When the Barry Bonds trial goes to jury on Thursday, the defense will not have called a single witness or put the all-time home run leader on the stand. Regardless, a star has emerged from the USA vs. Barry Lamar Bonds.
His name…Norman Quebedeau.
Granted, you probably don’t know who that is by name, but if you’ve been on the internets in the last week…you’ve seen his work. Now, typically, this is where I’d drop the “I had a chance to talk baseball with so and so”…but this time, I talked courtroom sketch artistry with Quebedeau.
Sketch artistry…is that a thing?!? And what does the California-based artist think of the recent interest the blogosphere has had in his work?
HOVG: You’ve been covering the Barry Bonds perjury trial since it began. How did you go about getting into that courtroom to sketch the ordeal? What’s the process?
QUEBEDEAU: I simply did what everyone else who covers this or any other trial does…I went to the courthouse, asked where to apply for a media credential, filled out the form, submitted urine and blood samples and agreed to have a small computer chip surgically implanted in an undisclosed location. That damn barcode tattoo still hurts. It’s up to the judge to determine how much space will be made available to media in the courtroom and whether cameras are to be allowed.
HOVG: Are you the official sketch artist of the Bonds trial? If so…how does that work?
QUEBEDEAU: “Official” sketch artist? You must mean what’s called a “pool” artist or photographer who all the news organizations buy from. I was the pool artist on a couple of occasions at other events in other courtrooms. At this trial there are three sketch artists. One of us has all of her work shot by almost all of the tv and news services every day. You should ask her this question.
HOVG: Ouch. You’ve watched every second of the trial…what has surprised you the most so far?
QUEBEDEAU: The amount of money involved in professional sports. The balls of it all.
HOVG: You’ve covered plenty of high profile trials throughout your career…what has been your most memorable courtroom experience?
QUEBEDEAU: It becomes a blur after a while. What was your question?
HOVG: Lastly, you’ve been taking some shots lately throughout the blogosphere…anything you’d like to tell your detractors?
QUEBEDEAU: No.
HOVG: What’s next…how can people keep up with you and follow your work?
QUEBEDEAU: (Wednesday was) the first day of the trial that I will have missed. (I had an) urgent need to do my taxes and catch up on other stuff. Maybe I’ll be back in the courtroom Thursday, assuming that the whole case isn’t tossed out for some reason. I hope whatever comes next will pay a living wage and have more comfortable seating.
You can follow Norman Quebedeau’s work over at his website or through his Facebook page.
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