WASHINGTON

Lawyers who argue cases in the Supreme Court often want a memento of the experience, and Todd Crespi, a courtroom artist, is eager to help.

Mr. Crespi markets his work with flair and flattery. In March, for instance, he wrote to Florida’s solicitor general, Scott D. Makar, after an argument in a death penalty case.

“It was very interesting today, hearing your argument in Holland v. Florida,” Mr. Crespi wrote. “Once more, I started an impressive painting of the historic occasion.”

But Mr. Crespi has no Supreme Court press credentials, and artists who work at the court regularly say they never see him. It has been years, they say, since he sat in the alcove reserved for artists near the justices and advocates, the only place in the courtroom where art materials are allowed.