Shishkin was born to a Russian merchant family in Yelabuga of Vyatka Governorate (today Republic of Tatarstan) and graduated from the Kazan gymnasium.

After that, he attended the Saint Petersburg Imperial Academy of Arts from 1856 to 1860 and graduated with the highest honours and a gold medal.

At the same time, Shishkin headed the landscape painting class at the Highest Art School in St Petersburg.

For some time Shishkin lived and worked in Switzerland and Germany on scholarship from the St Petersburg Imperial Academy of Arts.

His works are notable for poetic depiction of seasons in the woods, wild nature, animals and birds.