Drawn Testimony: My Four Decades as a Courtroom Sketch Artist

In the era of omnipresent cell phone cameras and AI, what’s behind the continued relevance of courtroom sketch artists? This is the question at the heart of Rosenberg’s memoir about her four decades working in this highly specific yet ever-changing field. Having illustrated key moments, from the botched execution of John Louis Evans in 1983 and the COVID-era trial of Ghislaine Maxwell in 2021 to Donald Trump’s first indictment in 2023, she depicts her experiences in this distinctive field with meticulous prose that will make readers feel as though they are in the courtroom with her. She writes about fumbling for the correct pastel to secure the perfect sketch of a moment that cannot, for legal reasons, be caught on camera. While innovations in the legal system and journalism have changed how her work is disseminated, the book shows how courtroom artists add depth to proceedings that could otherwise only be described in words.