His love of pictorial art led him, however, to attend a drawing-school, and eventually he decided to become an artist.
[2] In 1813 Henderson returned to Scotland and settled in Glasgow as a portrait-painter, practising with considerable local success for about twenty years.
[1] His character is described by Lionel Henry Cust in the Dictionary of National Biography: "Henderson was a man of extremely original character, of fiery temperament and violent impetuosity in speech, yet full of broad humour, and much beloved by his intimate friends.
He was large and ungainly in figure, but possessed a sharp, shrill voice."
Henderson, Motherwell and a third friend, John Donald Carrick, were the chief contributors to The Laird of Logan; Anecdotes and Tales illustrative of the Wit and Humour of Scotland.