An image forming apparatus including an image bearing member having a surface free energy of not less than 45 mN/m, a charging device for charging the image bearing member, an irradiating device for irradiating the image bearing member with light to form a latent electrostatic image thereon, a developing device for developing the latent electrostatic image with a toner optionally containing a lubricant, a transfer device for transferring the developed image to a transfer medium, a cleaning device for cleaning the surface of the image bearing member, and optionally a lubricant supplying device for supplying a lubricant to the surface of the image bearing member. A lubricant is supplied to the surface of the image bearing member by at least one of the toner and the lubricant supplying device so that the surface free energy on average in an image formation area on the image bearing member is not greater than 32 mN/m while the maximum difference of the surface free energy is not greater than 5 mN/m.