Tobin was born in Washington D.C. to a military family, later living in Hawaii, and moving with his mother to San Diego. At a young age, he became very interested in art, which acted as a creative outlet for him. He later moved to Oakland to attend art school at California College of Arts and Crafts, and found refuge in the LGBTQ+ and arts communities in Oakland and San Francisco. He moved to Santa Cruz in 1985, and has lived here ever since. He has been teaching art at Cabrillo College since 1990 and at the same time further developed his own art style — most notably his portraits on glass plates that explore both the transparent and opaque parts of personality. He has displayed his art in art shows around Northern California and curated many shows.  He is also the founder of the Lavender Graduation program at Cabrillo College.