Nothing to Draw When Nothing to See Leaves SCOTUS Artists Idle

Art Lien has been tuning in for what’s both familiar and unrecognizable during the first-ever live audio of Supreme Court oral arguments.

Like others in the intimate courtroom on a typical argument day, Lien from his seat just to the right of the justices on the bench would look closely for visual cues about how they are interpreting a case.

Unlike others, he’d turn those expressions and gestures, like a brief discussion between Justices Clarence Thomas and Stephen Breyer, into a color portrait. His sketches, and those of other artists, of the justices and advocates are the only way all ...