Toby Corbett was born in London England and as a child immigrated to the Pacific Northwest. He graduated from the University of Washington  having studied painting with renowned African-American artist Jacob Lawrence,

Corbett's skills as a painter led to an initial career in regional theatre as a scenic artist. After moving to New York City he started working as a scenic designer for numerous off Broadway theatres. His work in the theatre led to a career as a production designer for television and film.

Corbett has continued to work on his own artwork throughout his design career. In the last five years he has been exhibiting his work in various galleries around Los Angeles. The Creative Arts Center, a large municipal gallery in Burbank California gave him is first one man show in 2001.  In 2006 he completed a residency at the Cooper Union School of Art and Architecture in New York City.