Michael W. Streed

Facial composite assembly systems used to create criminal composites have existed for several years. Since their introduction into the market, companies that dabbled in the technology have had difficulty marketing their creations to law enforcement.

I believe facial composite assembly systems, whether mechanical or software-driven, fell short because forensic artists were rarely involved in product development. The failure of these facial composite assembly systems to gain a solid foothold in law enforcement left forensic artists feeling pretty confident about their work. Still, I always believed a better solution was out there and was determined to find it.

During my journey to create a better facial composite software solution, I was thankful to have met and trained under three veteran forensic artists involved in developing and implementing forensic facial imaging software programs. These men helped shape my worldview of the discipline. They influenced me to push the envelope and embrace a technology solution.  They were great mentors, and I want to take a brief moment to introduce them to you.

Fernando Ponce – Los Angeles Police Department

Fernando Ponce, a classically trained painter, held the job title – Police Composite Artist for many years before retiring in the mid-1990’s. I first met Ponce in 1979 when I attended a forensic art course he taught. Afterward, we struck up a friendship that lasted several years. He shared his dream of creating a facial composite software program to help officers manually construct composite images. Unfortunately, he was such a perfectionist that he never completed the program. The technology at the time didn’t meet his strict image standards.

Tom Macris – San Jose Police Department

Tom Macris was trained and educated as a commercial artist before joining the San Jose Police Department.  I was lucky to have met him several times and marveled at his talent.

During Tom’s career, he partnered with Visatex Corporation to create Compusketch, a facial composite software program. Although it was once popular with law enforcement, it eventually disappeared from the market.

Horace Heafner – Federal Bureau of Investigation

I met Horace in 1984 during an F.B.I. police artist conference I attended at the F.B.I. Academy. Horace’s career at the F.B.I. spanned over 40 years. After leaving the bureau, Heafner worked at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, where he helped pioneer their model Age Progression program. Horace quickly adapted to the software, blending the new tools with his art skills and training to become a sought-after expert on the subject of computerized age progression.

All three men pioneered the emergence of technology in forensic facial imaging. Though passionate about their work, they never allowed themselves to be affected by their elevated status within the forensic art discipline. Each of them had enough humility to keep an open mind about developing technology and its role in transforming the discipline.

To build on their legacy and continue their tradition of mentorship, SketchCop® Solutions, Inc. offers many learning opportunities. Digital tools, software products, and textbooks are coming soon to help you take your skills to the next level. We recently completed our online, instructor-led course, Killer Images: Creating Digital Faces for Law Enforcement, to introduce students to SketchCop Online, our web-based facial composite application, with another date coming soon.

Please visit www.SketchCop.com to sign up for our newsletter to learn about upcoming training opportunities.

Wishing you an Egg-ceptional Month

As we wrap up the first quarter of what was once ‘the new year’, we prepare for the religious holiday of Easter. It’s a great time to reflect upon the last couple of years as we spend valuable time with family. As the pandemic proved, work will wait. During that time it corrects itself and evolves while it awaits our return. Family – they’re the ones that will be there for us once our careers are finished and we transition to those that are new and exciting.

In the spirit of that, I’m going to jump off my soapbox and share the final part of my interview with Wacom Technologies.

As a brief reminder, my career as a forensic artist/forensic facial imaging expert developed concurrent to my police career.

When I completed my last shift on Saturday night July 8^th 2008. On Monday morning I was settling into my new role as a forensic facial imaging expert/consultant.

There is much more that goes into what I do. This interview with Wacom provides a glimpse of my career as it continues to evolve and develop.

So, without further delay…

What are your favorite reference books or materials to help you through your process?

My favorite resource is Gary Faigin’s book – Facial Expression. Although we try as forensic artists to neutralize a suspect’s facial expression, people rarely walk around ‘stone-faced’ Gary’s book helps artists understand facial anatomy and expression, particularly the role it plays in displaying emotion.

When did you start creating digital composites and what was your first Wacom tool?

My first pen tablet was a 1990’s era Wacom Graphire. My full conversion to digital composites came in 2015 when I acquired a Wacom Cintiq Companion for field use and a Wacom 22 HD for studio use.

Both units are used exclusively for creating composite sketches and other forensic art projects.

What is your favorite program to sketch in and why?

Corel Painter is my ‘go-to’ software program for creating composite sketches. I enjoy its range and versatility. I use it in combination with Adobe Photoshop CC. Both programs have specific functions that complement one another and fit well into my workflow.

Is there an advantage to drawing digitally in your field?

I believe using digital tools and software make me a better artist. Wacom products and select software programs help increase my speed and expand my artistic range. I can customize express keys and create libraries of commonly sketched elements.

How long does it usually take to finish a composite?

