David Hinchliffe studied with the Australian landscape artist William Robinson at the University of Southern Queensland and with Brisbane artist, John Rigby. Hinchliffe furthered his artistic studies in New York, Paris and London before returning home to pursue a three decade long career in politics. After retiring from politics, he re-focused his energies exclusively on painting.

He is a prolific Australian artist who has been painting, exhibiting and selling his work in galleries since the tender age of twelve and had his first solo exhibition in 1976 in Toowoomba, Australia at twenty-one. Since then, David has had more than sixty worldwide solo exhibitions of his paintings, sculptures and photographs. He has been represented by galleries in many of the major cities of the world, including London, New York, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore, Melbourne, Brisbane, and many others.

Hinchliffe primarily works with oils on either canvas or linen but has also produced many works using gouache. His unique and distinct style has been described as "contemporary impressionism".

His works can be found in countless collections across the globe.