Sketch of Hajime

Posted on September 4, 2014 by Karen T. Taylor, Facial Images

Occasionally, I enjoy doing a portrait sketch in a profile view. My friend Hajime Utsuno has a handsome profile, so I opted to portray his features from this angle. Dr. Utsuno is a lecturer in the Department of Oral Anatomy at Matsumoto Dental University in Japan. We met while at the University of Dundee in Scotland at a meeting of the International Association for Craniofacial Identification hosted by Professor Caroline Wilkinson and Professor Sue Black. We share a mutual interest in facial and dental anatomy as well as forensic facial reconstruction. Though Hajime often wears a very “professional face”, he is actually quite a character. When I first told him I lived in Austin, he flashed a wide grin and said “Oh, I LOVE Stevie Ray Vaughan and played a little air guitar!”

Sketch of Dominick Dunne

Posted on September 2, 2014 by Karen T. Taylor, Facial Images

Dominick Dunne belonged to a very special club and one where no one wants to be a member. He was the parent of a murdered child. He is best known as a writer for Vanity Fair, friend to celebrities, investigative journalist, and court watcher. He became a recognizable television personality via his commentary during the first O.J. Simpson trial and later on his show Power, Privilege and Justice. But, it is his role as the father of beautiful murdered 22-year-old actress, Dominique Dunne that drove him in the pursuit of justice. His personal outrage developed in the early 80s when his daughter’s killer was given very lenient treatment by a Los Angeles judge, resulting in a sentence of only 6 and a half years for voluntary manslaughter. This injustice propelled Dunne for the remainder of his life as he valiantly campaigned to give crime victims a voice through his work. His research for the fictional 1993 novel A Season in Purgatory centered around the 1975 murder of Martha Moxley in Greenwich, Connecticut. The novel has been credited with being part of the impetus for the retrial and conviction of Kennedy family member Michael Skakel for Moxley’s murder. I admired Mr. Dunne very much…and he was certainly a “good guy” in my eyes.

Pastel Sketch of Del

Posted on September 1, 2014 by Karen T. Taylor, Facial Images

Drawing and sculpture are my usual choices for depicting faces. On occasion, I delve into a color medium like pastel, if the subject can best be depicted in that way. This is an informal pastel sketch I did of my friend Del Robertson. I felt that color was needed to reflect the rosiness of his cheeks that says so much about his Scottish heritage.

Photo of Del Robertson as a young police officer

Photo of Del as a young police officer

Del served for many years as a police officer in the UK and certainly qualifies as a “good guy” in my book. It was a joy for me to personally deliver the drawing to his precious Scottish mother, Betty, on her 80th birthday. She was quite “chuffed” as Del would say.