Workshops

Karen T Taylor Forensic Anthropology Center Texas State University 3D Facial Reconstruction Course Class Basic Master

workshops

Currently, Karen T. Taylor teaches several identification-related forensic art workshops, both drawing and sculpture, serving as Adjunct Faculty at the Forensic Anthropology Center at Texas State University (FACTS). Courses vary from year to year. See the FACTS Current Workshop Schedule for specific class descriptions, availability and the dates offered. Registrations are managed by the university. Space is limited.

The FACTS venue is one of the premier locations for taphonomic research and skeletal assessment and identification. Spatially, it is the largest facility of this type in the world. This multi-faceted center is devoted to world-class education, service and outreach to advance forensic anthropology and related sciences.

FACTS Current Workshop Schedule

Karen T Taylor Teaching Course Forensic Facial Reconstruction Sculpture

Since 1986, Karen has been devoted to providing professionals worldwide with high-quality, practical, hands-on training about faces and facial anatomy. Based upon years of diverse casework and proven results, her forensic art workshops are intended to simulate genuine case experience. Her goal in fine art workshops is to demystify anatomy and hone the artistic eye. This helps artists understand faces from the inside out so they can portray them in the medium of their choice.

In addition to art schools and universities, Karen’s workshops have been held at law enforcement, medical and dental training facilities. Her teaching experience includes over two decades of conducting forensic art training twice annually at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia. (The FBI Forensic Facial Imaging course has since been discontinued.) She taught at the well known Scottsdale Artists’ School in Arizona for over thirty years. Curricula for her various drawing and sculpture workshops have been designed to benefit fine artists, forensic artists, and many other technical practitioners who depict faces in their work. To see descriptions of her various courses, scroll down to the section below. Consult the FACTS Current Workshop Schedule to find upcoming training. On occasion, courses not already scheduled may be commissioned by special request.

Forensic Art and Illustration

by Karen T. Taylor

Find it on Amazon

Forensic Art and Illustration is the first book to provide complete coverage of all aspects of the field, and includes much previously unavailable information.

Beginning with the first-ever in-depth documentation of the history of forensic art, this book proceeds logically through explanations of facial anatomy, practical methodologies and techniques, case examples, and a glossary of terms. More than 700 illustrations and photographs depict art methods used in identifying and locating crime victims and criminal offenders. Numerous successful examples, taken from actual solved cases, demonstrate applications of the methods and techniques presented. Ideal for both forensic artists who want to improve their skills and those who work with them in law enforcement, Forensic Art and Illustration is a practical guide as well as a complete look at the state of the art of forensic illustration today.

Forensic Art and Illustration is used in all of Karen’s workshops.

Karen T Taylor Workshop Overview Flat Lay

Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.

 -  Edgar Degas, Artist

karen’s classes

available classes vary from year to year

Basic 3D Facial Reconstruction Sculpture

This hands-on workshop presents the forensic technique of sculpting a face based on the bony architecture of the skull. Attendees learn step-by-step procedures for creating an accurate skull-to-face likeness along with the placement and function of head and neck muscles. Participants will build musculature and facial features using oil-based plastilene clay. Anatomical skull models are provided for in-class use only. We will work on identical skull castings to incorporate elements of the Anatomical and the Tissue Depth Facial Reconstruction approaches using a Combination Method. Upon completion of the sculptures, attendees will see and compare an actual life photo of the deceased person whose skull they have reconstructed.
Topics covered include: Skeletal and muscular anatomy of the head and neck • Sculpting the facial features • Principles of expression and aging • Finishing and refinement techniques
Sculpture experience beneficial but not required
Master 3D Facial Reconstruction Sculpture

Most forensic art techniques are refined through repeated case experience. This master sculpture workshop offers practitioners a unique simulation of actual field work and encourages application and development of skills. Attendees study relevant aspects of bony and muscular anatomy and review the step-by-step facial reconstruction process. Current research regarding tissue depth data sets and individual feature development will be discussed. Utilizing oil-based plastiline clay, we will learn more about predicting and sculpting each facial feature based on skull morphology. Finishing techniques, sculpting hair and practical options for dealing with incomplete skulls will be demonstrated. Skulls of various ages and ancestries will be used during class and participants will have the opportunity to see the life photos of the deceased person upon completion of their forensic sculptures.
Audience: This workshop benefits both technical and fine artists who depict the human face in their work. Practical applications include law enforcement, museum, medical and other environments, including traditional portraiture.
Pre-requisite: Basic 3D Facial Reconstruction workshop
Drawing to Depict the Deceased for Identification

