His artistic approach moved away from the idealised views of India popularised by Thomas and William Daniell. Chinnery worked on a small scale. He focused on the textures of the rural scene, such as the Mosque of Syaf Khan, Dacca or the Mosque and Cuttra on the Banks of the Buragunza, Dacca. His sketches often feature shorthand notations and fluid lines. This style captures the heat of the Bengal countryside. His Self-Portrait and portraits like Mrs. Whaley demonstrate his technical skill in oils, yet his watercolours of local life remain his most personal work.

Modern collectors value Chinnery for his unvarnished observations of nineteenth-century Asia. His depictions of a Sampan or an Oriental Scene offer a direct connection to a lost era without the artifice of grand colonial narratives. These works provide a sense of place through specific architectural details and human activity. The small scale of his sketches makes them suitable for contemporary interiors. They offer a quiet, observational quality that contrasts with more formal academic art of the period.