Fred Nichols draws artistic influence from the American landscape painters of the 19th Century, the European Impressionists, and the landscape painters of China and Japan. He works from his own photographs and recreates them in his studio using silkscreen printmaking, watercolors, or oil paints. Nichols was exposed to relief printmaking early in his career but prefers silkscreen printmaking because of its painterly quality and its ability to produce rich color. In his landscapes, Nichols aims to recreate nature to evoke public appreciation of the environment