Jay Herndon

Jay Herndon was born in San Francisco in 1957 and is of Native American heritage. He has been a studio artist at Creativity Explored II since 2004. Herndon attributes his artistic talent to being raised in a family of artists and writers. His mother, a practicing artist, says that he showed skill in drawing as a young child.

Herndon’s pen and ink, charcoal drawings, and oil pastels are incredibly detail-oriented. He says his process involves examining the shape and form of his subject, sketching out a composition, and then later adding color. He prefers to draw from reference materials and works very slowly, meticulously translating what he sees to paper, with almost microscopic intensity. The short, sketchy lines that Jay favors, endow his drawings with energy and staccato movement. Herndon says he likes working in the collective studio environment at Creativity Explored, because he draws inspiration from other artists’ work.