About

Karen T Taylor Portrait Forensic Portrait Artist Self Biography Woman Introduction

about ktt

Karen T. Taylor has always been inspired creatively by faces and all their reflections. Her background in fine art and experience in forensic art have converged to produce a unique multi-faceted skill set. An anatomical understanding of faces from the inside out coupled with a finely honed artistic eye make Karen a sought-after specialist.

As a trailblazer in her field, Karen has achieved international recognition for contributions to crime fighting through forensic art, leading to multiple awards. Her textbook Forensic Art and Illustration, is the widely acknowledged standard for the field.

Authors and television writers regularly seek her input on script scenarios regarding faces and forensic art. CBS crime drama CSI: created a character based on Taylor and her hands and artwork have often appeared on the show. In addition, she creates historical skull-based facial reconstructions of the long dead for television productions as well as museums.

In between projects, Karen offers workshops for all artists who seek to accurately depict faces and shares knowledge learned in the trenches with the next generation of artistic crime-fighters.

Karen T Taylor Portrait Bench in England Greenery Park Pond Water Lake Woman Artist Introduction

Karen T. Taylor Image Portrait Sepia Girl Woman Artist Introduction Horse Saddle Texas American South

background

Following a childhood interest in art, Karen attended the School of Fine Arts at the University of Texas in Austin, focusing on illustration and sculpture. Further study led her to the Chelsea School of Fine Art in London, where she eventually became a freelance portrait sculptor for Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum.

After years in England, the native Texan returned home to embark on a career she would never have dreamed of in her youth, becoming the first forensic artist at the Texas Department of Public Safety. For the next quarter century and beyond, she has used her artistic skills to help resolve prominent criminal cases for law enforcement agencies throughout the world.

Her crime-fighting artwork for law enforcement agencies first caught the attention of FOX television’s America’s Most Wanted in 1990, resulting in a consultant relationship lasting over two decades. This proved to be the genesis for collaboration with numerous true crime and documentary media programs seeking to profile her successful cases. She also sometimes acts as an advisor to scripted television shows in an effort to promote forensic art methods and see them depicted accurately.

Today, after years of doing artwork to help capture the bad guys, Karen is particularly excited when she can artistically commemorate the good guys (and girls!), both historic and modern day.

Karen T Taylor Young Portrait Sepia Tone Old Photograph

a note from ktt about faces

“Faces are my passion; always have been, always will be. They reflect people.

Facial visages have inspired me creatively throughout my entire life. I love the way they reflect so much about each of us. Right or wrong, they define our sense of identity. They reflect our ancestry and age and act as our emotional display and communication systems. My first attempt at portrait sculpture was in high school and the obsession continued throughout college. My twenties found me drawing and sculpting faces in London and other far away places, bohemian days absorbed in observation and study of faces from all over the world.

The next three decades of my life were spent totally engrossed in the world of law enforcement doing face-related artwork in the most intense situations imaginable. Along the way, I became a staunch crime victims’ advocate. Today, I feel so very grateful for the opportunity to do tangible good in the world using the skills with which I was blessed. With an abiding desire for justice, I work hard to teach what I have learned to the artistic practitioners of tomorrow who will be dealing with facial identification.”

The measure of a life is its service.

 -  Motto of Sam Houston State University

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awards

KAREN HAS RECEIVED NUMEROUS AWARDS AND HONORS TO INCLUDE:
- America’s Most Wanted All Star, 1996
- Director’s Citation, Texas Department of Public Safety, 1997
- Texas Women of the Century, 1999
- Dondero Award, International Association for Identification, 2002

Karen was particularly honored to be the first woman to receive this prestigious award from the IAI for her “outstanding contribution in the field of scientific identification.”

- Instructor’s 20-yr Certificate of Accomplishment, Federal Bureau of Identification, 2005
- Portrait Sculpture “Mrs. Thomas Hart Benton” in Recent Works Exhibition, National Sculpture Society, 2010