Face features book

I helped out with some police sketches recently. I did not have my facial feature reference book ready.

Now I realize how important it is, just as a starting point. People need a visual to begin. I think it will help me be more accurate next time. I'm cutting Bristol paper into trading card size pieces, about 2.5"x3.5", and putting them into protective pages. This will help me organize the drawing/facial features by type.

This photo is a shot of my first page done.

These drawings were done "out of my head," but now I am looking at Gwinnett County mugshots and drawing noses, because I think the drawings from my head come out too similar.

I believe using mugshots should give me a fair cross-section of the types of features people have here. I'm coding them on the back for my own reference.

My goal is to get 9 of the cards done each day. I want to make sure I am ready next time I am needed.

I will need to get a zip around binder, preferably with a handle. I can imagine that the book will get pretty full and heavy, once I've done noses, lips, eyes, eybrows, chins, etc.

I have found that charcoal is the fastest way to blend tones, so although I'm generally a pencil artist, I'm going to move to charcoal, at least for the police sketches. Currently using Cretacolor (Austrian) charcoal encased in wood.

Oklahoma skull reconstruction

Woman's skull reconstructed
KSWO - Lawton,OK,USA
(AP) - A forensic artist has reconstructed a human skull belonging to a female that was found in Norman last year. State officials are asking the public to ...

Officials reconstruct skull of woman found buried at Lake ...
NewsOK.com - Oklahoma City,OK,USA
A forensic artist reconstructed the skull of the woman, found Aug. 31 at the Norman lake, in hopes someone will recognize the victim, authorities said. ...

New links:

NEW: OSBI reconstructs unidentified skull Norman Transcript - Norman,OK,USA Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation Forensic Artist Harvey Pratt has reconstructed the skull of an unidentified woman whose remains were found at Lake ...

OSBI Seeks Tips Through Reconstructed Skull KTUL - Tulsa,OK,USA OSBI Forensic Artist Harvey Pratt used the woman's skull to create a reconstructed clay model of what the woman may have looked like. ...

Police sketch news

Police Sketch Released In Missing Woman Case
WNEM - Saginaw,MI,USA
Police are looking for a person they hope can help track down a missing Mid-Michigan woman. Randa Jawhari has been reported missing since February. ...

Fenton police looking for man in connection to disappearance of ...
The Flint Journal - MLive.com - Flint,MI,USA
by Bryn Mickle | The Flint Journal Police released this sketch of a man who ... The dental receptionist recently met with a state police sketch artist and ...

Police sketch artists in the news

Man sentenced to four years for Instaloan robbery
Fort McMurray Today - Fort McMurray,Alberta,Canada
Immediately after the robbery, she declined to provide a description to a police sketch artist, saying she felt she couldn't give an accurate description. ...

Police sketches in the news

Police Impersonator Rapes Woman In Hollywood
CBS 4 - Miami,FL,USA
Read more in our Privacy Policy Police composite sketch of a police impersonator who has raped as many as two women in Hollywood. Hollywood police need your ...

Police issue sketch clarification
Oxford Review - Woodstock,ON,Canada
Investigators released a general clarification Thursday to explain the intent and methodology behind the composite police sketch of the unidentified woman ...

Missing Ont. girl's mom aware of 'negative' claims
Canada.com - Don Mills,Ontario,Canada
Police, who released the composite sketch late Tuesday night, say they will not comment on any leads. The sketch, which was based on information provided to ...

Forensic artist called to assist in sexual assault case of elderly woman

A forensic artist is working with a 93 year old female victim of a home invasion, sexual assault, and burglary.

The elderly woman awoke to find an intruder in her home. He sexually assaulted her, and stole her money, cell phone, and car. It wasn't until she noticed her car was missing that she called police.

The victim was embarrassed, but she had done nothing wrong! Let's hope the forensic sketch artist can do a great job, and I pray that the victim can remember some details so this scary criminal can be taken off the streets.

"Police said their suspect is a young white man between the ages of 15 and 18. They said he has a slim build and short brown hair. He was wearing dark colored athletic pants and white tennis shoes.

Detectives said he took off with the victim's 1995 Mazda Protege. The license plate is 331 KLA."

...more from WISHTV.com Indianapolis

Newest addition to FBI Most Wanted Terrorist list is American

Forensic art was used in this newest addition to the FBI's most wanted terrorist page.
The newest Most Wanted is an American. He looks so clean cut in the photos at the top of the page, but along with what he's done, the tattoos tell even more about his mind.

Since it's very doubtful to me that Daniel Andreas San Diego is going to hang out at the beach with his shirt off, I looked for the most recognizable parts of his face - the bottom of his nose/slightly chiseled/pinched type nostrils, his upper lip - especially at the edges, curls. The tops of his ears also have a distinct shape. Other than those features, he could easily blend in anywhere, so the forensic artists have provided photos showing him with his hair in different cuts and colors.

Age progression of Madeleine McCann

The comments to the blog post below are interesting to say the least. At least a couple of them thought it was morbid to draw Madeleine McCann as if she is alive - how she might look now. They're assuming she's already dead. Perhaps she is dead, but that hasn't been proven. I think the people who commented don't know the purpose of forensic art. God bless 'em!

Maddie, two years later | Joana Morais
By (astro)
Forensic art is a technique that the criminal police forces and the judicial circles usually recur to, and it may be fundamental in cases of simple identification of people, for detention purposes or even to condemn somebody. ...

Forensic workshops

Neat forensics seminar, if you happen to be in the area ... of England. Cool though. I'd go to this.

Darlington Borough Council - Forensic workshops
Forensic art includes techniques used by the police in the identification, apprehension and conviction of suspects and involves disciplines such as three-dimensional and two-dimensional facial reconstruction, post mortem sketches, ...

FBI notes link between truckers and serial killings

It used to be that truckers were considered the knights of the road, but the FBI says it suspects a link between long haul truckers and serial rapes & murders:

“You’ve got a mobile crime scene,” one investigator said. “You can pick a girl up on the East Coast, kill her two states away and then dump her three states after that.”

...more from the AJC