Mark Tennant received his BFA degree from the Maryland Institute College of Art and earned an MFA from New York Academy. He has also studied at Art Center College of Design in Los Angelos andArt Students League of New York.

Tennant has taught art for more than 30 years. He has been an Instructor at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco and in Paris at Atelier du Carrousel and Académie Julian. He has taught in New York at The Grand Central Academy (Metropolitan Museum Copying,) At New York Academy, and The National Academy of Design School.

Tennant's work is most influenced by the French paintings of the first half of the 19th century, particularly the art that was produced in Paris just prior to the Impressionist movement. Tennant is inspired by French realists, such as Jean-Désiré-Gustave Courbet, Jean François Millet, Honoré-Victorin Daumier, as well as by French romanticists such as Eugène Delacroix. Tennant admires the art produced during this period because "it seems to be modern and has principles of correct drawing and value."

From 2008 to 2009, Mark Tennant was Director of the Graduate Fine Art Department at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco.