Drawing Judgment

Go ahead and call his profession ‘sketchy.’ Bill Robles does not mind. For 40 years, Robles has occupied a unique profession (even among artists) as a courthouse illustrator. From the Manson Family to the O.J. Simpson and Rodney King trials and the Michael Jackson molestation case, his career highlights read like a history of Los Angeles and a sizzle reel of celebrity justice. In addition to the major trials accompanying this article, Robles’ hand has documented”in pen-and-ink and color marker”Roman Polanski on trial in 1977 for unlawful sex with a minor (before he fled the country), Lee Marvin’s palimony case, the Unabomber, the Menendez Brothers’ patricide and matricide trial, Oklahoma City bombers Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, Rodney King, the Anthony Pellicano trial, the Cameron Diaz extortion trial, Alec Baldwin’s battery trial, Charles Keating’s arraignment, Paris Hilton’s 2007 DUI sentencing, and, recently, the doctors and former lover of Anna Nicole Smith and the Frank and Jamie McCourt divorce hearing. Let’s just say that the odds are you would not want to be the subject of a Robles sketch. ‘I read about this stuff in the newspaper,’ Robles tells the Palisadian-Post, ‘and the next thing I know, I’m in court with them with my pad and pens.’ Robles deems Michael Bolton and Paula Abdul among the nicest subjects he’s met in person, and he considers the Michael Jackson molestation trial his favorite assignment. ‘It was also my most grueling and lucrative trial,’ he says.   Robles grew up on L.A.’s East side in Boyle Heights, East Los Angeles and Montebello. His father was born in Mexico. His maternal grandmother was from Beirut, Lebanon. ‘As a child, I always had a passion for art,’ Robles says. ‘My Garfield High School art teacher, Alma Hill Breeze, and my parents, were my inspiration in pursuing my art education.’ After graduating from Art Center College of Design as an illustration major, ‘I worked a few years for a couple of art studios here in L.A. Gaining valuable experience, and making a few client contacts, I became a freelance illustrator in 1965.’ Things took a hard turn nearly 40 years ago. ‘One of my Art Center classmates [Dick Bell] became the art director for the local CBS news and through him,’ Robles says, ‘I was chosen to cover the Charles Manson murder trial. ‘Manson exploded the whole field [of court illustrators]. At that trial, there were seven artists. ‘The Manson trial has been my longest, at nine-and-a-half months. Since that time, I have balanced a career as an illustrator, courtroom artist, and art school instructor.’ When he’s not in a courtroom, Robles teaches. For five years, Robles taught as a drawing instructor at Art Center. And for the past 20 years, he’s been teaching at Los Angeles Trade Technical College. Currently residing in Brentwood, Robles lived in Pacific Palisades from 1989 to 2004 while he was in a relationship with former Palisadian Sandy Derby. ‘She went north and I went east,’ says the sanguine Robles, who has two children, Christian, 40, and Michele, 35, from a previous relationship when he was married. Robles, who currently freelances for media outlets such as NBC and CNN, takes great pride in his artistry. He lists artists Edgar Degas and Gustav Klimt, and illustrators Charles Dana Gibson, Bob Peak and Bernie Fuchs among his influences and inspirations. The Society of Illustrators of Los Angeles honored Robles in 2003 (the Society’s 50-year anniversary) with a career achievement award. ‘Bill is a very talented artist and is very well known in our industry,’ says illustrator Keith Batcheller, who is on the Society of Illustrators’ board of directors. ‘Bill is the top court room sketch artist in the country and he has covered many well-known court trials.’ ‘Thank God I have an artistic talent,’ Robles told the Society in an interview, ‘or I wouldn’t have a clue what I would be doing.’ For more on Robles, visit BillRobles.com.