Two of the highest profile court proceedings in local history – that of alleged Boston Marathon Bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and Southie gangster Whitey Bulger – recently occurred within mere months of each other, captivating Bostonians and the rest of the nation alike. But along with the tragedies incurred by Bulger, and allegedly by Tsarnaev, a major nuisance for the general public has been that nobody outside of the courtroom has seen either, whether by way of TV or other media. So we spoke with Art Lien, the courtroom sketch artist who’s rendered depictions of both men along with a slew of other high profile cases.

Lien has acted as the looking glass for those hoping to catch even the slightest glimpse of Tsarnaev and Bulger, a self-professed “visual reporter” as opposed to an artist in the traditional sense. We’ve all relied on him to help construct realistic visuals of those we can’t directly see standing trial, but ever the optimist, Lien thrives under that kind of pressure.

As he told BostInno directly, “It always seems to work out pretty well.”

It wasn’t particularly easy for Lien to break into the curious realm of courtroom sketching. Coming out of art school he was painting houses, tarring roofs, and laying sod to get by.

But as is typically the case for those who, as cliché as it is, don’t give up on their dreams, the Maryland-native had his faith rewarded.

“Governor Mandel was going on trial and the local TV station was looking for somebody,” Lien began. “I tried out and got it.”

Since then, Lien has worked almost exclusively with NBC covering the Supreme Court, as well as sketching for SCOTUSblog along the way. He’s also done drawings in his hometown of Baltimore, “capturing street scenes, things like that,” preferring to hit the sidewalks as opposed to the studio.

“I don’t like working in a studio, I like going out. I’ve never had a show, except for some of the Supreme Court stuff,” he noted.

A professed lover of Boston, Lien was in town to capture the likeness of the sentencing phase of Bulger’s trial. It was a two day affair with a dozen testimonials, but even a load of that size isn’t enough to phase the judicial veteran.

“I did 14 drawings the day all the relatives spoke. The day of the sentencing I did 4,” he recalled. “During the Oklahoma City Bombings trial, one morning they had 20-something witnesses, one after the other. I got them all.”

One would think that if volume weren’t an issue, perhaps time would be. When Tsarnaev plead ‘not guilty’ to the 30 charges levied against him, he stood in the courtroom for only a matter of minutes. Luckily, Lien’s found a method to the madness, fusing the old school nature of the sketching game with the practicality of 21st century technology.

“Using plain graphite pencil and watercolor works great for me. I capture all the drawing I need with the pencil and can sort of splash the color on and it’s very, very quick. I carry around a scanner with a memory card and scan right in the courtroom,” Lien continued.

Knowing full well that it’s his renderings that people use to assimilate a face with a certain notable figure, Lien has become accustomed to wading through all of the legal dealings and, with pinpoint accuracy, recognizing the ideal moments to depict. Sometimes, though, they never even happen. But when they do, they’re solidified in the annals of history.

“I was certainly looking for any moment that Bulger would make eye contact with all of the victims,” Lien said of the Whitey sentencing. “It never happened but that’s what I was waiting for… I knew I had to get a shot of him walking out the door because I knew it was the last time anyone was going to see him.”

It’s certainly a fast-paced profession to say the least, but it’s also rewarding. Entering the gig with no idea of what he was doing and “no idea about the law,” Lien is significantly more politically aware than he was 20-years ago. It’s helped him shape his respective style, consciously keeping his own opinion out of his work to produce the best, most unbiased sketch possible. And it’s helped him recognize and push his own personal limitations.

“I never would have thought I could do it until I had to do it. Then you discover you can do this kind of stuff. It’s forced me to do things I probably wouldn’t think I could do.”