Figurative painter and draughtsman whose painstaking method limited his output to a handful of carefully composed pictures in one year. A typical drawing could take up to three months, a large oil often six months or more. Layer upon layer of paint was built up to create depth and luminosity. Born in Glasgow, MacMillan studied at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art, Dundee, 1993–7. In 1997 he was awarded the John Eadie Prize for Painting and the John Kinross Travelling Scholarship; in 2000, he was a Noble Grossart Painting Prize Finalist; and in 2002 he was awarded the Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts Painting Prize. MacMillan participated in many group shows. He had a sell-out solo show, Out of Darkness, in 1999, at 108 Fine Art, Harrogate, with another there in 2002.