A court sketch artist said an episode of Kojak when he was 11-years-old led to his future career.
Mike O’Donnell was speaking as part of the Ask Me Anything series on Lunchtime Live, which sees people come into studio and answer your questions every Friday.
The Kerry-based artist said he just decided to go into a courtroom one day.
One listener asked how he got into the profession.
“When I was a young boy – I’m from Kerry and football is a big thing – I love drawing people, it’s the most challenging thing,” he said.
“My brothers wouldn’t sit down, they prefered to be out kicking balls.
“So I went into the local court – and the reason that came up was I was watching an episode of Kojak years ago – and I said, ‘That’s something I could do’.
“I went in when was 11 or 12 – or maybe less – and nobody noticed me and I was drawing there”.
Mr O’Donnell said he got artistic skills from his father, who he described as an “amatuer artist”.
The Criminal Courts of Justice building on Parkgate Street in Dublin, 17-3-20. Image: noel bennett / AlamyMr O’Donnell said his first work in Dublin was around the Eamonn Lillis case in 2010.
“I was out of work at the time and I had been knocked down,” he said.
“I heard that videographers couldn’t video people to take photographs of people going into court – which was always the practice up to then.
“The Criminal Courts of Justice opened and so prisoners were brought underground, and I said, ‘That sounds like an opportunity’.
“That’s who I bgan and that case was, as far as I know, the very first murder case in that building”.
How many sketches in a day?
One listener asked how many sketches he would have to do in any given day.
“It depends what I’m drawing,” Mr O’Donnell said.
“Sometimes what I love is doing a court scene, so a sweeping view of the court, and that takes time.
“I’d only produce one in a sitting on a particular day.
“If it was individual it wouldn’t take too long but it depends on the lines of the individual, their facial structure and things like that”.
Easiest faces to draw?
“Generally speaking a dark person is a lot easier to draw,” he said.
“I use pen when I’m drawing and a person with dark lines… they’re easy to replicate.
“A person who’s very pale or waxy looking, they’re difficult to draw”.
Interest in true crime?
Another listener asked if he had an interest in true crime stories.
“No – my grandfather was a Guard and all my brothers, there was three of us in the bedroom, they all read crime fiction,” Mr O’Donnell said.
“I don’t get the time because I’m working all the time.
“People ask me about these things and I’m really at a loss; I don’t watch them.
“Maybe when I get time I will”.
Mr O’Donnell said a number of cases do stay with him, most recently the Ashling Murphy murder trial.
“I have a daughter who’s roughly the same age,” he said.
“I suppose I can walk away but people around me can’t”.
He added that he has great ability “to recover” from things like that.
