Robert Elliott was born in Shirley, MA in 1954, but his family soon moved to a suburb of Detroit. Elliott's mother was an art teacher and got to know a lot about current and past artists through her. He enjoyed making art and made it his major area of study in college receiving a BFA in drawing from Wayne State University in 1979. Elliott continued painting while attending dental school in New York City and, after graduating in 1983, attended the newly opened New York Academy of Art under full scholarship. It was at NYAA that he trained under Anthony and Celeste Ryder. Elliott received his certificate of completion from NYAA in 1985. He and his wife moved to New Mexico in 1989, where they have lived in Taos, New Mexico, and raised their two sons.