Tim O'Brien (born November 16, 1964) is an American artist who works in a realistic style. His illustrations have appeared on the covers and interior pages of magazines such as ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'', ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'', '' GQ'', ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentleman ...

'', ''

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...

'', ''

Der Spiegel (, , stylized in all caps) is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of about 724,000 copies in 2022, it is one of the largest such publications in Europe. It was founded in 1947 by John Seymour Chaloner ...

'', and others. His illustrations are also used by the

US Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal serv ...

for

postage stamps A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail). Then the stamp is affixed to the ...

Early life and education

O'Brien's

paternal A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. A biological fathe ...

grandparents came from Ireland, and his

maternal A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of gestatio ...

grandparents from

Norwich, Connecticut Norwich ( ) is a city in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The Yantic River, Yantic, Shetucket River, Shetucket, and Quinebaug Rivers flow into the city and form its harbor, from which the Thames River (Connecticut), Thames River f ...

, arriving in the United States from Quebec. His grandfather became a caretaker at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

. O'Brien was the second of three sons in his family. O'Brien began training as a boxer in high school, going on to box as a

middleweight Middleweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the middleweight division is contested above and up to . Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have beg ...

amateur in the

Police Athletic League The Police Athletic League (PAL) is an organization in many American police departments in which members of the police force coach young people, both boys and girls, in sports, and help with homework and other school-related activities. The purpos ...

. At age 18, O'Brien gave up boxing. That same year he received a Pell Grant which he used to enroll in the Paier College of Art in

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is List ...

. He graduated in 1987 with a

Bachelor of Fine Arts A Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) is a standard undergraduate degree for students pursuing a professional education in the visual arts, Fine art, or performing arts. In some instances, it is also called a Bachelor of Visual Arts (BVA). Background ...

degree. His instructors at Paier included

Leonard Everett Fisher Leonard Everett Fisher (June 24, 1924 – March 2, 2024) was an American artist best known for illustrating children's books. From 1955 he illustrated about 250 books for younger readers including about 88 that he also wrote. Biography Fisher was ...

, Ken Davies and Robert Zappalorti. While attending Paier, O'Brien painted ''

trompe-l'œil ; ; ) is an artistic term for the highly realistic optical illusion of three-dimensional space and objects on a Two-dimensional space, two-dimensional surface. , which is most often associated with painting, tricks the viewer into perceiving p ...

'' images, which his instructors Davies and Zappalorti were also known to do, in which the viewer of the paintings are deceived into thinking they were seeing an actual object. In one such case, students attempted to use electrical outlets that O'Brien had painted on the wall.

Artistic influences

In grade school, O'Brien often visited the

Yale University Art Gallery The Yale University Art Gallery (YUAG) is an art museum in New Haven, Connecticut. It houses a major encyclopedic collection of art in several interconnected buildings on the campus of Yale University. Although it embraces all cultures and period ...

. O'Brien's favorite art works at the Yale Gallery were by

Thomas Eakins Thomas Cowperthwait Eakins (; July 25, 1844 – June 25, 1916) was an American Realism (visual arts), realist painter, photographer, sculptor, and fine arts educator. He is widely acknowledged to be one of the most important American artist ...

and

Paul Cadmus Paul Cadmus (December 17, 1904 – December 12, 1999) was an American artist widely known for his tempera, egg tempera paintings of gritty social interactions in urban settings. He also produced many highly finished drawings of single nude male ...

. Other early influences for O'Brien were the 19th-century Russian painter

Ivan Shishkin Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin (; – ) was a Russian landscape painter and graphic artist, one of the most famous landscape painters of the post-reform era, and the creator of the iconic painting '' Morning in a Pine Forest''. He was an academician ...

, and British painter

Lord Leighton Frederic Leighton, 1st Baron Leighton, (3 December 1830 – 25 January 1896), known as Sir Frederic Leighton between 1878 and 1896, was a British Victorian painter, draughtsman, and sculptor. His works depicted historical, biblical, and classi ...

. Later influences for O'Brien include various contemporary artists such as

Gottfried Helnwein Gottfried Helnwein (born 8 October 1948) is an Austrian-Irish visual artist. He has worked as a painter, draftsman, photographer, muralist, sculptor, installation and performance artist, using a wide variety of techniques and media. His work is ...

George Tooker George Clair Tooker, Jr. (August 5, 1920 – March 27, 2011) was an American figurative painter. His works are associated with Magic realism, Social realism, Photorealism, and Surrealism. His subjects are depicted naturally as in a photograph, ...

and

Mark Tansey Mark Tansey (born 1949) is an American painter. Early life and education Mark Tansey was born in San Jose, California to Richard G. Tansey, an art historian, and Luraine Tansey, a slide librarian who invented one of the first computerized sl ...

