Up next
Author
Share this @internewscast.com
FacebookXRedditPinterest
For most Australians, it’s an ordinary Monday.
However, two hours away from Melbourne, in the small rural town of Morwell, a courtroom is abuzz with activity.
Journalists from all over the country have gathered, equipped with notepads, eager to capture every detail of the day’s events.
Amidst the crowd of reporters, artist Anita Lester is a standout.
“Someone like me comes in, and I’m on the iPad, sweating … sketching furiously,” she explains.
The press team has spent the past five weeks at the murder trial concerning Erin Patterson, reporting on the notorious mushroom cook killer for eager audiences.

Viewing rooms for members of the press have been set up as public interest in the case outstrips capacity at Latrobe Valley Law Courts. But Lester has a front row seat to proceedings.

“This particular case has just captured the nation,” she says.

It’s like a full-on folkloric story.

On the afternoon of 2 June, Patterson is about to take the stand, and Lester has her iPad and digital pencil at the ready to immortalise the moment.
“The adrenaline is so high when the suspect walks out onto the stand. You suddenly get mounted with so much pressure.”

Her drawing of Patterson will soon become synonymous with the Mushroom Trial, thrusting Lester into the spotlight, too.

A woman in the back of a prison van

Erin Patterson was found guilty of killing her estranged husband’s parents, Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson. She was also convicted of the attempted murder of Heather’s husband, Ian. Source: AFP / Martin Keep

Becoming a courtroom artist

“I have a relationship with a newspaper that just invited me to do it on a whim,” she says.
Other publications took a liking to Lester’s art and syndicated the drawings.
“Then I started getting calls from all the different networks, and now I seem to be one of the first people [that] people call.”
The 39-year-old multidisciplinary artist has since drawn other high-profile figures, including gangland boss Tony Mokbel and alleged Easey Street murderer Perry Kouroumblis.

A drawing of a man sitting in a courtroom

Notorious gangland figure Tony Mokbel is among the other high-profile figures Lester has produced courtroom sketches of. Source: AAP / Anita Lester

Cameras are banned from most Australian courtrooms to protect those on trial, along with witnesses and the jury.

Media outlets commission artists to fill the visual void, continuing the centuries-old tradition of courtroom art.

Lester had merely two minutes to sketch Patterson during her initial court appearance at the 2023 filing hearing, but had more time when Patterson testified in June.

Capturing ‘curmudgeoned’ Patterson

Recalling the moment Patterson stepped up, Lester says she just stared for a minute, taking a mental snapshot before putting pen to paper.
“I just like, do the roughest, ugliest sketch you’ve ever seen, just to put things down,” she says.

Unlike those around her who are hungry for information, Lester tries to block out details that can be “quite interesting”, “full-on”, and “a little bit traumatising”.

It’s like kind of a meditation. You have to try really hard not to listen to what is actually going on in the courtroom.

After 10 minutes of drawing, the courtroom closes.
Lester explains: “I run outside, I find the closest seat, I put on headphones and I just draw and finish the drawing, retaining the information that I’ve collected in those minutes.”

Two hours after getting the call to come into court, her drawing is on online news sites.

A drawing of a woman appearing in court

When Lester first saw Patterson in court in 2023, she only had two minutes to draw her. Source: AAP / Anita Lester

Lester is one of the first artists allowed to draw digitally in an Australian courtroom.

Although she concedes digital art lacks some of the nuances of pastel and charcoal, she says they are “so impractical” to use. Instead, she customises digital brushes with a trail of “digital dust” to mimic physical art supplies.

“The first time I was in court, there was someone who had this amazing little portable station, but I was looking at him half the time thinking, ‘what a nightmare’.”
Instead of copying exactly what she sees, Lester focuses on getting the emotions of the subject.
“If I’m being critical about my earlier drawings, I was fixating a lot on trying to get accurate representations of the person.

“Perhaps why this particular drawing that I’ve done of Erin has been so visceral for people is because I captured her misery.”

While there are no hard and fast rules for courtroom art, Lester says she sticks to tradition, allowing some of her style to come through without being overly impressionistic and always prioritising getting a likeness of the subject.
“I think part of the thing that people really like about courtroom art is there is a predictability to what you’re looking at.”
She says court artists need to put their “journalist hat” on.
“You are giving the people what they want. You’re giving them this experience that you’re having, but the experience of the story that is being told as well,” she says.
Distress was at the heart of Lester’s courtroom experience with Patterson.