I sketch quickly, so It typically takes me 60-90 minutes complete a sketch. It’s my opinion that composite sketches are quick sketch character studies, like the process used by those who create movie monsters. The only difference is – the monsters I create are real!

What is it like to see your drawings in comparison to a suspect?

When my sketch resembles a suspect, it’s the best feeling ever. After all these years, I’m still amazed. But it’s a team effort and I will always credit the eyewitness. Without them, my work would not be possible.

What are your top 3 tips for creating accurate portraits without reference?

To create accurate portraits without reference, I recommend you:

• Be an active listener
• Have a good understanding of human anatomy
• Be a patient ‘people person’

What piece of advice would you give to someone interested in forensic facial imaging?

Your best opportunity for success is to become employed by a law enforcement agency.

Although some of the most successful forensic artists began their careers as civilian, freelance artists; it would have been a road more easily travelled if they were already on the ‘team’ in another capacity.

I hope you enjoyed the interview. If you have further questions or commend, drop me a line at: Contact@SketchCop.com.

May’s newsletter could wind up being a surprise for all of us. If you have any suggestions, let me know.

In the meantime, stay safe and be well and of course…keep on sketching!

Hello Everyone,

I hope that by now we’ve all adjusted our clocks and set them one hour ahead.

I was awake around 2 a.m. Watching carefully my phone displayed 1:50 a.m. Before I could get ready for that magical moment it changed to 3:00 a.m. An hour gone in an instant! Pretty anticlimactic if you ask me.

Now, with my clock correctly adjusted and my calendar in sync, it’s time for another newsletter.

This month I wanted to share an interview I submitted to Wacom Technologies’ social media department.

I worked with them on an advertising campaign in 2019. They asked me a few questions about my conversion to digital art and the resources & techniques I use to create facial composites. Because it was a lengthy interview, I’m going to share the first half with you in this month’s newsletter and in April we’ll share the final half of the interview.

I hope you enjoy it. If you have additional questions or if you need clarification, you can drop me an email at: Contact@SketchCop.com.

In the meantime, enjoy the interview.

We know this probably has a super long answer, but try your best to keep it short – how does one become a forensic facial imaging expert?

Becoming a successful forensic facial imaging expert takes tenacity and endurance. Convincing a skeptical investigator is difficult. But, with a bit of humility and lots of perseverance, you will increase your chance for success.

Were you in a different creative role before becoming a forensic facial imaging expert?

Before I became a forensic facial imaging expert; I was an aspiring animator. My career goal was to work for Disney. So, I spent much of my time drawing comic/cartoon figures rather than people.

When did you first find out you had a knack for making accurate portraits?

I never sketched a human face until I was an adult. It was always about cartoons. When I first learned that being a forensic artist was an option, I took a course from a famous LAPD police sketch artist. To be accepted into his course, he required we copy a test sketch he created of an old man’s portrait. After that, I became hooked on faces which led me to where I am today.

Could you walk us through the process of an interview with a witness to start a sketch?

Communication is key! It’s important for me to quickly gain the eyewitness’ trust. To begin, I spend a short period of time establishing rapport and building a bond. Much of my success is the ability to effectively communicate with the eyewitness. My art skills are secondary.

 

What’s the hardest part about drawing composites?

The hardest part is not turning the composite into your own sketch. You must be aware of, but mostly ignore the rules of classic facial proportion as it relates to individual facial features and how they relate to one another holistically. Composite sketches rarely, if ever, follow established rules. 

Are female faces harder or easier to draw than male? Is there a difference in difficulty in gender?

Not really. I rarely sketch female criminals. Statistically, they don’t commit as many crimes as males. Even so, you should still know enough about female facial anatomy to be prepared.

What are some aids you use to help you create more accurate composites?

I use two different facial reference catalogs created by other forensic artists, including miscellaneous images I have curated and cataloged myself. This helps eyewitnesses who cannot articulate select facial features and those who are more visual than verbal.

I hope you enjoyed the first part of my interview with Wacom Technologies. Come back next month for the final half of the interview.

Until then, stay safe, be well and as always…pick up a pencil and SKETCH something! 😊

With the holidays season behind us I thought I would take some time to talk about the people we miss and those who miss them.

The missing person phenomenon is often referred to as America’s ‘Silent Epidemic’. It’s not just the United States, it’s one shared universally. People are reported missing around the globe daily for a variety of reasons. Those cases that go unreported, create difficulty for law enforcement and medico-legal investigators tasked with identifying human remains that remain unidentified.

Sadly, it’s an all too familiar story. Skeletal or decomposing human remains are found by a person out walking their dog in the woods. Or they’re walking downtown in a big-city and peek down an alley where they see someone laying near a trash dumpster. If investigators are lucky enough to find identification nearby, or they’re able to match the remains to a missing person’s report or they make an identification using many of the available forensic science techniques, then it’s “case-closed”, unless of course the person is classified as the victim of a homicide. But if all the above fails, investigators will often reach out to their local forensic artist for help reconstructing the person’s face to make it suitable for media release.

