Mackie was born in Aldershot, England, the son of an army captain from Duddingston, Edinburgh.
He then studied art at the Royal Scottish Academy School where William McTaggart was one of his tutors.
[2] In 1893 he worked with Patrick Geddes, creating murals for an urban renewal project at Edinburgh's Ramsay Garden.
[5] Soon after this he moved to Coltbridge Studio, a more rural location on the edge of the Water of Leith in the Roseburn district of west Edinburgh.
[6] In 1895 and 1896 he contributed black and white woodblock prints to illustrate the four issues of The Evergreen: A Northern Seasonal published by Patrick Geddes and Colleagues and designed the embossed leather covers for each of the volumes.
In 1901, he was a founding member of the Staithes Art Club and subsequently contributed work to Yorkshire Union of Artists exhibitions.