{"id":25952428,"date":"2025-11-07T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-07T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/?p=25952428"},"modified":"2025-11-10T10:12:39","modified_gmt":"2025-11-10T18:12:39","slug":"should-you-become-a-forensic-artist-everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-career","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/should-you-become-a-forensic-artist-everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-career\/","title":{"rendered":"Should You Become A Forensic Artist? Everything you need to know about the career"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Young people who love art don't have to choose between following their dreams and finding a career. There are so many other creative careers out there beyond the typical ones we often hear about like graphic designer, animator, comic book artist, or illustrator.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>This post is one in a series of Wacom articles exploring a variety of Creative Careers. If you're a young, artistic person thinking about your future and want to check out all of our Creative Careers content, <a href=\"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/creativecareers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">click here<\/a>! If you're an art or CTE teacher or professor, scroll to the bottom for some special <strong>Creative Careers resources<\/strong> from Wacom. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One lesser-known creative career that can be extremely rewarding is <strong>Forensic Artist.<\/strong> In the below video, forensic artist Natalie Murry talks about her work, how she pursued the career, what it entails, the Wacom tools she uses, and why it's so rewarding.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"Wacom Creative Careers: Natalie Murry, Forensic Artist\" width=\"1080\" height=\"608\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/0cviEppXEAQ?list=PL5JDtjDGWsw3pamDSa1xXxS1VZOi_2D06\"  allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/nataliemurry.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Natalie Murry<\/a> began her career as a forensic artist while she was a police officer. She received the bulk of her forensic art training at the FBI Academy in Quantico, VA, but continued with more advanced workshops over the years in other locations around the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Forensic art primarily consists of creating composite drawings, doing postmortem imaging, working on age progressions, and generating 2D and 3D reconstructions from unidentified remains. Murry specializes in 2D reconstructions. Since retiring from law enforcement, she has freelanced with her own business, Natalie Murry Forensic Art.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She was one of the first forensic artists to begin drawing digitally, and currently works primarily on a Wacom Cintiq Pro pen display. Murry has done reconstructions and postmortem imaging for police agencies and medical examiners all around the country and has trained civilian and law enforcement artists in her digital forensic art methods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She has written two books that were published by Taylor Francis, \u201cDigital Forensic Art Techniques\u201d and \u201cReading the Skull: Advanced 2D Reconstruction.\u201d She currently lives and works in the Austin, TX area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1080\" height=\"607\" src=\"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2025\/11\/Natalie-Murry-Photo-Cintiq-1080x607.jpg\" alt=\"Natalie Murry Photo Cintiq\" class=\"wp-image-25952433\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2025\/11\/Natalie-Murry-Photo-Cintiq-1080x607.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2025\/11\/Natalie-Murry-Photo-Cintiq-980x551.jpg 980w, https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2025\/11\/Natalie-Murry-Photo-Cintiq-480x270.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) and (max-width: 980px) 980px, (min-width: 981px) 1080px, 100vw\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What does a&nbsp;forensic artist&nbsp;do?&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Forensic artists work with law enforcement to draw images of people suspected of or&nbsp;victim&nbsp;to&nbsp;crimes.&nbsp;They might interview eyewitnesses&nbsp;in an attempt to&nbsp;create a likeness of a suspect,&nbsp;use&nbsp;skulls&nbsp;or&nbsp;other data to reconstruct what someone might have looked like&nbsp;while&nbsp;alive, or specialize in age progression.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Where do&nbsp;forensic artists work?&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Many forensic artists transition&nbsp;into the career&nbsp;from&nbsp;previous&nbsp;positions in&nbsp;the criminal justice field.&nbsp;While some work&nbsp;freelance, most are employed in major cities with large law enforcement budgets.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Who might enjoy this career?&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Someone&nbsp;with a passion for criminal justice&nbsp;who wants to&nbsp;support law enforcement&nbsp;using their artistic&nbsp;skill.&nbsp;They must be comfortable&nbsp;engaging with the details of criminal acts, including violence&nbsp;and crime scenes, and&nbsp;be empathetic and mentally strong&nbsp;enough to&nbsp;regularly&nbsp;converse&nbsp;with survivors of crime.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1080\" height=\"607\" src=\"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2025\/11\/Natalie-Murry-Photo-Skull-1080x607.jpg\" alt=\"Natalie Murry Photo Skull\" class=\"wp-image-25952434\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2025\/11\/Natalie-Murry-Photo-Skull-1080x607.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2025\/11\/Natalie-Murry-Photo-Skull-980x551.jpg 980w, https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2025\/11\/Natalie-Murry-Photo-Skull-480x270.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) and (max-width: 980px) 980px, (min-width: 981px) 1080px, 100vw\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What skills are needed for forensic art?\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Passion for and training in criminal justice&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Empathy and mental toughness to engage regularly with details of violence and crime&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Artistic ability to combine eyewitness accounts, crime scene data, and other information to&nbsp;quicly&nbsp;generate sketches and illustrations&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What kind of education is necessary?