Erskine Nicol RSA ARA (3 July 1825 – 1904) was a Scottish figure and genre painter.

He was born in Leith on 3 July 1825[1] the eldest son of James Main Nicol and his wife Margaret Alexander.

[2] His father rented a property on Lochend Road and worked in a wine merchant (Wauchope & Moodie) at 133 Constitution Street.

He was a student at the Trustees' Academy on Picardy Place in Edinburgh, where he studied with Sir William Allan, and Thomas Duncan.

He also purchased a studio in Clonava in County Westmeath in Ireland and enjoyed finishing canvases there until ill-health forced him to curtail his travelling.