By Hibernian FC

Sean has painted several historic prints over the years, from his beloved Hibs heroes to Sir Alex Ferguson and most recently – the front cover of HQ Magazine.

In the latest edition of HQ Magazine, we caught up with Sean to find out a little bit more about him, his paintings and where his inspiration came from!

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Introduce Yourself!

My name is Sean Nicol and I work in Estate Agency around the Edinburgh area. When I’m not working or chasing after my two children – I am usually painting, with my most frequent paint colours being the green and white of Hibs.

I am and have always been Edinburgh based. Moving away from home would be a non-starter due to the challenge it would create with getting along to matches.

Why Hibs?

My first ever game was Hibs vs. Aberdeen on 18 April 1992, where we drew 1-1. I still remember the noise in the old East Stand being so overpowering and at the time.

Fast-forward 30 years and I would likely miss my own wedding if it happened to clash with a game!

While my parents, my sister and myself have made our way around every stand with our season tickets over the years, we now find ourselves in the Edinburgh Club on match days, enjoying the incredible improvements that the club have made to our hospitality offering.

I hope that in the years to come, my son, (Murray) and daughter (Priya) will find themselves in a similar position, where they come to know that there is only one destination for us on a Saturday afternoon; Easter Road!

Where did you develop your passion for art, sport and Hibs?

When I was younger, I remember my Grandad having a lot of work by Harry Gilzean, in the form of caricatures of Hibs players past and present and at the time I didn’t think much of it.

However, when I moved out of the family home and started to use my spare time to get back to my creative ways, which has been on the back burner throughout High School and University. I instantly wanted to create Hibs pieces and I often thought about my earlier memories of Harry Gilzean’s work.

Between painting Leigh Griffiths playing for Hibs and Kenny Miller scoring for Scotland against England at Wembley, I vowed that when Hibs won the Scottish Cup I would paint each of the players lifting the cup. Albeit I vowed this to myself, as saying it out loud and the risk of jinxing the situation further did, of course, worry me.

Six years on and I find myself having completed around 30 Scottish Cup pieces, been lucky enough that an incredible number of Hibs fans have supported me in purchasing prints of my work and been involved in donations to testimonials events and charity nights.

There is no doubt that Hibs have helped to not only elevate but also create the brand that I have today, as without a certain Scottish Cup win it is inevitable that I would not have pursued my passion to the extent that I have.

Who would have thought back in 2014 when we signed a 26-year-old David Gray from Burton Albion that his header would be the catalyst for me spending thousands of hours painting at home and give me some of my fondest memories.


What’s been your favourite painting?

There are so many to choose from, given that my first rule of thumb is that if I am creating a painting I must love it myself.

However, given that we are talking about a legend of world football, my favourite piece has to be of Sir Alex Ferguson, who I was lucky enough to meet in September 2022 when I presented my painting “Fergie Time” to him.

There was also the Scottish Cup trophy, which I painted on camera for the BBC, as part of their opening credits to the 2018 Scottish Cup Final. That was a huge honour for me to be part of and something I won’t forget in a hurry.

I really enjoyed creating a piece for Martin and Rachael Boyle where they are both holding their respective Scottish Cup trophies.

But if I were to choose from the Hibs pieces that I have created then it simply has to be the painting Sir David Gray lifting the Scottish Cup for the first time.

What that image represents to me with my artwork, to the fans and to the Club in general, is so hard to put into words. There is nothing that I have created or will create for Hibs that will ever come close to that painting.

Read the full feature in HQ Magazine!