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Photos: Courtroom sketch artist fuses journalism and art

Mona Shafer Edwards displays a sketch she did of former rap mogul Marion "Suge" Knight during a hearing about evidence in his murder case. The fear of the day when she is no longer needed is always present. Sometimes the phone doesn’t ring for weeks. “I always wonder, is this the last job? Is this my last story?” she said. “But then the phone rings.”

Mona Shafer Edwards displays a sketch she did of former rap mogul Marion “Suge” Knight during a hearing about evidence in his murder case. The fear of the day when she is no longer needed is always present. Sometimes the phone doesn’t ring for weeks. “I always wonder, is this the last job? Is this my last story?” she said. “But then the phone rings.”

  (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

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The courtrooms of Los Angeles are where the dramas of L.A.’s rich and famous play out, and for three decades Mona Shafer Edwards has been there for some of the wildest. Pens and markers in hand — she never uses pencil, and she never erases — Edwards is among the few remaining sketch artists working today.

Courtroom sketch artist

Mona Shafer Edwards poses next to a wall full of her courtroom sketches at her home in Los Angeles. Among the drawings is one of O.J. Simpson, top left, testifying at his civil trial in 1997. Hers is a skill that has managed to survive the introduction of photography and video.

  (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Courtroom sketch artist

A courtroom sketch by Mona Shafer Edwards depicts Michael Jackson during his 2005 child molestation trial in Santa Maria. Edwards had been working for years as a fashion illustrator when she saw that her skills in fashion could translate to the courtroom.

  (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Courtroom sketch artist

Richard Ramirez, known as the Night Stalker, is depicted in a sketch by Mona Shafer Edwards during his preliminary hearing in Los Angeles County Superior Court in 1985. “He was pure evil,” Edwards said. “His eyes pierced me and my blood ran cold.”

  (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Courtroom sketch artist

Mona Shafer Edwards, a longtime courtroom sketch artist, displays a drawing she did during the arraignment of former L.A. County Undersheriff Paul Tanaka. She is among the few remaining sketch artists working today, fusing journalism and art to illustrate the theatrics and emotion of the courtroom.

  (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Courtroom sketch artist

Stephanie Lazarus is depicted in a sketch by Mona Shafer Edwards during her 2012 murder trial in Los Angeles. Edwards first finds a feature that is prominent — anything from a hair style to lips or a nose. Then she scopes out the person’s body language, his posture and how his clothes fit. Then she draws the image in her mind, plans it out and starts the sketch.

  (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Courtroom sketch artist

Actress Wynona Ryder is depicted in a sketch by Mona Shafer Edwards during her trial on shoplifting charges. The key, Edwards says, is to capture the person’s spirit, to draw more than a mere portrait. It is up to her to do what a camera cannot, which is to capture the humanity in the room with a human’s touch.

  (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Courtroom sketch artist

Edwards’ sketch of the closing argument in the civil case against O.J. Simpson in 1997 depicts plaintiff’s attorney Daniel Petrocelli pointing to Simpson and saying, “There is a killer in this courtroom.” Edwards can easily blend in and bring into her drawings the feeling in the entire room.

  (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Courtroom sketch artist

Pedro Espinoza, bottom, accused of murdering Jamiel Shaw, and Judge Ronald H. Rose, top, are depicted in a sketch by Mona Shafer Edwards. “She’s the public eye in the courtroom,” Rose said. “She’s able to capture the emotion that is felt by everyone in the courtroom in a way that a camera never could.”

  (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

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