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Born in Stoke Newington, London, John Lucas Tupper was the son of the lithographer George Frederick Tupper. He attended the Royal Academy Schools from about 1844 and at the same time became an anatomical draftsman at Guy's Hospital, London. This not only provided an income but reflected his lifelong interest in science. Tupper remained working at Guy's until 1863 and two years later became master of drawing at Rugby School. His teaching at Rugby pioneered '...teaching art from the human form, as shown in the skeleton, the anatomical figure and the best antiques...'. The 'Athenaeum' considered him one of the ablest 'draughtsmen of the day' and that his experiment to make the study of drawing more than 'a genteel accomplishment' was 'fully attained'. In recognition of his achievements, Tupper was appointed curator of the museum at Rugby School.
Tupper was an early member of the Pre-Raphaelite circle and was particularly close to William Holman Hunt (later godfather to one of his children) and to William Michael Rossetti who edited a published volume of his poems in 1897. Tupper was not only a poet but also contributed letters and articles on literature, art and art education to: 'The Germ'; 'Art and Poetry: Being Thoughts towards Nature Conducted principally by Artists'; 'The Crayon'; and 'The Portfolio'. In 1866 he published under the name of "Outis" 'Hiatus, the Void in Modern Education, its cause and Antidote' (Macmillan). Demonstrating his versatility, Tupper also wrote an article 'On the Centre of Motion in the Human Eye' which was published in the 'Royal Society Proceedings', vol. 22 (1874), pp. 429-30.
His interest in science is reflected in the subjects of his work. In the 1850s and early 1860s Tupper made a number of portraits of his colleagues at Guy's Hospital. He was also commissioned (c.1858) to make a statue of Linnaeus for the Natural History Museum at Oxford designed by the Dublin based practice of Sir Thomas Newenham Deane and Benjamin Woodward.