This week’s chosen artist is Ian Wiesen from Texas. You can find his work on Tumblr and Twitter.
Here's a little about Ian:
1 . When did you become an X-Phile?
Around March 2015. It's strange that The X-Files has existed almost my entire life and I am just discovering it this year. I can't believe how much I was missing! My brother was the one who was getting into it on Netflix at first, he'd been watching it and I'd join him. I was a "fan" for the first couple seasons and the episode I realized I was really becoming more of a "phile" when I saw "Quagmire". After that episode I knew I was deeply invested in the characters and show. As we progressed in our binge-watching, before I knew it we finished season 5 and it had us driving all over town looking for a DVD copy of "Fight the Future"! Then I definitely knew I was an X-Phile.
2. What is the first episode you watched?
"Pilot", which I saw earlier this year. The story of how I started watching The X-Files: I was watching a terrible movie on Netflix called Killer Mermaid with my family, and there was this music in it that sounded somewhat like the X-Files theme. So we started talking about The X-Files and decided to start watching it just to see what it was all about, and in that moment my life was changed forever, ha. It's possible I've seen an episode in the past that I'm not conscious of but I was only 3 when The X-Files started airing. Not to mention I was absolutely terrified of aliens as a kid so if I so much as heard the theme song on TV I would not want to be in the room. I do remember seeing The Simpsons' X-Files crossover episode when it originally aired and even that scared me. Thankfully I've gotten over it. :P
3. What are you looking forward to seeing in the revival?
Everything! I'm so excited that I got into the fandom just in time that I'll be able to experience brand new episodes as a fan.
4. What inspired you to draw X-Files?
I had brought a brand new sketch book and had it by me while watching the show, so I started doing doodles of Mulder and Scully. As I've been joining in the global rewatch I've been doing re-draws, where I go through the episode and try to find a scene I would like to turn into my own drawing interpretation. I was originally inspired to do this by Tumblr user gorillaprutt who had done a couple of X-Files scene redraws.
5. Who is your favorite character?
If I had to pick between Mulder and Scully which is hard for me to do, I'd say Scully.
6. List your top 5 episodes.
"Triangle", "Bad Blood", "Memento Mori", "Small Potatoes", "Beyond the Sea".
7. Favorite X-Files quote.
Off the top of my head, this one from "The Rain King".
Scully: "Well, it seems to me that the best relationships - the ones that last - are frequently the ones that are rooted in friendship. You know, one day you look at the person and you see something more than you did the night before. Like a switch has been flicked somewhere. And the person who was just a friend is... suddenly the only person you can ever imagine yourself with."
8. How has The X-Files impacted your life?
It's made me "want to believe"! I've been a skeptic forever but now every time I look up in the sky I just wish a UFO would show up.
Thanks, Ian! Come back next Wednesday for a new artist!