When Erin Patterson appeared for her pre-trial hearing, Melbourne-based artist Anita Lester was tasked with creating a courtroom sketch of the mushroom murder – in just 15 minutes.
“That day was interesting as it was the first time where I wasn’t convinced she’d go to jail based on the things she was saying,” remembers Anita, who believes Patterson is “smart” and “secretive”.
But Anita also found Patterson’s physical appearance to be unthreatening despite her being on trial for murder.
“She looked like a little girl to me,” Anita tells Woman’s Day.
MOST EVIL PERSON IN THE WORLD
Anita, who has been working as a court artist for two years, says coming face to face with criminals on trial can be strange.
“They can be the most evil person in the world, but it’s like seeing the adult version of a kid in the naughty corner,” she says.
“I see these horrible people being vulnerable.”
With a background in childrens book illustration, animation and creating her own music, Anita shares she became a court sketch artist in 2023 by chance.
“A friend of mine who works at a major publication recommended me for just one sketch because their artist couldn’t make it to court that day,” she says.
“I guess my sketch resonated visually with them as some other publications ended up syndicating the sketch, and after some years, I’ve become the person at the top of the call list.”
Armed with her iPad, Anita can produce a sketch of a criminal on trial and send it for publication within 30 minutes.
She says her sketches start by looking at the accused’s eyes and mouth to pick up on their energy.
“I try to gauge where they’re looking and how they’re looking, and the mouth is also a really important part of the drawing,” Anita shares.
“Almost always, they also have very downturned mouths, so you end up having this look of malaise.”
But she also says that everyone she draws carries themselves in a very different manner.
“I did a drawing and the accused came out, it was a horrible case, and he was obviously was mentally unwell,” she tells.
“He was staring at me the whole time, winking at me and blowing kisses.”
LIKE A WORK OF FICTION
As Erin Patterson faces sentencing, Anita says she feels honoured to have her work attached to the infamous case she compares to a work of fiction.
“I think there’s something folkloric about [the case], it’s very visceral and it happens in this oceanside forest town where mushrooms grow – there’s something very storybook about it,” says Anita.
“What’s interesting is Erin is so relatable to people you know. She’s unremarkable, but then she does this incredible remarkable thing, and I mean that in a negative way.”