, as well as illustrators such as Guy Billout and David Suter.

Career

Before graduating from Paier in 1987, O'Brien entered into what became a long relationship with his representative Peter Lott. Lott had seen O'Brien's work at the

Society of Illustrators The Society of Illustrators (SoI) is a professional society based in New York City. It was founded in 1901 to promote the art of illustration and, since 1959, has held an annual exhibition. Since absorbing the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art (M ...

Student Show. O'Brien started his illustration career primarily as a

book cover A book cover is any protective covering used to bind together the pages of a book. Beyond the familiar distinction between hardcovers and paperbacks, there are further alternatives and additions, such as dust jackets, ring-binding, and older f ...

artist and continues to work for book publishing houses. He has created covers for books by

Ray Bradbury Ray Douglas Bradbury ( ; August 22, 1920June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of genres, including fantasy, science fiction, Horror fiction, horr ...

Thomas Hardy Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Literary realism, Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry ...

Walter Dean Myers Walter Dean Myers (born Walter Milton Myers; August 12, 1937 – July 1, 2014) was an American writer of children's books best known for young adult literature. He was born in Martinsburg, West Virginia, but was raised in Harlem, New York City ...

and others. O'Brien credits his first big break as a ''

'' magazine cover done in 1989, painting a small teardrop overlaid on a

Gilbert Stuart Gilbert Stuart ( Stewart; December 3, 1755 – July 9, 1828) was an American painter born in the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Rhode Island Colony who is widely considered one of America's foremost portraitists. His best-k ...

portrait of

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

. O'Brien was called on again in 2008 to paint another teardrop on the cover of ''Time'', for the cover story "The Price Of Greed" following the onset of a global financial recession.

Notable works

Book covers

In 1996, O'Brien designed the cover for book ''#2 The Visitor'' in

K.A. Applegate Katherine Alice Applegate (born October 9, 1956), known professionally as K. A. Applegate, is an American young adult and children's fiction writer, best known as the author of the ''Animorphs'', '' Remnants'', and '' Everworld'' book series. S ...

's ''

Animorphs ''Animorphs'' is a science fantasy series of youth books written by Katherine Applegate and her husband Michael Grant, writing together under the name K. A. Applegate, and published by Scholastic. It is told in first person, with all si ...

'' series. Between 2008 and 2010, O'Brien was commissioned by

Scholastic Publishing Scholastic Corporation is an American multinational publishing, education, and media company that publishes and distributes books, comics, and educational materials for schools, teachers, parents, children, and other educational institutions. P ...

to illustrate each cover of ''

The Hunger Games ''The Hunger Games'' are a series of Young adult fiction, young adult Dystopian fiction, dystopian novels written by American author Suzanne Collins. The series consists of a trilogy that follows teenage protagonist Katniss Everdeen, and two ...

'' trilogy by

Suzanne Collins Suzanne Collins (born August 10, 1962) is an American author and television writer who is best known as the author of the young adult literature, young adult Dystopian fiction, dystopian book series ''The Hunger Games''. She is also the author ...

, including the ''Hunger Games'' "

mockingjay ''Mockingjay'' is a 2010 dystopian young adult fiction novel by American author Suzanne Collins. It is chronologically the last installment of ''The Hunger Games'' series, following 2008's ''The Hunger Games'' and 2009's '' Catching Fire''. T ...

" logo. The images were then used again for promotional posters when the film distributor

Lionsgate Lions Gate, Lion Gate or similar terms may refer to: Gates *Lion Gate at Mycenae in Greece *Lion Gate, one of the entrances to the ancient Hittite city of Hattusa, now in Turkey *Lion Gate, one of the entrances to the gardens of Hampton Court Pala ...

turned the books into a film franchise. O'Brien closely collaborated on the designs with his wife, Elizabeth Parisi, creative director for Scholastic.

''Time'' covers

Tim O'Brien has illustrated more covers than any other artist for the last 30 years. O'Brien's ''Time'' magazine covers are in the

National Portrait Gallery National Portrait Gallery may refer to: * National Portrait Gallery (Australia), in Canberra * National Portrait Gallery (Sweden), in Mariefred *National Portrait Gallery (United States), in Washington, D.C. *National Portrait Gallery, London ...

of the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

. Starting in 1989, O'Brien worked with

art director Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supe ...

