This documentary finds John Farrington at work in his studio. He talks about his life and work as, first an illustrator, and then as a working artist. He demonstrates his working methods and speaks movingly of his inspiration.
Born in 1933, Farrington attended School of Art in Dudley, Worcestershire and was encouraged by the principal to study illustration and printmaking. The main body of Farrington’s work explores the relationship between the human and animal kingdoms, and their relationship to the environment. They are a mesmerising combination of his verdant imagination and an often gritty realism.
Farrington paints bird men, fairgrounds and circuses and has depicted the grimmer aspects of farming, having worked as a cowman. In 1984, he produced paintings for Granada Television’s The Ebony Tower, based on John Fowles’ novel. His painting process is all important, and involves the combination of form, colour and texture built up through the process of applying different glazed surfaces.
