the help of my wife posing for references (unless it’s from another source like the photograph for my painting “October 2006” or “Kaplan.”) From there it’s a bunch of photoshop on my computer and using Procreate on my iPad.
I also really love researching history, historical clothing, and equipment during this process to incorporate it into the work. I project onto my canvas to transfer the drawing and get to work on painting. I print out my reference image at the same size as my painting and colour test by tapping little dots on the print out to see if it matches. While painting I take a ton of photos of the painting to convert it to black and white to make sure the values are correct. So on and so forth until I feel like the painting is done.
As far as storytelling, I’ve been trying to tell stories with my paintings but it’s something I really, really want to focus more deeply on as I continue to create work. I don’t want just a sentence to form in someone’s mind when they look at my work, I want a novel or a lifetime to form.
Where do you look to for sources of reference for your paintings and drawings? Do you use primary or secondary resources or a mixture of both?
I have a great collection of books on western art and artists that I’ve been collecting forever and try to look through them all the time for ideas. I love watching movies and reading. But, honestly, the ideas usually just come randomly out of the ether as I’m working or sketching. In regards to storytelling, I love making up narratives in my mind and I’ll be thinking of a situation that could develop into a story or an emotion that I want to tell a story about.
I just picked up “Taos Society of Artists,” a two volume edition and it’s my new bible. I have thousands of reference images saved on my computer and, luckily, my beautiful wife is very willing to help me out by posing for references. For the painting I’m working on currently, I had her sit on a stool in the backyard and took photos so that I could figure out how something would look if she were on a horse in the evening with the moon behind her.
Given your passion for the American West, I’d love to learn more about some of your favourite media based on this subject. Are there any particular books, movies, music or artists that hold a particularly special place in your heart?
Growing up I was obsessed with cowboys and Native Americans. Dressing up all the time as them. One of my favorite books ever growing up was “Eyewitness: North American Indian.” No Country for Old Men has been my favorite film since it came out. I had a HUGE poster of Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid in my bedroom growing up (I still have the poster!). For A Few Dollars More with Clint Eastwood has always been a really big deal to me. (My painting, “July,” was inspired by the close ups in that film).
More recently, I rewatched City Slickers and it had a new and profound effect on me as I’m entering middle age hahaha. On a more serious note, Maynard Dixon’s writing on art has been particularly influential to me as has the work of contemporary artists Glenn Dean, Brett Allen Johnson, and Logan Maxwell Hagege. Cormac McCarthy’s novels Blood Meridian and The Crossing are my two favorite books. I’m currently reading Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee and Diné, A History of the Navajo.
What do you find to be the most rewarding part of your work as an artist and why?
Getting to do what I was meant to do, day in and day out, is an eternal fountain of endless treasures.
Similarly, what do you find to be the most challenging aspect of your work as an artist and why?
Art and creating has never been a challenge or worry for me, it’s been a wonderful, beautiful gift in my possession that I cherish greatly and feel truly lucky to behold. I truly love every single moment of it.
Figuring out algorithms and selling art, though? A nightmare.
When I look at your paintings a feel a sense of freedom, peace and relief, like all my cares have been washed away in the desert sand as I bask in the rocky hills. Is there a particular emotion, message or idea you hope to convey within your work or are you open to interpretations from viewers?
Wow, thank you. That’s an incredible, beautiful compliment. If I’m able to produce that reaction or interpretation at any other point, throughout time, when people come across my artwork, I think that would be all I could ever ask for.
When you’re not painting and working as a curator, what do you get up to in your free time?
I love to run (I’m really slow though) and go backpacking. My wife and I love travelling and going to extremely fancy restaurants! During COVID I discovered that I love carpentry and I have been renovating our house board by board in my spare time. I even started doing handyman jobs around town in my spare time because I love it so much. But, probably my favourite of all time, is just driving around and exploring with my wife, seeing what we can discover next.
