The name Jim Warren may be familiar to you. It may be also that you have never heard of his name. But you undoubtedly have seen his art at some time, in some form. It may be packed away in your attic on some of your old record album covers, or perhaps, on the front of a treasured paperback. It could be that if you were stuck by one of his paintings on a billboard while driving to work, or on one of your favorite television shows or even on a greeting card you received from a friend.
Jim Warren’s career as an artist started almost 30 years ago where he won first place at his first art show in Westwood, California (this show was the second largest in the US with 400 artists competing and 100,000 people in attendance). Since that time, he has quickly gained popularity painting fine art, illustrations, and portraits.
Born in Long Beach, CA, Jim decided in 10th grade that being an artist would be his chosen profession. His high school art class was his only formal training in arts. He paints only in traditional oil paint on canvas with paintbrushes.
Early in his career Jim painted album cover art, winning a Grammy award in 1980 for the cover of Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band’s “Against The Wind”. Jim also illustrated book covers for most major New York publishing companies with over two hundred covers to his credit, including titles from authors such as Arthur C. Clark, Clive Barker, Robin Cook, and Piers Anthony.
By the early 90s, Jim returned to his fine art roots with a unique style of art that has been described as a cross between Salvador Dali and Norman Rockwell. Over 40 galleries, from the Florida Keys to the Hawaiian Islands now carry Jim’s work. Jim has collaborated on paintings with marine life artist Wyland and Disney Studios.
Because of the versatility of his work, surreal, whimsical, or simply the beauty of nature, Jim prefers to call his art “The Art of Jim Warren” which is the title of his first coffee table book released in 1997. Jim’s second book “Painted Worlds” was released in 2001. One major magazine publisher recently wrote “Jim is a master in the world of art. He observes and he paints; and the results are pure Jim Warren”.
About his own art Jim says, “each person sees something different in my paintings which relates specifically to them. That to me is what art is all about.”
During the 80's Jim pursued his high school dream of painting album cover art and painted hundreds of magazine illustrations, movie posters, book covers and especially album covers for such stars as Alice Cooper, Prince and Bob Seger, the latter winning A Grammy Award for best album package for the cover of Seger’s “Against the Wind” album which reached #1 on the Billboard 200. The 90's ushered in a new focus, that of the environment and saving earth. Jim painted “Earth…Love it or Lose it” which received critical acclaim and was featured on numerous magazines, billboards and shirts. It also became a popular visual representation for the global environmental movement. In the mid 90's Jim began painting famous actors and incorporating celebrities and friends into his work referring to the works as “personalized paintings”. Jim painted Juliette Lewis, Wyland and Michael Parnell (CEO of Oakley Sunglasses) during this period. In 2004, Jim’s collaborations with Disney were released as fine art prints. Jim continues to paint Disney characters and his own unique interpretations of Disney characters to this day. In 2009 Jim began painting celebrities for the Fame-Wall project in New York and Hollywood (www.fame-wall.com), painting portraits and unveiling them with the likes of The Beach Boys, John Stamos, Kelsey Grammar, Kristen Chenowith, Brooke Shields and others. In present day Jim continues to expand on his work and create new worlds on canvas. When not in his studio Jim enjoys time with his wonderful family. Jim considers his greatest accomplishment to date to be the many letters and communications he has received from around the world from his fans sharing how his work has inspired them and made their days a little brighter.
Jim Warren was born in 1949 in Long Beach, California to Don and Betty Warren. Jim grew up with an older brother Rick and older sister Kathy. He began drawing at the age of two and continued drawing, on and off, through middle and high school. While in high school Jim considered all the usual career choices – artist, magician and rock star but it wasn’t until 1967 that he decided to be an artist, a “Rich and Famous” one at that. Using only traditional oil paint on stretched canvas, Jim started his early career through the 70s as a fine artist, winning first place awards at large outdoor art shows in California. Although inspired by master painters in museums by some of the great artists of all time such as Dali, Rockwell, Rembrandt etc, Jim is mostly self-taught and prides himself on his famous advice to aspiring artists, “To hell with the rules…paint what you like.” During the 80's Jim pursued his high school dream of painting album cover art and painted hundreds of magazine illustrations, movie posters, book covers and especially album covers for such stars as Alice Cooper, Prince and Bob Seger, the latter winning A Grammy Award for best album package for the cover of Seger’s “Against the Wind” album which reached #1 on the Billboard 200. The 90's ushered in a new focus, that of the environment and saving earth. Jim painted “Earth…Love it or Lose it” which received critical acclaim and was featured on numerous magazines, billboards and shirts. It also became a popular visual representation for the global environmental movement. In the mid 90's Jim began painting famous actors and incorporating celebrities and friends into his work referring to the works as “personalized paintings”. Jim painted Juliette Lewis, Wyland and Michael Parnell (CEO of Oakley Sunglasses) during this period. In 2004, Jim’s collaborations with Disney were released as fine art prints. Jim continues to paint Disney characters and his own unique interpretations of Disney characters to this day. In 2009 Jim began painting celebrities for the Fame-Wall project in New York and Hollywood (www.fame-wall.com), painting portraits and unveiling them with the likes of The Beach Boys, John Stamos, Kelsey Grammar, Kristen Chenowith, Brooke Shields and others. In present day Jim continues to expand on his work and create new worlds on canvas. When not in his studio Jim enjoys time with his wonderful family. Jim considers his greatest accomplishment to date to be the many letters and communications he has received from around the world from his fans sharing how his work has inspired them and made their days a little brighter.