Arthur Hochstein, and created over a dozen covers for ''Time'' with him. O'Brien's "The End of Bin Laden" cover, which the artist created in 2002 when editors at ''Time'' believed the al-Qaeda leader was trapped and was or would soon be dead in Afghanistan, was not published until nine years later in the May 20, 2011, issue. O'Brien used a similar approach for an earlier ''Time'' cover, "The Death of Abu Mousab al-Zarqawi", for the June 19, 2006, issue of the magazine. , O'Brien has had over 30 ''Time'' covers published, including: *September 4, 1996 ''The Choice'' *December 28, 1998 ''Men of the Year, Kenneth Star and Bill Clinton'' *March 10, 2003 ''Life After Saddam'' *November 10, 2008 ''The Choice'' *June 7, 2010 ''Why Being Pope Means Never Having to Say You're Sorry'' *December 20, 2010 ''Palin in Progress'' *May 20, 2011 ''The End of Bin Laden'' *September 5, 2011 ''The World After Gaddafi'' *February 27, 2017 ‘’Nothing to see here”

''Rolling Stone''

O'Brien illustrated portraits of

the Police The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. Within a few months of their first gig, the line-up settled as Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar, primary songwriter), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussi ...

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

Nirvana Nirvana, in the Indian religions (Jainism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism), is the concept of an individual's passions being extinguished as the ultimate state of salvation, release, or liberation from suffering ('' duḥkha'') and from the ...

, and

Little Richard Richard Wayne Penniman (December 5, 1932 – May 9, 2020), known professionally as Little Richard, was an American singer, pianist, and songwriter. He was an influential figure in popular music and culture for seven decades. Described as the "Ar ...

in ''Rolling Stone''s 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. In 2012, O'Brien said the work he was most proud of was his 2008 cover illustration for ''Rolling Stone'' in which the magazine endorsed candidate

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

for president. The cover, which depicted the future president with a halo-like glow around him, created a mild controversy, with critics of the image saying it

deified Apotheosis (, ), also called divinization or deification (), is the glorification of a subject to divine levels and, commonly, the treatment of a human being, any other living thing, or an abstract idea in the likeness of a deity. The origina ...

the candidate. ;Covers *March 2008 cover, ''Barack Obama, A New Hope'' *January 2009 cover, ''Bush Apologizes'' *February 2012 cover, ''The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust'' ;Page illustrations *''Al Gore: The Revolution is Beginning'', June 28, 2007 *''Beck'', March 2014

''Mother Jones''

For the December 2012 release, '' Mother Jones'' printed double covers, in which one cover was sent to

subscribers The subscription business model is a business model in which a customer must pay a recurring price at regular intervals for access to a product or service. The model was pioneered by publishers of books and periodicals in the 17th century. It ...

of the magazine and the alternate cover was shown on

newsstand A newsagent's shop or simply newsagent's or paper shop (British English), newsagency (Australian English) or newsstand (American English, American and Canadian English) is a business that sells newspapers, magazines, cigarettes, snacks and oft ...

s. O'Brien illustrated both covers in different styles. For the cover that went to newsstands, titled ''Sugar Kills'', O'Brien created a surreal vignette of a glass pitcher as a human skull. For the version delivered to subscribers, titled ''Solitary in Iran'', O'Brien painted a lonely jail cell with a single occupant. ;Covers *February 2008 ''The Last Empire'' *September 2010, ''The BP Coverup'' *March 2011, ''The Vampire Economy'' *July 2013, ''Gagged by Big Ag'' ;Page illustrations *''Harpy, Hero, Heretic: Hillary'', January 2007

Other magazines

O'Brien's magazine covers have received awards and citations, including Cover of the Day by the Society of Publication Designers. *''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 185 ...

'', April 2001, ''The Next Ruling Class'' * ''Smithsonian'', March 2012, ''100th Anniversary of The Titantic'' *''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

'', March 2011, ''Roger Goodell Throne of Games'' *''Sports Illustrated'', May 16, 2016, ''Vin Scully'' *'' GQ'', July 2015, ''Who is Mitt Romney?'' *''GQ'', January 2016, ''What Would Cool Jesus Do?''

Postage stamps

O'Brien's work first appeared on U.S. postage stamps in 2006. He was commissioned to portray

Hattie McDaniel Hattie McDaniel (June 10, 1893 – October 26, 1952) was an African-American actress, singer-songwriter, and comedian. For her role as Mammy in ''Gone with the Wind'' (1939), she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, becoming the f ...

as part of the U.S. Postal Services Black Heritage stamp series. O'Brien also designed postage stamps of

Judy Garland Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922June 22, 1969) was an American actress and singer. Possessing a strong contralto voice, she was celebrated for her emotional depth and versatility across film, stage, and concert performance. ...

in 2006;

Danny Thomas Amos Muzyad Yaqoob Kairouz, (born January 6, 1912 – February 6, 1991) known professionally as Danny Thomas, was an American comedian, actor, singer, producer, and philanthropist. He created and starred in ''The Danny Thomas Show''. In additio ...

in 2012;

Shirley Temple Shirley Temple Black (born Shirley Jane Temple; April 23, 1928 – February 10, 2014) was an American actress, singer, dancer, and diplomat, who was Hollywood's number-one box-office draw as a child actress from 1934 to 1938. Later, she was na ...

in 2016; and Father

Theodore Hesburgh Theodore Martin Hesburgh, Congregation of Holy Cross, CSC (May 25, 1917 – February 26, 2015) was an American Catholic Church, Catholic priest and academic who was a member of the Congregation of Holy Cross. He was president of the Universit ...

in 2017.

