He is known for his paintings illustrating the culture of the Cherokee tribe and the landscape of the southeastern United States.

Raised in eastern Kansas, he attended San Bernardino Valley College in California.

From 1965 to 1967 Jacob lived in San Francisco, where he made posters for artists such as Allen Ginsberg and the Grateful Dead.

[1] He returned to Kansas in 1971, and in 1984 moved to Tahlequah, Oklahoma, a center for the culture of the Cherokee Nation.

[10] Jacob won more than 50 awards, and has twice been voted Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers' Illustrator of the Year.