The World's Top Sketch Artist
Any artist out there looking for a new career?
Mystery Mob!
I doubt many of you have ever heard of a woman named Lois Gibson. But it’s a name you should know, especially if you love all things mystery and crime. She became a bit of a legend after she drew the first sketch shown on America’s Most Wanted.
Oh, and she’s recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records as “The World’s Most Successful Forensic Artist,” helping solve over 1200 crimes. No big deal.
But before I get too far ahead of myself, let’s solve this week’s Whodunit:
At the scene of a heinous crime, five suspects (one of whom is the guilty party) are being interrogated by a detective. Each of the suspects gives one statement. Exactly three of the suspect statements are correct. These are the statements:
Uncle Jack: Uncle Jim committed the murder
Aunt Mary: I did not do it
Cousin Stewart: It was not Cousin Margaret
Uncle Jim: Uncle Jack is lying when he says I did it
Cousin Margaret: Aunt Mary is telling the truth
So…who committed the murder?
Answer: Cousin Margaret. The only combination that allows for exactly 3 truthful statements would be if Aunty Mary, Uncle Jim and cousin Margaret were all truths.
I know that one was particularly difficult — congrats to all of you who solved it!
Now, let’s don our berets and grab our easels, it’s time for forensic art.
First off, what is a forensic artist again?
Forensic art is defined as: an artistic technique used for identification, apprehension or conviction purposes.
And a forensic artist, often referred to as a sketch artist, is someone who renders free-hand or computerized drawings, enhancements, and reconstructions.
Forensic artists work with law enforcement to identify criminal suspects and victims via facial composite sketches. They can even be called to a crime scene to create drawings, and scale diagrams and models of the scene. In general, forensic artists are called upon to:
Sketch composites of criminal suspects of unidentifiable persons
Recreate skeletal, decomposed, or mutilated images using 2-D and 3-D computer imagery
Sketch composites from decomposed or partially decomposed remains
Create age progression sketches of suspects and missing persons
Prepare diagrams, chart evidence boards and 3-D reconstructions of crime scenes for court hearings and other judicial proceedings
Prepare reports, exhibits and displays for court proceedings
Artistically enhance or alter surveillance photographs
They also need to maintain accurate case records, ensure that their artwork is properly handled and stored, and testify in court on occasion.
So now that we have that down, let’s get to Lois.
Lois’s (Clark Kent-less) superhero origin story
Lois Gibson was 21 years old, living in Los Angeles in the early 1970s. Just like many in La La Land, she moved to the coast to act, dance and model (aka NOT to sketch). But life threw her a curveball, in the form of a break-in and assault.
"I got attacked by a guy who almost choked me to death for 25 minutes straight," said Gibson, in an interview in 2012. "When he finished, I was bleeding down my throat and my eyes."
"Like nine out of 10 girls, I was too traumatized and wanted justice -- but I couldn't get it," she said.
But justice did find her assaulter, almost a year later. And what’s more, completely by accident, she witnessed it. She saw police violently handcuffing a man she recognized as her rapist.
"I saw the arrest," she said. "I know what it is to see justice...It changes your life."
Gibson wanted to help others find that same justice. So she left L.A. to get a degree in forensic art from the University of Texas at Austin.
Drawing Conclusions
But it took more than the degree to nail down her craft. So she spent her time drawing…
Apparently, Lois still had to prove to law enforcement that she could draw a person based only on an eyewitness account. So, she practiced, of course.
A friend of hers would walk into a gas station, look at an attendant, and then return to Lois. Using just her friend’s verbal description, she would draw a sketch. And well, eventually, she became really damn good.
Catchin’ bad guys
The Houston Police Department decided to give her a try, and the results were astounding.
Her work helped solve 1266 crimes between 1989 and 2012.
She did it all, too. Forensic sketching. Facial reconstruction. Age progression. Whatever was needed.
I mean, LOOK at these side-by-sides. It’s nuts that someone can create sketches so close to the mark from just verbal description!
Though retired from police work now, she’s passing the torch to the next generation of sketchers. Since 1998, she’s taught at Northwestern University’s Center for Public Safety.
A more detailed sketch
Want to dive a bit deeper? We got you.
Here’s a Criminal Broads podcast interview with Lois.
Here’s a link to her full gallery of sketches.
As always,
Stay ‘spicious
-Andy & Mark
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