Michael Aaron Gallagher painting en plein air on Nauset Beach in Cape Cod, Massachusetts in the autumn of 2020.
Resting on an easel by the lakeshore, this 12″ x 16″ plein air oil painting by Michael Aaron Gallagher was painted in the autumn of 2025 on a 1/8″ gessoed wood panel.
Michael Aaron Gallagher began painting as a way to express ideas visually and share the world through his eyes. Before he became an avid art collector, he started by creating his own original works to decorate the walls of his first apartment. Inspired by California-based artist Michael Chamberlain’s YouTube videos (read “Michael Chamberlain Painting in Plein Air“), he eventually picked up the hobby of painting outdoors, while on vacation in Cape Cod. “I really enjoy plein air painting,” he said. “Even though it can be more challenging than painting indoors, it’s so relaxing. I don’t try to paint what I see. I paint how I feel about what I see.”
In his studio, where he paints many of his portraits, he has nearly 100 paint brushes, two aluminum easels, an adjustable drafting table and a drying rack for 20 paintings.
Michael’s early works were painted with acrylic on canvas, but he soon transitioned to creating oil paintings on sturdier wooden panels, like the Mona Lisa Gessoed Art Board panels by Speedball, which are no longer in production. In 2025, he decided to paint exclusively on Ampersand’s Museum Series Gessobord 1/8” thick panels and The Artist Panel with Smooth Finish for experimental works.
Michael primarily uses Winsor & Newton oil paints. Depending on the subject and style of the piece, his color palette may include Burnt Sienna, Raw Umber, Yellow Ochre (his favorite color to paint with), Naples Yellow, Alizarin Red, Cerulean Blue, Ultramarine Blue, Sap Green, Plant Green, Phthalo Green, Dioxazine Purple, Ivory Black and Titanium White.
Hidden within his art are many meanings. Whether painting in the studio or en plein air, he abandons many of the conventions of traditional painters, creating an unusual world that is unlike anything you have seen before. Below is a small selection of oil paintings, acrylics and watercolor works by Michael Aaron Gallagher. They are not currently for sale.
“Nauset Beach” (2020) 9″ x 12″ oil on board painting by Michael Aaron Gallagher. This was Michael’s first plein air oil painting. After seeing the final piece, Michael’s mother sent him the photograph on the left of the same spot, which was taken in Cape Cod the previous year.
“La serpiente y la manzana” (2025) Oil on Ampersand Gessobord panel by Michael Aaron Gallagher. This painting was inspired by Michael’s travel photograph from 2019 of the chapel at San Xavier del Bac Mission in Arizona.
“Sunflowers” (2026) Oil painting by Michael Aaron Gallagher. Influenced by the popular series of sunflower paintings that Vincent van Gogh created to decorate the guest room for Post-Impressionist artist Paul Gauguin in Arles, France, Michael painted this 12″ x 16″ still life on a damaged Ampersand The Artist Panel. You can view Michael’s photo of one of Vincent’s sunflower paintings on the Art Museums and Galleries page under Travels in the main menu.
Michael Aaron Gallagher, Self-Portrait (2026). 16″ x 20″ oil painting inspired by 1 Samuel 2:8.
“Tug Everlast” (2026) 8″ x 10″ oil painting on Ampersand’s The Artist Panel. This piece by Michael Aaron Gallagher was given as a gift. The painting was also shared on social media by McAsphalt Industries Limited, the Canadian company that operates Everlast.
“Tibbetts Point Lighthouse, Cape Vincent, NY” (2026). 8″ x 10″ oil painting on Ampersand’s The Artist Panel. This piece by Michael Aaron Gallagher was given as a gift.
“Thirteen – Banksy” (2025) 11″ x 14″ oil painting on panel by Michael Aaron Gallagher. An homage to legendary English street artist Banksy, who inspired the piece, this oil painting holds hidden meanings within its colors, symbolism and technique. The work itself was a recreation of a scene from a series of Sharpie marker drawings that Michael made in 2020 on corrugated boxes during his free time at work. What appears at first to be a childlike painting, actually tells a multilayered story using a minimalistic, naïve style that celebrates the imagery of Banksy as well as prehistoric cave paintings. To keep the spirit of the original piece, a Sharpie marker drawing was first made on the gessoed panel board. In some places, Michael has allowed this modified original sketch to appear through the gray paint as evidence of the artistic process and the evolution of the composition.
“The Last Saguaro” (2026) 9″ x 12″ oil painting on board by Michael Aaron Gallagher.
“Cruz de color negro” (2016) 12″ x 12” acrylic on canvas painting by Michael Aaron Gallagher. Each of the three paintings in this series were created with only three brush strokes.
“Aves de presa” (2016) 12″ x 12” acrylic on canvas painting by Michael Aaron Gallagher. Each of the three paintings in this series were created with only three brush strokes.
“Flecha” (2016) 12″ x 12” acrylic on canvas painting by Michael Aaron Gallagher. Each of the three paintings in this series were created with only three brush strokes.
“The Crown – Jean-Michel Basquiat” (2020) 6″ x 8″ painting on canvas by Michael Aaron Gallagher.
“Corazón eléctrico” (2015) 24″ x 30” modern art acrylic on canvas painting by Michael Aaron Gallagher.
“Untitled” (2016) Large watercolor painting by Michael Aaron Gallagher.