The Project Defined

50 years ago, in the summer of 1973, I was glued to the televised coverage of the Watergate Hearings. Day after day, observing the faces and demeanor of the conspirators from the lowly plumbers to the top dogs Haldeman and Ehrlichman to the surprise starring role of Alexander P. Butterfield. I began sketching the characters who were about to bring down the president of the United States, Richard M Nixon. Now in the summer of 2023, a former president is about to face the music -- finally! More characters for me to observe and draw, this time I will be using official mug shots for the indicted, and official portraits for the prosecution and the presiding judges. A much bigger cast of characters. As I work on the renderings, I am trying to find the moment of inhalation as the picture was snapped and in that moment, what emotions were swirling around? Of note, I have spent far more time the past 50 years doing theatre rather than drawing. Now that I am officially ret...