“I was sitting there and she looked so curmudgeoned the whole time.”

A pile of courtroom sketches drawn by Anita Lester

Anita Lester focuses on capturing the emotions of the subjects of her courtroom sketches, rather than copying exactly what she sees. Source: SBS News / Rania Yallop

So Lester chose to exaggerate the emotions she saw on the stand.

“You don’t cheat the details,” she says.

I think you have to be as honest as you can.

Lester’s earlier court portraits have depicted subjects along with details of the surrounding courtroom, which she feels detracted from the emotion of the subject. So she decided to take a different approach to Patterson in June.
“I just wanted to focus on her. She was so distressed this day in court, I actually felt a bit bad for her, if I’m being totally honest,” Lester says.

“I wanted to take away any distractions.”

Balancing storytelling and sensitivity
Lester is often exposed to details hidden from the public, but the intimacy of the courtroom exposes something else, too.
“I think what people don’t realise when people are on trial [is that] they’re terrified. They’re being put under a microscope,” she says.
Even when people are the “guiltiest in the world”, Lester says something sensitive is revealed in the courtroom setting.

“When the lines are a bit blurred, you are privy to seeing something more vulnerable and almost childlike.”

A woman with long, dark, curly hair smiles. Behind her are three portraits on wooden easels

Anita Lester is a multidisciplinary artist based in Melbourne. Source: SBS News / Rania Yallop

Lester says the weirdest part of the job is being noticed by the accused, often being stared at the whole time.

But the whole experience of the Mushroom Trial has been surreal, with people contacting her daily about the case, including sending fan art.
“That was just a tiny little snippet of my life, but now I’m intrinsically tied to this conversation,” she says.

“It’s wild, it’s two hours of my life [that] has become the thing that I am now associated with, which is so weird.”
Share this @internewscast.com
FacebookXRedditPinterest
You May Also Like
'They were in tears': Witness recounts dramatic childcare centre lockdown

“Witness Describes Emotional Childcare Center Lockdown; Says Kids Were ‘In Tears'”

A violent intruder has smashed his way into a Queensland childcare centre,…
The system, which supports multiple languages, also offers the option to send a digital menu to the customer's mobile phone.

Australian AI System May Revolutionize Takeaway Ordering

Artificial intelligence is set to enter the restaurant scene in Adelaide through…

Son of Norway’s Crown Princess, Marius Borg Hoiby, Faces Rape Charges

The son of Norway’s crown princess has been charged with rape, domestic…
President Donald Trump meets with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Aug. 18, 2025, in Washington.

Trump and Zelensky’s Meeting Yields Positive Outcomes. What’s Next?

In addition to this, the summit was the second recently held by…

iiNet Data Breach: Personal Information of 280,000 Customers, Including Emails and Phone Numbers, Compromised

Hundreds of thousands of customers of Australia’s second-largest internet provider have had…
SA premier commits to early changes after DV royal commission findings released

South Australian Premier Pledges Immediate Reforms Following Domestic Violence Royal Commission Report

The depth of the domestic violence issue in South Australia has been…
Group of veterinarians doctor checking health status of cattle at cows farm. Diary farm health control.

Groundbreaking Vaccine Aims to Safeguard Australia’s $80 Billion Livestock Sector

Foot and mouth disease (FMD) poses a grave threat to cattle, sheep,…

Tasmanian Liberals Hold Power as Crossbench Rejects Labor’s No-Confidence Motion

Tasmania’s minority Liberal premier has been given the parliamentary green light to…
An old photo album.

Australia’s ‘Sandwich Generation’: An Overlooked Crisis on the Horizon

Australia is hurtling towards a healthcare crisis, with more than 2 million…

Trump-Zelenskyy Meeting: Positive Atmosphere, Peace Negotiations, and a Call with Putin – What’s Next?

United States President Donald Trump recently held a significant meeting with Ukrainian…
US experts weigh breast implant safety amid new concerns

Surge in Australians Using Buy Now, Pay Later for Cosmetic Procedures

Up to four million Australians are using buy now pay later services…
Mark Lim has been forced to temporarily close the street library outside his home after being robbed four times in a year.

‘I’m Angry’: Street Library Targeted by Thieves Four Times in a Year

Mark Lim has been forced to temporarily close the street library outside…