Tim O'Brien (illustrator)

Infobox Artist
name = Tim O'Brien
birthdate = birth date and age |1964|11|16|mf=y
birth_place = New Haven, Connecticut, U.S.
occupation = illustrator
yearsactive = 1989–present
training = Paier College of Art, New Haven, Connecticut

Tim O'Brien (b. November 16, 1964 in New Haven, Connecticut) is an American artist.

Tim O'Brien is an American illustrator/artist who works in a realistic style. Illustrations by O'Brien appear in magazines such as Time Magazine, Newsweek, The Atlantic Monthly, National Geographic and others. His illustrations are also used by the US Postal Service for postage stamps, such as the Judy Garland stamp cite news | title=The Art of the Stamp, Judy Garland | publisher=Smithsonian Institute | url =http://www.postalmuseum.si.edu/tt/artwork/21/ | work =Smithsonian Institute | accessdate = 2008-05-17 ] and the Hattie McDaniel stamp cite news | title=The Art of the Stamp, Hattie McDaniel | date= | publisher=Smithsonian Institute | url =http://www.postalmuseum.si.edu/tt/artwork/25/ | work =Smithsonian Institute | accessdate = 2008-05-17 ] , both issued in 2006.

The second of three boys in his family, O'Brien trained as a boxer in high school and boxed as a middleweight amateur. Beyond his work as an illustrator he stays active in the boxing world as a trainer.cite news | first=JORY | last=DES JARDINS | coauthors= | title=MAKING IT WORK; An Artist at Work on Two Kinds of Canvas | date=1999-01-10 | publisher=New York Times | url =http://www.obrienillustration.com/nytimes_canvas.html | work =The New York Times | pages =14p.13 | accessdate = 2008-05-17 | language = ]

O'Brien received a Pell Grant and used it to enroll in the Paier College of Art, New Haven, CT., graduating in 1987 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. His instructors at Paier included Leonard Everett Fisher . [ cite web|url=http://www.visualanguage.net/vl/goodwriting1.php?show=obrian_article_Shapiro.html |accessdate=2008-05-19 |last=Shapiro |first=Ellen |date=2002-09 |title= Tim O'Brien - Master Portrait Painter |work=Communication Arts ]

In an interviewed conducted by The Illustrators Guild of Ireland in 2002, O'Brien described his style by saying, "My description is conceptual realism with a leaning toward the slightly idealized". [ cite web|url=http://www.illustratorsireland.com/index.php/features/fullstory/tim_obrien_interview/ |title=Illustrators Ireland: Features |accessdate=2008-05-17 |last=Byrne |first=Tom |date=2002- 03-29 |work=Illustrators Guild of Ireland |publisher=Illustrators Ireland ]

Honors and service

Honors

*O'Briens Time Magazine covers are in the collection of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC [ cite web|url=http://www.npg.si.edu/time/ |title=Cover Art: the Time Collection at the National Portrait Gallery |accessdate=2008-05-17 | work=The National Gallery of Art |publisher=National Portrait Gallery ]
*Chosen by Irish American Magazine as one of their 100 top Irish Americans, years 1999 and 2000.
*Awards from Society of Illustrators in New York and Los Angeles · Graphis · Print Magazine · Communication Arts Magazine · the Society of Publication Designers · American Illustration · Art Director's Club

Service

*Chairman of the Education Committee, Society of Illustrators, New York (1996-2006).
*Member of the Executive Committee, Society of Illustrators, New York
*Founding Member of the Illustrators’ Partnership of America.
*Executive Vice President of the Society of Illustrators, New York
*Chairman of 'Illustrators 49' at the Society of Illustrators
*Completed 10 years as Chairman of the Scholarship Committee at the Society of Illustrators
*Member of the Illustrators' Advisory Committee at the Norman Rockwell Museum

Artistic influences

Paul Cadmus, George Tooker, Gottfried Helnwein, Ingres, Lord Leighton and Ivan Shishkin [ cite web|url=http://www.npg.si.edu/time/ |title=Tim O'Brien Interview |accessdate=2008-05-17 |last=Parker |first=Charley |date=2006-9-15 |work=Lines and Color ]

References

External links

* [http://www.obrienillustration.com/ Artists personal website]
* [http://illoz.com/obrien Collection of the artists work] at illoz
* [http://drawger.com/tonka/ Artists personal blog] at Drawger
* [http://www.nrm.org/page67 Artist in panel discussion with Teresa Fasolino] at Norman Rockwell Museum