During his return home in 1927 he was influenced by a chance meeting with Group of Seven artist A. Y. Jackson. Haycock began painting in the early 1930's. By the 1940's he had become a regular painting partner of Jackson, and in 1949 the two went north to paint at Great Bear Lake, NWT. Following that trip Haycock returned and painted widely throughout the North virtually every year for almost 40 years until his death in 1988.

Haycock's paintings tell a story of geological vastness and beauty, peace, challenge, Inuit life, historical European exploration and white man's impact. No other artist has traveled and painted so extensively and with such feeling combined with faithful and vibrant interpretation of the landscape.