Working on unidentified deceased persons is always challenging. In my opinion many are homeless drifters who are transitory by nature and far away from home. That posed a challenge for police many years ago, when the only avenue they had for release were local news stations or newspapers.

With many of the unidentified decedents likely being from outside the broadcast or circulation areas, they had little to no chance of being identified because their family or friends would be less likely to view the sketch. Today, social media, provides increased opportunities for a positive ID because it provides more reach and a much larger audience. These sketches garner even more interest around birthdays or holidays when we’re missing our friends and loved ones.

Though I have been creating faces from unidentified remains and skeletal cases for many years now, I have recently enjoyed some of my greatest successes.

During the last 6 months I’ve been asked by Baltimore Police Homicide Detectives to assist them with two young unidentified women. In both cases there were no signs of foul play. One was white and the other black. Both were found in alleys with no identification and nobody who could account for their identity.

Because they were found in various states of decomposition, it would be thoughtless and unprofessional to show them as they appeared in death. Not to mention it would be callous and undignified.

Homicide detectives hoped that I could use my experience as an investigator and skilled forensic artist to restore how they might have appeared in life. This would allow detectives to unleash the power of social media as a strategy to attract the attention of someone who might recognize them.

When I receive a request from law enforcement, I ask for ALL relevant facial photos. This allows me the opportunity to review the photos and select the best quality photograph. Especially those with a frontal or near frontal pose.

Next, I’ll open the photo in Adobe® Photoshop® Elements. They have a couple of great photo enhancement tools I often use – Adjust Facial Features and Open Closed Eyes.

To begin I open the photo and use Adjust Facial Features. It allows me to rotate, change the tilt and rotation the face. Once it’s in the proper position, I switch to the Open Eyes tool.

I recommend that you maintain a robust supply of facial reference photos. You’ll need them when you use Open Eyes. Select a set of open eyes that look similar in shape to the deceased person’s closed eyes. Open Eyes will seamlessly transfer them and voila! Your deceased person suddenly looks alive.

Now, it’s time to save the updated image and move back into Adobe Photoshop CC. To clean up facial trauma I use the Healing Brush and/or the Clone Stamp. To make other adjustments, I use Liquify. To update hair and clothing, I pull from my trusty supply of facial reference photographs.

To finish, I transfer the image to Corel® Painter where I create a new layer. This allows me to make some light brush strokes and enhance certain features, such as using hairbrush tools to touch up their hair. The completed work is a hybrid of photo and sketch.

I rarely, if ever, create a NEW sketch. It’s my opinion that important information can sometimes get lost in translation. That’s why I always try to work directly from a photograph. Some artists are very good at sketching from a photograph to create a portrait without sacrificing the likeness. Really, all that matters is the person is identified, and their most valued possession – their name, is returned to them.

The persons in the Baltimore Police cases highlighted above were identified within 48 hours of their release on the department’s Facebook page. Luckily, their friends and/or relatives saw the department’s post and recognized them from my sketches. Posting photos of wanted persons and sketches of unidentified remains creates an unheard-of level of engagement. The posts that displayed these images were shared over 1,000 + times.

Despite the efforts of law enforcement, medico-legal and volunteer groups many cases remain unresolved. Go online and you can find their websites for reference. One that I use consistently is NamUs.org.

Forensic artists who are reading this probably have your own technique for producing these images. Investigators in our audience who have open, unidentified cases should consider producing facial images to post online.

Here at SketchCop® Solutions we are working with organizations to add new tools and training to offer our law enforcement clients. I am currently undergoing training to learn Craniofacial Superimposition techniques as an identification tool, including access tools driven by artificial intelligence technology that we can’t wait to share.

In the meantime, I still try to squeeze in some time to practice sketching. I hope you’re all working to improve your creative edge as well.

Oh…one more thing. Don’t forget to stop by www.SketchCopAcademy.com and check out our new course – Forensic Art in the Age of COVID-19. We’ll be recording the audio for our next course – Introduction to Forensic Art which should be ready by our next newsletter.

In the meantime, stay safe and be well. And as always – Keep on Sketching!

Welcome to the New Year!

Welcome back from the holidays! It’s good to see you again. I hope you enjoyed a peaceful and enjoyable holiday.

I spent much of the holiday organizing and preparing for 2022. Though it was a bit slow, we managed to take in some casework and making decisions on new service offerings, such as 3D scanning and placing the finishing touches on a couple of refreshed and updated training courses.

3D Scanning

As you can image, we are excited about the pending arrival of Revopoint’s POP2 3D portable scanner.

I’ve been watching this product for awhile on social media. This affordable 3D scanning solution allows the user to attach the scanning device to your iPhone or laptop. From the examples they’ve shared, it creates a decent scan.

