Thursday, October 6th, 7:00 p.m.
The 1970 Charles Manson trial launched Bill Robles career as a
television news courtroom artist, followed by the high-profile trials of
Patricia Hearst, John DeLorean, the Hillside Strangler, Rodney King. O.J.
Simpson, the Unabomber, Oklahoma City bombers Timothy McVeigh and Terry
Nichols, the Menendez Brothers, Robert Blake, Michael Jackson, Donald and
Shelly Sterling and mostly recently, Led Zeppelin. When the media has been locked out of
high-profile trials, Bill Robles has been there to give us the picture, with
all the context, action and emotion in color.
Through 44 years, Mr.
Robles has mastered the art of on-the-spot illustrating, working for a strict
and unyielding taskmaster: television
news. He has said, “I love courtroom
illustrating… the immediacy… working feverishly… the adrenaline gets going and
suddenly it’s over, on the satellite and around the world.”
In 1981 Bill Robles was
selected by NASA to be on site to document the first four space shuttle
missions, which is one of his favorite assignments. He has been nominated for an Emmy, received a
gold medal from the Los Angeles Art Directors Club for his coverage of the
Manson trial, and three gold medals from the Broadcast Designers
Associations. In 2003 he received the
Lifetime Achievement Award from the Los Angeles Society of Illustrators. A native of Los Angeles, Bill Robles now
resides in Brentwood. He received his
Bachelor of Arts degree from the Art Center College of Design where he also
taught illustration for five years. He
currently teaches drawing at Los Angeles Trade Technical College.
Mr. Robles is also one of
the subjects of The Illustrated
Courtroom: 50 Years of Court Art by
Elizabeth Williams and Sue Russell, a book whose cover art by Robles shows
Charles Mansion lunging toward the bench during his trial. As one might imagine, there are a few stories
behind each illustration.
Don’t miss this very
special evening at Crowell Public Library on Thursday, October 6th
in the Library’s Barth Community Room.
