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Drawn in the dock: the story of UK courtroom illustration (2020)
Exploring the crazy process and unique aesthetic of this art form, as the arrival of cameras in British courts threatens the future of the rare discipline.
Not only are they a rare breed, but the trade’s very existence is also now under threat as new laws were passed in January 2020 allowing cameras into the country’s Crown Courts, including the Old Bailey, to broadcast the sentencing remarks on high-profile criminal cases. Once notes are made, the fun begins, as artists make their way to what Priscilla describes as the “primitive” press room to quickly try to encapsulate the people – the prosecution, the judge and the defendant (not the jury) – and the atmosphere of the court in one image. “Courts are very still places,” he describes, “it’s better for memory, lawyers can recite their lines.” By contrast, Siân Frances’ drawings are more conventionally illustrative, as she uses pencil lines and washes of watercolour – “also a skill to do so quickly,” says Katie.
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