If you were drawing Donald Trump, where would you start?
"His hair is fabulous," veteran courtroom sketch artist Christine Cornell told ABC News Breakfast.
"I'm so used to drawing this incredible coiffe. I draw it from the back of the head forward like a swoop of gold, and when I do that, I go 'that's it!' It's like it sings."
She is one of three artists tasked with portraying his hush money trial to the world every day, given no cameras are allowed in the courtroom.
With nearly 50 years of experience, Ms Cornell has drawn the likes of Bill Cosby, John Gotti and Bernie Madoff across her colourful career.
Her latest job sees her, alongside fellow artists Elizabeth Williams and Jane Rosenberg, sketching the former president and Stormy Daniels in one of the most high-profile trials the world has seen.
"There's an awful lot of pressure involved," she said.
"Things happen rather swiftly, we can't really predict on a day-to-day basis what's required."
Mr Trump is the first ever US president to be tried on criminal charges, and the trial is expected to run for six to eight weeks in Manhattan.
That's a lot of drawing on the horizon, for an unprecedented moment in US history.
Features in focus
Other than the trademark hair, Ms Cornell said his prominent facial features are key to crafting an authentic likeness.
"I love his surfboard eyebrows."
"He's got a very straight nose, essentially almost a Roman profile. His lips are always a little protruding.
"He's got a good jutting chin. His eyes are the trickiest thing, because they're underneath those eyebrows, and they are pale."
"There's always a little dance you do to try and show them but not overemphasise them, and I don't really get a good gander at them all the time."
With the pace of proceedings and the artists' physical position in the courtroom, Ms Cornell said it is not always easy get a good look at the main subjects she's tasked with drawing.
But since she is responsible for showing the historic trial to the world — she must persist.
"You have to get Trump no matter what, whether you can see him or not," she said.
"The witness is critical, the judge is critical, we're looking at the backs of the lawyers… those are the things we're really grappling with and using to freshen out our composition."
This isn't the first time Cornell has drawn Mr Trump, either. She's been drawing him in courtrooms since the eighties.
For now, though, her illustrations along with Ms Williams and Ms Rosenberg's will continue to give viewers a window into one of the most highly publicised trials in US history.
"Sometimes I'm really pleased with myself, sometimes less so," she said.
"You just have to hit the ground running and do everything until you figure out what today's story headline is."
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Meet the artist behind the viral courtroom sketches of Donald Trump - ABC News
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