[OC] I’m a courtroom sketch artist. Here’s my rendition of Luigi Mangione and defense counsel.

Comment for more elaboration:

I’m a courtroom sketch artist ([previous select work here](https://www.susanbin.com/courtroom)), but this sketch was done from photo references, as I wasn’t in the courtroom! Hoping to be able to sketch part of the upcoming state or federal trials… AP & Reuters: please call me!!!

There’s a world of difference between sketching live and on-location, but my site does have more samples of my work from inside the courtroom (I won an Emmy this year for my courtroom sketch art!). :o) I’m a trained sketch artist (not just in court, haha, but also in caricatures + fashion sketches + storyboards)!

For those of you wondering: in general, for me, most courtroom sketches are done in 20 minutes. If it’s a more interesting beat illustration I want to return to (as opposed to character portraits), I try to establish the details of the sketch in 15 minutes (you’ll usually see in the marginalia a ton of different head positions I’ve doodled to get the topography of a person’s face), and will return to it. This is both an artistic choice (most artists who storyboard, are familiar in gestures, and were raised on 2D animation, know how sketches lose a certain tactile quality the longer you chip away on it) and a strategic approach (when a side calls a flurry of witnesses to the stand they question for 5 minutes and there is no cross — and the client is asking for headshots of everyone). It is also extremely important to note that while the AP guidelines set rules about courtroom sketch art basically being photography, artists are not cameras, and courtroom sketch art is about compromising on client’s ask, speed, likeness, and the “mood” of the scene (very much like storyboarding). You can learn more about the world and process of courtroom sketch art directly in the words from some of the greatest courtroom sketch artists in Elizabeth Williams and Sue Russell’s *The Illustrated Courtroom: 50 Years of Court Art*. One of my favourite quotes from a courtroom sketch artist (and forgive me, the name is slipping) when asked about the public criticism about a person’s likeness quipped: “It’s just nice to have people talking about your art period.”

I don’t like spending more than 45 minutes in one sitting on a sketch in court, because it ends up losing the “sketch quality.” Something like this illustration which I did from reference, took about 1hr30min (the sketch itself takes 15-20 min with the colouring/rendering taking the bulk of the time). I imagine a more productive/informative guideline would be showing what this piece looks like at 15 minutes, 45 minutes, and 1hr30min, but this subreddit has rules against process/before/after submissions that I don’t want to overstep. Most arraignments are over in 30 minutes, but for an actual day in trial, this means you have a decent amount of work done by lunch break!

I used to work in some crazy high pressure situations where we had to turn around coloured figures in 8 minutes for 12 hours a day, so… court is actually a walk in the park for me! The added personal bonus is I actually love reading case filings and seeing the law being argued (another goal of mine I’m making good on in 2025 is sketching the US Supreme Court). The sketching itself once you’re set-up is pretty easy! It’s all the overhead stuff around it that’s hard (<– the eternal freelance dilemma). Many talented artists who work in the animation industry (primarily storyboarders) could absolutely be amazing courtroom sketch artists, but I mentioned in another reply, that it’s not exactly a glamorous or high-paying job (for me at least), and being able to digest the content in trial + the court ecosystem + freelancing for press/media is a whole different beast than being an in-house studio artist with dental. If you want to see an amazing artist at work from the illustrator world whose process is just insane to see live, google Kim Jung-Gi (RIP).

(Mods: let me know if I need to remove any links in this comment!)

(Other friends: I will be turning off comment notifications for this post so I likely won’t respond to your further inquiries, but I hope I was able to adequately address some of your questions respectfully!)

(AP & REUTERS: PLEASE CALL ME.)

I love your style, it’s very dramatic and striking, and also a little like a well drawn comic panel!

He seems to have a more competent lawyer than Trump ever dug up.

Ok. Now shirtless

Sincerely,

A lesbian…

One of the most detailed courtroom sketches I’ve seen

so basically fan art

All that’s missing is a halo

Where and how am I able to buy this picture in original?

Merry Christmas 🎁🎄

I’m thinking he needs a glow behind him and a cruciform halo

Beautiful work +1

Really cool sketch !

Given the absolutely abysmal sketches we’ve seen before of this trial, this is fantastic. The people actually look like the actual people. The cops out of frame are indistinguishable nobodies as they should be (since their identities don’t really matter).