Charles Turzak was the son of an immigrant coal miner and grew up in an industrial town 100 miles southwest of Chicago. After winning an art competition sponsored by the grain processing company Purina Mills of St. Louis, Turzak attended the Art Institute of Chicago. To support his studies, he worked in advertising and taught a class in woodcut and wood engraving.

Turzak's view of a worker from low inside a tank is a woodcut. In a woodcut, an artist draws a design on a plank of wood and then carves away wood to either side of the design with a knife. The drawn lines become raised above the surface of the block. Ink is applied to the raised lines and transferred when the paper is pressed against it. Notice, upon closer look, the crisp lines and shapes of Tank Worker, which are a result of the carving.