Clark Stoeckley, the artist activist who created the WikiLeaks Truck, or “WikiLeaks Top Secret Mobile Information Collection Unit,” is now volunteering as a courtroom artist at the pre-trial hearing of Pfc. Bradley Manning.
“No one paid me for the sketches,” Stoeckley told the Daily Dot via email. “I just do them because I want some visual record of these proceedings and a portrait of Bradley.”
Stoeckley has previously been featured in the Daily Dot for his exploits at Occupy Wall Street and Occupy DC, as well as for his attempt to sell the WikiLeaks Truck and create a line of decals that would enable supporters to put a fleet of WikiLeaks vehicles on the road at low cost. The truck prominently features the words “Free Bradley Manning” and has been a rallying point of the Occupy movement for the past six months, while doing workhorse duty hauling materials and acting as a shelter from harsh weather.
The images were released on the WLCentral website, which focuses exclusively on WikiLeaks-related news. They were created March 15 and 16. Of the process, WLCentral says:
“Stoeckley starts with rough pencil sketches, then darkens those lines with ink, and fills the page with colored pencil. He then scans the drawing and works in Photoshop.”
In classic courtroom style, the images are impressionistic. But because Stoeckley has the time to use Photoshop after instead of meeting immediate deadlines, the surfaces are more finished, while the details are sketchier. This lends an interesting dimensional effect missing from most courtroom artists’ pastel or colored pencil drawings.
The series contains portraits of Private First Class Bradley Manning, prosecutor Captain Ashden Fein, defence counsel David Coombs, Judge Lind, and other courtroom denizens, and can be viewed in full on the WLCentral site.
According to Stoeckley, this is just the start of his trial coverage. After all, after 669 days in custody, Manning has yet to actually stand trial. There will be plenty of time to get to know his subject.
