Digital Forensic Art Techniques : A Professionals Guide to Corel Painter

299 Pages·2018·16.25 MB·English

Digital Forensic
Art Techniques

Digital Forensic
Art Techniques
A Professional’s Guide to Corel Painter•
Natalie Murry
CRC Press
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Murry, Natalie, author.
Title: Digital forensic art techniques : a professional’s guide to Corel
Painter / Natalie Murry.
Description: Boca Raton, FL : CRC Press, [2018] | Includes bibliographical
references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017058836| ISBN 9781138486010 (hardback : alk. paper) |
ISBN 9781138486027 (pbk. : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781351047166 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Police artists. | Composite drawing. | Corel Painter. |
Computer art. | Forensic sciences.
Classification: LCC HV8073.4 .M87 2018 | DDC 363.250285/668--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017058836
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Contents
Preface vii
Acknowledgments ix
Author xi
Introduction xiii
Chapter 1: The Workspace 3
Chapter 2: Setting Up Your Workspace for a
Composite 27
Chapter 3: Composite Drawing 47
Drawing the Face 50
Chapter 4: Step-by-Step Composite Case 1 69
Chapter 5: Step-by-Step Composite Case 2 87
Chapter 6: Filing System, Case Log, and Court 101
Chapter 7: Skull and Muscle Anatomy 109
Chapter 8: Light on the Face 125
Chapter 9: Adding Tone 139
vi CONTENTS
Chapter 10: Adding Photographic Elements
to a Composite 167
Chapter 11: Postmortem Drawing 189
Chapter 12: 2-D Reconstruction 211
Chapter 13: Customizing Painter 235
Chapter 14: Conclusion 265
Index 271
Preface
American artists in law enforcement have been drawing
composites since the days of Wanted posters in the Old West.
Most of them learn to complete the drawings in pencil. In the
past few years, they’ve begun taking up the stylus and doing
the work digitally.
I’ve been doing forensic art since 2000, when I was trained
while working as a police officer in Kent, Washington. In my first
training class, the officer who sat next to me was Greg Bean
from the Bellevue Police Department. We kept in touch as our
departments were fairly close to each other and there weren’t
many artists in the Seattle area at that time. In 2010, we had both
been experimenting with graphic art software and thought it
could have applications to our forensic artwork. We started
sketching together on our Wacom tablets.
In 2011, Greg founded ID Forensic Art (IDFA), naming me as
vice president and lead artist. He ended up partnering with
LeadsOnline, a company who provides online services to police
agencies all over the United States. The concept for IDFA was
to provide police agencies around the country with access to
a forensic artist. We conduct our interviews with victims and
witnesses online. They can see us via webcam, and we can share
our Wacom monitors with them in real time for them to direct
the drawing process. Many police agencies we have worked
with have never had a local artist before, so the process has
been rewarding for us. We’re able to do the drawing within
hours of the crime and email the sketch to the detectives for
release to the media on the same day.
viii PREFACE
After months of drawing digitally full time to get ready to go
live with the business, Greg and I were very comfortable with
working on the tablets. When I met other forensic artists at
conferences and training, many expressed an interest in learning
how to draw digitally as well. I put together a few weeklong
workshops and started teaching other forensic artists in police
agencies around the country.
When I taught digital composites, I included a handout of 28
pages for the artists to take home and refer to later, to remind
them of what they’d learned in class. For the past few years—
since I’ve stopped teaching regularly—I’ve had artists contact
me through my website—www.nataliemurry.com—to ask
where they can learn to draw composites digitally. I looked
online and was surprised to see that I couldn’t find anyone
else teaching the subject and that there didn’t appear to be
any books available on it. I revisited my handout and decided
it needed a lot more detail to be stand-alone instructions
without an in-person workshop. This book is the result of my
intention to provide instruction to law enforcement artists
who are interested in trying digital methods and fine artists
interested in how forensic artists work and how to draw faces
digitally.
Drawing digitally is like using any tool in art: a pencil, a charcoal
stick, a Conté crayon. A stylus is just another tool to master.
Digital work is easier for artists to send to the case detective,
and the work always reproduces exactly as it was completed.
It’s also fun. Corel Painter is a huge graphic art software
program, and you’ll find the brushes that mimic natural media
enjoyable for your fine artwork. There are many brushes that
look like watercolors, oil colors, thick paints, charcoals, pencils,
airbrushes, and several more. If you love drawing and painting,
it’s like a whole new world of toys to play with.
I hope learning to use this software is helpful for your forensic
artwork, but is also fun and inspiring for your fine artwork.
Acknowledgments
Thank you to Dr. Daniel Westcott and the Forensic Anthropology
Center at Texas State University (FACTS) for the use of the images
in Chapter 11. Additionally, thank you to the individuals and
families who donate their bodies and photographs to FACTS
for research. The opportunities for learning supported with your
donations extend beyond the anthropology field. The ability for
forensic artists to also learn from this collection is appreciated.
The forensic art field is heavily experience based, and working
with these images furthers our knowledge to better assist law
enforcement and medical examiners in attempting to portray
persons in unidentified remains cases. What we learn from this
collection can help ease the grief of family members who had
been unaware of the fate of their loved one.
Thank you to Small Town Noir for use of the historical booking
photos in Chapters 4 and 5.
Thank you to Wixphoto at Freerange Stock for the use of the
photo, “A Casual Man,” in Chapter 12.
Although reasonable effort has been made to ensure the
accuracy of information provided in this publication, the author
makes no representations regarding such accuracy. All opinions
expressed are those of the author; readers should use their own
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