Nothing to draw when nothing to see leaves SCOTUS artists idle Friday, May 15, 2020
Bloomberg News
Art Lien has been tuning in for what’s both familiar and unrecognizable during the first-ever live audio of Supreme Court oral arguments.
Like others in the intimate courtroom on a typical argument day, Lien from his seat just to the right of the justices on the bench would look closely for visual cues about how they are interpreting a case.
Unlike others, he’d turn those expressions and gestures, like a brief discussion between Justices Clarence Thomas and Stephen Breyer, into a color portrait. His sketches, and those of other artists, of the justices and advocates are the only way all but a few can see what takes place when the court publicly convenes.