Everything You Wanted Know About Forensic Art, from Real Forensic Artists

I’m Lisa Bailey, owner and operator of “Ask a Forensic Artist” (AAFA). I’ve been a  full-time forensic artist for the past 10 years, and started ths site because of the #1 question that I and other forensic artists got on a daily basis:

“How can I become a forensic artist too?” I’ll tell you everything I can, but the first thing you need to understand, accept, and be willing to do is join law enforcement. Period. It is outrageously rare to work in the field any other way.

Which brings me to the second reason I started this site:  I got sick and tired of seeing people spend thousands of dollars on classes, yet still be no closer to their goal than they were when they whipped out their credit card. I think every instructor has an obligation to be up-front and honest with their students, and let them know their real chances of getting any work. If they don’t, then in my opinion they have no business taking a person’s money.

Forensic art is a relatively new and fragile field. I want more people working, not with their noses pressed up against the window, wondering why they can’t ever seem to break in, and becoming bitter in the process.

So, I’m here to do all I can. Ask me anything about forensic art, even if you’re just curious and not considering it as a career. Have you ever wondered how a face can be  reconstructed onto a skull, how artists can digitally age someone from 15 years old to 50? You’ll learn it all here, and know the difference between what you see on TV (holograms of crime scenes, and gun-toting anthropologists!) and the reality.

If you’re already a forensic artist, then share your knowledge and insight with others: provide a case-study, tell everyone about a great class you took, or a helpful tip you discovered. Let everyone know how valuable this field is, how you’ve worked together with law enforcement to identify suspects, given names back to the unidentified, and ultimately helped the victims of crime.

Oh, and by the way, all of this information is free. Always was, always will be, with no sales pitches or ads either.

To make sure you don’t miss anything, subscribe (it’s free!) and you’ll get email updates whenever there’s a new post. There are interviews with real forensic artists, tips and tutorials, news updates, career information, training opportunities, and case studies. Also, there will be my blog postings about things happening in forensic art, or anything related to the field that happens to be of interest to me at the moment.

And if you have any questions along the way, something you want to know about that you haven’t seen here, just ask