What interested me most was their recently closed Kickstarter campaign to fund a more accurate product. To give you an example of one improvement, they’ve improved their 0.3 mm accuracy on their flagship POP scanner to 0.1 mm accuracy on their soon-to-be released POP2 model.

My interest in adding the POP2 scanner to our forensic toolkit is strictly for scanning human skulls for forensic facial approximation cases. In some cases, the requesting agency hasn’t scanned the skull themselves. Not everyone has access to a CT scanner or an expensive 3D scanner.

The Revopoint POP2 scanner ranges between $500-to just under $1,000 USD. Those of us who supported the Kickstarter campaign are expected to receive delivery in February 2022.

Before you run out and buy one yourself, let me do some test scans first and report my findings in an upcoming newsletter. If I give it a ‘two SketchCop® thumbs up’, I will include a link to their store and all the details you need – including the minimum accessories you’ll need to properly scan a skull.

If you’re not into facial approximations, but you’re interested in scanning objects for 3D printing as a hobby or for automotive, that’s cool too. Working with 3D laser scanners that range between $5,000-$60,000 has been fun, BUT the practical side of me believes the Revopoint will provide enough accuracy and detail to accomplish my goals in a forensic setting. In the meantime, stay tuned to see how this works out.

Speaking of skulls. We’re firming up the details on a NEW and exciting forensic facial ID service with international implications. Again, keep your eye out in upcoming newsletters!

Training Update

On February 1^st, 2022, we’ll be releasing two training courses – FA 099 Forensic Art in the Age of COVID-19 and FA 100 Introduction to Forensic Art. We are numbering them similar too college-level courses as we hope to integrate them into criminal justice programs at colleges and universities at home and abroad.

And though we intended to deliver them live, I think the best way is to offer them is in a self-paced environment to respect the busy lives all of you have. It’s not always practical to attend some training opportunities at a set date and time. Our schedules don’t always support rigid schedules. Perhaps we can do some hybrid training where we can meet online occasionally for some Q & A. What do you think of that?

To preview next month we’ll provide the links to the training courses and perhaps I’ll do a case examination involving challenges I’ve experienced during a case where I provided a facial composite. We should also be able to announce and welcome some new organizations into the SketchCop® Family.

This year started out fast and furious for me. How did it start for you? I hope you are already enjoying some cool stuff in your personal and professional lives. Care you share? If you do, drop me a quick note at: Contact@SketchCop.com.

In the meantime, stay safe, be well, bust out a pencil and keep on sketching!

Hello everyone! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your families from all of us at SketchCop® Solutions!

It’s hard to believe we are closing in on another Christmas, not to mention the end of another year.

Each year it seems like the months go by faster. Nonetheless, I appreciate your continued support our newsletter and the SketchCop® Academy.

For years I’ve been talking about offering training, but it seems like every year the casework keeps getting in the way. In 2022 that will change as we are making training a priority!

With that said, we are going to start the new year off right. On February 1st, 2022 we will release our introductory course – Forensic Art 100.

Forensic Art 100 examines the personal traits and professional skills necessary to become an effective forensic artist. The course is taught by Michael W. Streed, an I.A.I. Certified Forensic Artist and one of the world’s most experienced Forensic Facial Imaging Experts.

During the course Michael will share the personal traits & professional skills one must possess or be able to develop to become an effective forensic artist. This includes, how to develop your signature style, the art media that best supports your style and a case examination using one of Michael’s sketches that helped law enforcement quickly solve a case. At the conclusion of the course attendees will have the opportunity to take the SketchCop® Challenge where they will be asked to create a portrait drawing and receive valuable instructor feedback. Registration information will be sent in a separate e-mail.

Those who wish to continue their training can enroll in our follow up course – Forensic Art 101.

Forensic Art 101 will introduce attendees with basic fundamentals for creating a facial composite. Topics include – interviewing eyewitnesses, basic facial anatomy, how to create a facial sketch, testifying in court and much, much more. Details and registration info to follow.

For those who don’t want to become a forensic artist but are interested in learning how to draw faces using digital drawing apps for tablets and PC’s might be interested in some of the micro courses we have planned.

Distance learning is an effective way to learn new skills and reinforce prior learning. We are working on migrating the SketchCop Academy to an updated learning platform that will allow us broader options to teach and provide feedback. SketchCop Solutions is fortunate to have Professor Terri Armenta guide our course development and help us deliver interesting and easily digestible content.

This year promises to be a breakout year for many of us. Stay with us as we get ramped up and ready for clock to strike midnight and propel us into 2022.

As a reminder, be on the lookout for the course registration information. As stated earlier, the information will come in a separate communication.

In the meantime, stay safe, be well and as always – Keep on Sketching!