Courtroom Drawings

It really started with my mentor Henry Koerner, an amazing artist and an even more unique person. During WWII he served as a U.S. Army courtroom artist at the Nuremberg trials as well as creating war time posters. Later teaching at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh he made me realize my love of on the spot drawing, which he brought in to all of his assignments. Starting in art school and continuing to today I get called in to draw for local and national news agencies for high profile cases. There have been some boring white collar crimes but usually much more horrific. Hearing the details is not pleasant. But I do try to convey the scene and emotion within the drawings. It’s a high pressure fast paced gig and always rewarding. Some trials go on for days and weeks while others are simple arraignments that last just a few minutes. So being able to draw quick is essential. I use a variety of materials. I like having a mid toned paper, and I enjoy to draw direct with ink, coloring with pencils, markers and pastels.