Jim Farrant

Jim Farrant was born in Taunton, Somerset in 1972. He attended Portsmouth College of Art. After completing his formal education he travelled extensively throughout America and Australia, returning to the UK to settle in London where he has lived and worked until moving back to studios in Taunton. He has selected Marine House at Beer as his resident gallery

Recently I have been inspired by the American realist school and this is reflected in my current work. I mainly work in oils and have spent the last 2 years experimenting and really getting to know the medium.”

“The painting process always begins with a photograph, be they flowers or people. I have built a substantial collection of digital images. I then make a composite picture. I could end up with a street scene containing interesting figures which have been taken from a number of different situations – this allows me to create a definite composition and I then sketch this on to a panel and the painting process begins. The same applies to still lifes where the real excitement is depicting shadows and reflections.”

“For my people paintings I like to focus on contemporary human settings and environments – the way a person moves and the body language employed by us all can add a certain degree of mood and narrative to a painting without being too obvious.
Colour and its tonal qualities are extremely important to me. I want my paintings to be realistic but with an energy and freedom of execution”

jim-farrant.artweb.com