Mark Tobey was influenced by the philosophies and religions of the Orient, he studied them and went on to incorporate the theories into his work. He traveled extensively and while traveling through China he studied Chinese brushwork with Teng Kuei. He went on to develop his signature technique of white writing which was described by scholar Matthew Baigell as a ”tangle of thin, continuous linear strokes” which can visually be associated with Chinese calligraphy. “For him the white lines symbolized light as a unifying idea which flows through the compartmental units of life”. His canvases became a symbol with throwing away the idea of a focal point and letting the lines blur, they were a “unity of forms and movements in the universe rather than an example of traditional organization hierarchies in which dominant elements brought lesser ones into subordination”.

Tobey was born in Wisconsin and was raised in the Midwest , living in Indiana and Chicago where he briefly attended the Art Institute school. He moved to New York and worked as an commercial illustrator doing fashion illustration and caricature for McCalls magazine and other publications