Sketching class draws police, artists who want to battle crime

EVERETT — Bill McCormick was amazed as he compared his first attempt at sketching a criminal suspect with his third try.

In a short time the Snohomish County sheriff's detective was able to transform a cartoonish-looking flat face and ovular head into a realistic-looking sketch. He hadn't taken art classes since high school, but during five days of training last week he learned how to be a composite artist.

More than a dozen people, from police officers to wannabe artists, took a composite-drawing class in Everett last week. During the 40-hour class taught by an Idaho couple, students, who ranged from people with no art training to college art majors, were taught the intricacies of sketching a crime suspect's face.

McCormick and Danny Pitocco, his partner in the sheriff's crimes-against-children unit, didn't know the first thing about being composite artists when their boss asked them to learn the drawing techniques. Both men, like other police officers who showed up at the Everett Police Department's South Precinct last week, said their agencies were short on composite artists.

"We found that, in the past, the training is very valuable for us when we contact victims and are identifying suspects," Sheriff Rick Bart said.

He used the example of the composite drawing of Salt Lake City drifter Brian David Mitchell, the man who allegedly kidnapped Elizabeth Smart from her bedroom last year, as a reason that police departments need artists on staff. That drawing led to Mitchell's arrest last week when he was recognized on a Salt Lake City-area street.

Composite drawings are usually sketches of a crime suspect's face drawn from a description given by a victim or witness. The sketches can also be of stolen items, lost pets or cars driven by suspects.

McCormick said becoming a composite artist will not only allow him to help other detectives, but also help him investigate his own cases by spending more time chatting with victims and witnesses while he draws.

Carrie Parks, who runs Stuart Parks Forensics Consultants with her husband, Rick, said it takes an average of about two hours for a composite to be completed. During that time, victims and witnesses are interviewed by artists and asked to recollect detailed information about a suspect's hair and eye color, bone structure and other facial features.

Parks, who used to be a forensic illustrator at the North Idaho Regional Crime Lab in Coeur d'Alene, said students are taught to look at faces as a series of shapes and distinct components. She believes anyone, even people with no artistic training, can learn to draw realistic sketches.

Ellen Ito said she signed up for the Everett classes to put some of her artistic training to use.

Ito, a Seattle resident who works as a legal messenger, studied art at Whitworth College in Spokane. She has taken forensic anthropology classes and hopes to become a forensic artist.

She says she has never wanted to become a police officer but is interested in helping law enforcement with suspect and crime-scene-reconstruction drawings.

"You don't have to be art-school trained to be here," Pitocco said as he carefully erased and redrew a suspect's chin.

Pitocco, who has been a police officer for 31 years, said drawing is his latest form of relaxation. He's bought his own art supplies and told his family to expect his drawings as Christmas gifts for the next several years.

"This is a hobby that will pay the dividends at work," he said.

Jennifer Sullivan: 425-783-0604 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com