Courtroom sketch artist Elizabeth Williams holds up a drawing of Donald Trump during attorney Todd Blanche’s closing argument outside the Criminal Courthouse at 100 Centre Street. “I had this amazing sight of Trump turning to face Blanche and I thought, ‘Oh my God, this is so emblematic of Trump and the defense,’ because from what I saw, this was a Trump-led defense.” Photo by Carl Glassman/TriBeCa Trib
Longtime Financial District resident Elizabeth Williams is a veteran courtroom sketch artist who has covered some of the most famous trials of the past 40 years. While working for The Associated Press, she was one of three courtroom illustrators, along with Jane Rosenberg and Christine Cornell, who covered the Donald Trump criminal trial. Because cameras were banned in the courtroom, she and two other artists brought the historic trial to the public’s attention. Here’s what it was like, as told to Tribune editor Karl Glassman:
During the Trump trial, I wake up at 5 a.m., arrive at the courthouse between 6:15 and 6:30, leave food and water outside 100 Center Street where the press is lined up, and then head to the federal courthouse on Pearl Street, where I keep my art supplies.
The paper, drawing board, and other supplies weigh about 25 pounds, so when I walked into the courtroom carrying those and my other supplies, I looked like a loaded mule. I have a bag of colored pencils, a bag of brush pens with felt tips on one side and pens on the other. The bag of colored pencils needs to be sharpened. And I also have oil pastels.
I also bring a cushion to help with blood circulation. Sitting for long periods of time is very tiring and requires concentration. You have to stay focused all the time.
Myself and two other sketch artists were in the third row, two rows behind the prosecution side. It was a tough job because we were usually in the front row and it was really hard to see. I think the poor visibility and the deadline meant that none of us did our best work. Also, we were far away and there was a court official next to Trump blocking our view. So some days we couldn’t see him at all and other days we could only draw a little bit.
There were eight judges in the courtroom, many of whom were watching us the whole time to make sure we didn’t attract the jury, which none of us did, and at times you could see the judges standing right above us.
The pressure was even greater in this case because AP, where I worked, was constantly asking for images. In Bankman v. Fried, I was able to wait until lunch to send my photos, but not in the Trump case. By noon, I had already finished one piece, finished one or two more after lunch, and sent another one by 3 p.m. There might be another one, depending on what happens in the case. We shot in the bathroom, which is the only place where phones are allowed. I put my sketchboard on the radiator by the window and took the photos there. It’s not glamorous, especially when you see that bathroom.
None of us are watching the news at night to see what people are writing or what’s on TV. We go home, pass out, wake up the next morning and come back again. We’re just trying to get through the day, get through the day, get through the job.
Trump is pretty easy to draw. Not just his hair, but everything. He poses. When he’s really angry, his lips kind of stick out. He creases his brow. He always has his hair in a stylized way. I’m going to keep “Trump Yellow Hair” in my oil pastel box from now on, because I used that yellow more than I’ve used in any other courtroom color.
I never noticed that Trump’s face was orange. Maybe he wears more makeup than usual for events. But I did notice that his ears were redder and his skin was a little darker when the verdict was announced. He’s fatter in real life, but he hides it well. In one of the photos I took, his tie was hanging down to his belly, and I knew I had to get a shot.
Stormy Daniels is the easiest character for me to draw, hands down. I’m a fashion artist first, and she has this chic face of an older fashion person. The bone structure, the slightly square jaw, the high cheekbones, the makeup, everything, she’s had some facial surgery. I love drawing faces like that. I mean, I could draw Stormy Daniels all day. If all the witnesses and defendants looked like that, I’d be fine.
On the day of the verdict, I didn’t expect the verdict to come so soon. The judge told us to come at 4:15 because he was dismissing the jury. We thought the judge would dismiss the jury at 4:30, so Jane [Rosenberg] We were both packing up our documents. We thought we would just wait here for the jury and then go home for the day. But two minutes later, at 4:20, the judge came out and said he had received a note from the jury. Verdict. Thankfully, the jury took the time to fill out the paperwork, which included 34 charges. The judge ended up giving us another 30 minutes and we were able to unpack everything in time.
I thought, here we go again. It was the same as the Sam Bankman Freed verdict. The worst thing for a sketch artist is to miss a news deadline, have a verdict delayed, your work goes largely unused, and it’s incredibly stressful.
The first photo from the verdict shows the jury foreman. You can’t see his face, of course. I focus on Trump. During the first few guilty verdicts, he was looking straight at the jury. What I’m portraying is his facial expression. Probably during the third guilty verdict, he turns his head and looks straight ahead, but I caught that moment. You can see how terribly angry he is. We often see him looking sulky, but this looked rather irate. It was a really important photo, but it was too late, so that photo almost never got used anywhere.
The next sketch shows Trump shaking hands with his son Eric after the verdict. I was drawing so quickly I didn’t even look at the paper. Trump looked devastated, and when I drew it, it showed in the lines. The shock of what just happened. And the human contact with his son. It was just such a moment. He’s not putting his head in his hands or hugging anybody. I mean, that’s just not like him.
Sometimes I get frustrated because I don’t have enough time to make a painting as good as I would like, and I work on it more for myself. I throw some away. I don’t keep the poor quality work. It’s like throwing darts at a dart board, you’re not going to hit the target every time.
I knew I was doing something important in the trial, but I also knew that some days I would paint good pictures and other days I would paint not so good pictures. But at least my pictures would have a ring of truth. Some artists did composite sketches of symbolic scenes with lawyers, Trump, and witnesses all together in one painting. But it simply doesn’t look like that. I don’t think our job as courtroom painters is to creatively recreate courtroom scenes. I felt it was really important that the American public see the truth. That’s what the public wants to see.
Elizabeth Williams is a former member of Community Board 1 and served as either vice president or president of the Precinct 1 Community Council for 12 years. Her lobbying efforts were instrumental in passing the James Zadroga Health Compensation Act, and she is the co-author of “The Illustrated Courtroom: 50+ Years of Court Art.”