This drawing workshop provides an intensive five days of advanced 2D techniques to facilitate identification of unknown deceased persons. Two primary methods will be covered: postmortem depiction based on deceased facial photos and 2D craniofacial reconstruction based on skull photos. The first part of the workshop addresses postmortem changes in physical remains as they effect an artist’s ability to accurately depict the face. The remainder of the week will be devoted to facial reconstruction drawing from the skull. Each class exercise is designed to simulate actual case experience in a compressed time frame. Cases will vary regarding cause and manner of death and there will be individuals of various ancestries and ages. Life photos of the deceased person will be seen upon completion of each drawing which is the most significant learning opportunity for this experience-based work.
Topics: Taphonomic changes that affect the face • Drawing from morgue or crime scene photos • Skull photography tips for 2D reconstruction • Morphological relationships between skull and face
Understanding the Human Face

If you struggle to get the desired degree of likeness or just the right expression in your portraits, this workshop will help. It benefits artists working in any medium who seek to accurately and naturalistically depict facial images.
As artists, a better comprehension of the human face in all its complexity and variation can lend an added dimension to our portraits. This unique study-oriented workshop will involve exercises in both drawing and sculpture. We will cover basic craniofacial anatomy, depiction of individual facial features, facial variations due to sex and ancestry, subtleties of growth and aging, along with the myriad expressions that can be read from our faces. Classwork and supplemental handouts become tools for future reference. Each artist will master new skills for greater insight into portraiture and have the potential to incorporate a quality of understanding to augment facial observation alone.
Beginner to advanced • Sculpting experience helpful, but not required
Comprehensive Composite Drawing

This workshop is designed to improve the skill of the practicing police artist. However, students who are competent in their drawing skills but have no knowledge of compositry will be able to complete this course. The purpose of this class is to enhance the artist’s technical skills through “hands-on” practice and to give insight into the artist/witness relationship. A great deal of information is presented through lectures, slide presentations and demonstrations. Some of the material covered will be facial anatomy, proportion, perspective and the biological variations of age, race and sex. Witness memory, interviewing techniques, courtroom testimony, techniques and uses of art materials, equipment and reference files will also be covered.
Beginner to advanced
Master Composite Drawing

This intensive five-day master workshop focuses on advanced techniques for composite drawing from eyewitness descriptions. It is designed to expand the skills of the practicing police artist and those with prior training in the field. Complex functions of memory and trauma along with interviewing for optimum description retrieval will be explored. Facial drawing techniques such as progressive refinement, chiaroscuro, tactile lines and textural depiction will enhance the attendee’s abilities to convey the diversity of facial forms and accessories. Functional anatomical analysis of the head and neck further augments the artist’s understanding. Overall, students gain greater facility for interviewing and upgrade their drawing quality, versatility and accuracy.
Pre-requisite: Comprehensive Composite Drawing • Must be at an advanced level in facial drawing and/or forensic art
Advanced 2D Identification Techniques

This workshop will focus on two-dimensional forensic art techniques other than composite drawing. Facial muscles and facial aging will be reviewed as preparation for exercises in adult facial update drawing (used in cases of fugitives missing for a period of years). The remainder of the class will deal with drawings to aid in the identification of physical remains, including postmortem drawings from photographs of bodies of deceased persons. Two-dimensional facial reconstruction will also be introduced, utilizing skull photographs, both frontal and profile. Upon completion of each postmortem drawing and facial reconstruction exercise, students will view a photograph of the person in life for comparison, providing the effect of actual case experience.
Must be advanced level in facial and/or composite drawing
Master 2D Facial Reconstruction

This master workshop provides an intense five days of advanced techniques for skull-to-face reconstruction drawing. The 2-D Technique will be reviewed with emphasis on accurate prediction of the facial soft tissues from bony clues. This includes subtleties of head and neck muscle attachments, individual feature development and anomalies. Methods for repairs of missing areas of the skull and missing mandibles will be discussed. The racially varied cases done during class, including child and elderly individuals, provide the opportunity to simulate genuine case experience in a compressed timeframe. Upon completion of each facial reconstruction exercise, students will view a photograph of the person in life for comparison.
Pre-requisite: Advanced 2-Dimensional Identification Techniques Workshop • Must be at an advanced level in facial drawing and/or forensic art