Mr. Shipman is largely self-taught, but benefited  greatly from strict foundational training in drawing early in his career from Mr. Don Crowley of Tucson as well as from expert advice in handling paint, canvas, and art materials from Mr. Robert Doak of Brooklyn, New York.

Michael Shipman works primarily in graphite, oil, and watercolor.  He also works in pastel, charcoal, and sculpture.

In 1998, Michael Shipman held a major exhibit of portraits of contemporary Native Americans entitled Visions and Voices at the Arizona State Museum on the campus of the University of Arizona in Tucson.  The exhibit  depicts the individual qualities of American Indians in today's society. Mr. Shipman met with each of the participants personally and presented their portraits with  quotes from them. The exhibit portrays Native Americans as human beings with feelings and fears of their own—one that does not keep them in the past, but presents them as they are today. In early 1999, the exhibit traveled to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, and later that year it was displayed at the former Carnegie Library near the State Capitol Building.

From The Gold in the Modern-Day Spirit of Old