Aplin graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was a Morehead Scholar, and received a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Georgia. He later studied with Robert Beverly Hale at the Art Students League of New York on a grant from the Greenshields Foundation.

Aplin's illustrations have appeared in Smithsonian, Fortune and other publications, and he has been commissioned by major book publishers and by ABC and NBC News.

His paintings have been exhibited in New York City, Birmingham, Charlotte and Chattanooga, and his portraits have been featured in American Artist and International Artist magazines.

Aplin has taught or guest-lectured at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, the University of Georgia, Coker College, Kennesaw State College and the Hunter Museum, He is a former member of the faculty of the Parsons School of Design in New York.

Jim Aplin works and lives with his wife Jill in Chattanooga, Tennessee.