I've flown in to Guantanamo Bay today and by noon was in court; or rather, in the court's hallway. I'm here to sketch Hamdan procedures- Hamdan was Osama bin Laden's driver. The witness up stipulated to not be drawn and therein insued confusion and the utterly frustrating experience of being a court artist not allowed in court. The happy ending of sorts is that I managed to get one done when I was allowed in at the tail end of the day- 4:30. Given that every drawing is not allowed out until it has been approved by military it was clearly unnecessary to keep me out- I would not have been able to draw him anyway. Ah, well, what's done is done, and tomorrow is a full day- in court. Just an added note, the military did apologize several times over and assured me it won't happen again.
Swing by tomorrow eve for an update..
Hi, Janet
ReplyDeleteAs I'm sure you know, this sketch of Salim Hamdan has illustrated headlines today. It's on the BBC website. For the first time I noticed the artist's name. Courtroom artists usually remain anonymous. I'm curious. How did you manage to gain public credit for your artwork? Is it because you're a freelance illustrator, rather than a media employee? Or for some other reason, a good agent perhaps?
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI apologize for not answering much sooner! Regarding my name credit, it may well be due to my freelance status. I have enjoyed a very good working relationship with media and military and feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to sketch the tribunals.