Honors and service

On April 26, 2016, O'Brien spoke at the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

in New York City at the invitation of the

World Intellectual Property Organization The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO; (OMPI)) is one of the 15 specialized agencies of the United Nations (UN). Pursuant to the 1967 Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization, WIPO was created to pr ...

, during which his artwork was shown. He discussed

commercial art Commercial art is the art of creative services, referring to art created for commercial purposes, primarily advertising. Commercial art uses a variety of platforms (magazines, websites, apps, television, etc.) for viewers with the intent of promo ...

and

intellectual property rights Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, co ...

in a digital world and how technology is having both advantageous and troubling consequences on both.

Honors

* Hamilton King Award,

(2009) *Honorary doctorate degree, 2013, Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts *Commencement speech at Paier College of Art, 1996 and 2002 * O'Brien's ''Time'' magazine covers are in the collection of the

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art is an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of charge, the museum was privately established in ...

, Washington, DC *Chosen by ''Irish American Magazine'' as one of their 100 top Irish Americans, 1999 and 2000 *Awards from Society of Illustrators in New York and Los Angeles:

Graphis Inc. Graphis Inc. is an international publisher of books and awards for the Visual communications industry. Based in New York City, Graphis presents and promotes the best-submitted work in graphic design, advertising, photography, poster design, b ...

; ''Print Magazine''; '' Communication Arts Magazine''; the Society of Publication Designers; American Illustration; Art Director's Club *In 2019, Tim O'Brien was awarded all three top illustration awards; bronze, silver and gold, for covers of Donald Trump for ''

''.

Service

*Chairman of the Education Committee, Society of Illustrators, New York (1996–2006). *Member of the Executive Committee, Society of Illustrators, New York *Served on the Board of the Illustration Conference in 2003 *President of the Society of Illustrators, New York 2014-2022 *Chairman of 'Illustrators 49' at the Society of Illustrators *Chairman of the Scholarship Committee at the Society of Illustrators

Exhibitions

*Lyme Academy of Fine Arts, ''Portraits and Illustrations: A Retrospective'', 2013 *

Norman Rockwell Museum The Norman Rockwell Museum is an art museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, United States, dedicated to the art of Norman Rockwell. It is home to the world's largest collection of original Rockwell art. The museum also hosts traveling exhibition ...

, ''Rockwell and Realism in an Abstract World'', 2016 *Corpo Gallery

Teaching

O'Brien lectures frequently across the country. His speaking engagements have included the Norman Rockwell Museum, the Society of Illustrators, Syracuse University, School of Visual Arts, Pratt Institute, Rhode Island School of Design, and

California College of the Arts The California College of the Arts (CCA) is a private art school in San Francisco, California. It was founded in Berkeley, California in 1907 and moved to a historic estate in Oakland, California in 1922. In 1996, it opened a second campus in ...

. He was a distinguished adjunct professor of illustration at the University of the Arts from 1990–2016. He also taught as an adjunct professor at

Pratt Institute Pratt Institute is a private university with its main campus in Brooklyn, New York. It has an additional campus in Manhattan and an extension campus in Utica, New York at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. The institute was founded in 18 ...

(2009–present) and Paier College of Art (1994–1996).

Personal life

Up until 2004, O'Brien stayed active in the boxing world of his youth as a trainer. Since 2006, O'Brien has run the

New York City Marathon The New York City Marathon, currently branded as the TCS New York City Marathon for sponsorship reasons, is an annual marathon () that courses through the five boroughs of New York City. It is the largest marathon in the world, with 53,627 fini ...

, raising money for the Children's IBD Center at Mount Sinai Hospital. O'Brien lives with his wife Elizabeth Parisi and son in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Obrien, Tim 1964 births Living people American magazine illustrators Artists from New Haven, Connecticut 20th-century American painters 21st-century American painters 21st-century American male artists People from North Haven, Connecticut 20th-century American male artists Presidents of the Society of Illustrators Paier College of Art alumni American people of Irish descent American people of Canadian descent