Courtroom illustration

December 10, 2007 7:46 PM

How does a person get a job as a courtroom artist?

My friend is a professional artist, teaches drawing, and a considerable amount of the work he shows in his gallery shows involves drawing figures from life; he is very good at it. In spite of all of that, like many artists, he still has to have other part time jobs to pay the bills. He would really like to try being a courtroom artist, but, being more in the fine art world and virtually no experience as an illustrator, he has no idea how to do it. Any suggestions?

posted by MaryDellamorte to Media & Arts (4 answers total)

I see that the profession is dwindling:

She is among a select and dwindling group – one of just three artists who work regularly in the Washington, D.C. area. Verkouteren, who currently works for The Associated Press, says the industry has downsized as television stations and news publications began sharing courtroom artists to save money. These days, only a handful of artists make a living doing courtroom renderings.

And not very financially rewarding:

Marilyn Church, who has sketched everyone from Son of Sam to Martha Stewart for The New York Times and ABC News, estimates the average courtroom artist pulls in $350 per day. However, that amount can grow if you sell your sketches to multiple news outlets.

Another way is to sell them to trial attorneys with deep pockets. Many of the artists' subjects — often high-powered lawyers or celebrity defendants — purchase sketches as mementos. The higher the case's profile, the higher the sketch's price tag. One of Church's 1980 sketches of John Lennon's assassin Mark David Chapman is selling for $9,500.

Courtroom artists are a hot commodity in states that don’t allow cameras (currently seven don't, including New York) as well as all federal trials at which photography is forbidden.
posted by Ironmouth at 7:59 PM on December 10, 2007

An instructor of mine used to do it. He reports that it was a bit rough, inasmuch as when you draw someone you look a bit at their souls, plus you're hearing all the details about what he did to people. My instructor's an easy-going, unflappable person, and he found it icky - your friend may find it likewise.
posted by sebastienbailard at 9:32 PM on December 10, 2007

Courtroom artists (the very few that I know, at least) aren't employees in the traditional sense - they don't have a job with the news outlets. They're more akin to freelance photographers, minus the camera.

Your friend could always find a nearby courtroom and practice with some low-profile cases. Court hearings are virtually always open to the public, so there's no issue with him just having a seat in the gallery. It might be a good idea for him to get there before the hearing starts and to check in with the court clerk, just so the court staff are aware that he's practicing his art, not just doodling.
posted by gwenzel at 5:30 AM on December 11, 2007

My dad freelanced as a courtroom artist in the '80s. He was a professor of painting and figure drawing at the time, and also occasionally freelanced for the police to do suspect sketches, which (I believe) is how he made the transition into courtroom work, through which he became one of the main artists for the local NBC affiliate. So your friend might try contacting some of the local news stations to see if they employ artists and what their requirements might be.
posted by scody at 5:58 PM on December 11, 2007