&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Most forensic artists study criminal justice or pursue a law enforcement career, for example as a police officer, first.\u00a0Short courses in the different disciplines of forensic art are available, such as the Forensic Art Certification courseload offered by the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theiai.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.theiai.org\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">International Association for Identification<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What tools do&nbsp;forensic&nbsp;artists&nbsp;use?&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Digital cameras if taking photos of crime scenes for later illustration<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Traditional art mediums (forensic artists are often called upon to create sketches at crime scenes or police stations)&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Digital art software for detailed illustration, 3D modeling, or age progression&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Digital art tools such as Wacom Cintiq Pro pen displays&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What is the salary&nbsp;range&nbsp;for&nbsp;forensic artists?&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Average salaries of&nbsp;<strong>$60-80,000 USD<\/strong>&nbsp;per year,&nbsp;but there is a lot of variety depending on location and specialty.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1080\" height=\"607\" src=\"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2024\/10\/Student-using-Wacom-SCGSAH-3-1080x607.jpg\" alt=\"Student using Wacom SCGSAH 3\" class=\"wp-image-817746\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2024\/10\/Student-using-Wacom-SCGSAH-3-1080x607.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2024\/10\/Student-using-Wacom-SCGSAH-3-980x551.jpg 980w, https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2024\/10\/Student-using-Wacom-SCGSAH-3-480x270.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) and (max-width: 980px) 980px, (min-width: 981px) 1080px, 100vw\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Are you an art and\/or CTE educator?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We've created a poster version of this Creative Career profile, in case you'd like to give your students easy access to this information! It even feature a QR code that links directly to the video above. <a href=\"https:\/\/wacomaad-my.sharepoint.com\/:f:\/g\/personal\/abeni_jones_wacom_com\/EoxCek1z6AtOko4iXU5xlZABAacNJLwcWTlPUwwWx1uzvA?e=cOP9L0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Click here<\/a> to access the poster download.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Also, check out <a href=\"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/creativecareers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Wacom's Creative Careers page<\/a> for dozens of articles and resources about career paths for creative young people! It features interviews from professionals, editorials about art school, Creative Education webinars, resources to help with applying for classroom grants, and much more. If you're interested, <a href=\"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/creativecareers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns are-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-8f761849 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:20%\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"800\" src=\"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2025\/11\/Natalie-Murry-Headshot.jpg\" alt=\"Natalie Murry Headshot\" class=\"wp-image-25952432\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2025\/11\/Natalie-Murry-Headshot.jpg 600w, https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2025\/11\/Natalie-Murry-Headshot-480x640.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 600px, 100vw\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:80%\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>About the artist<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/nataliemurry.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Natalie Murry<\/a> is a U.S. forensic artist currently residing in Texas. Though trained and proficient in hand-rendering, Natalie has been a driving force in an ongoing movement to develop and refine digital means of generating forensic art services. The majority of her forensic work is created using professional art software with a stylus and a Cintiq tablet. As a former law enforcement officer for ten years, Natalie\u2019s background in interview and interrogation, criminal investigations, and evidence handling add depth to her forensic art expertise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To learn more, check out her <a href=\"https:\/\/nataliemurry.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">website<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/nataliemurryforensicart\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Instagram<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/NatalieMurryForensicArt\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Facebook<\/a>, or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/petermlawrence\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Young people who love art don&#8217;t have to choose between following their dreams and finding a career. One lesser-known creative career that can be extremely rewarding? Forensic Artist.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":25952463,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2568,2481,2323,2332,2318,2317],"tags":[6107],"class_list":["post-25952428","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-careers","category-artist-feature","category-business-of-creativity","category-cintiq-and-cintiq-pro","category-creative-inspiration","category-digital-drawing-painting","tag-natalie-murry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25952428","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25952428"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25952428\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25952463"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25952428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25952428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25952428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}