Tunkle was born in New York in 1949, and attended classes at the Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, Florida, before recieving his Bachelor of Fine Arts and Master of Science degrees from the University of Tenessee Knoxville. In addition to his serigraphs and paintings, Tunkel creates mixed media constructions of metal, wood and found objects. Currently he is working on some large constructions with electronic elements.