Painter Tim O'Brien

Every hair is articulated in Tim O’Brien’s small perfect portraits, every hair of the eyebrows and mustaches. They are idealized, bathed in a golden glow. But they are also 100 percent human. "When we had drawing in nursery school, everyone, the kids and the teachers, would stand behind me and watch. I could draw things in perspective. I had a photographic memory and good hand-eye coordination. And I liked all that attention." O'Brien has 9 paintings in the National Gallery in Washington, DC and is the youngest artist included in the recent update of "The Illustrator in America, 1880-2000." oil