Nicholson studied with a local artist in Scarborough, before beginning his career in his native Pickering, producing sporting pictures and portraits for a variety of Yorkshire patrons.

[3][4] Although his market increasingly became London-based, Nicholson continued to live in Yorkshire - at Whitby, Knaresborough and Ripon.

In 1804, he became a founder-member of the Society of Painters in Watercolours, and was a regular and prolific contributor to its exhibitions.

He wrote a handbook, The practice of drawing and painting landscape from nature, in water colours, which was published in 1820.

He is known as the Father of water colour painting and also as an early pioneer of lithography, and was much admired by Turner.