In 1759, he entered the Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg, and in 1765 graduated with a gold medal and grants to study abroad.

Under the influence of Rousseau's idea that beauty exists not only in classic patterns of arts but also in everyday life and nature, Shchedrin worked much en plein-air, otherwise known as painting in outdoor environments.

In Rome, however, he fell under the influence of classicism, the idea that art should reflect the works of antiquity and thus prolong their successes.

Shchedrin returned to St. Petersburg in 1776 and became a professor of landscape painting in the Academy of Arts.

After 1780, Shchedrin also participated in the restoration of pictures in the Hermitage, and in 1799 he headed a new class of landscape graphics.