This week's chosen artist is J.J. Lendl from Pittsburgh. Lendl is the graphic designer brains behind The X-Files Poster Project on Tumblr, in which he creates a theatrical type poster for one episode each day. You can find J.J. and his work on Instagram, and you can also purchase prints of most of his posters on his website.
Here's a little bit about J.J.:
1. When did you become an X-Phile?
Probably before the term X-Phile existed! I’ve been a fan of the show since the first season, when I was only 8 years old. It was one of those rituals that you have as a child, sitting down in front of the TV to watch the show, heckling your parents to make sure the family doesn’t have any plans the night it’s on that would take you away from the TV, and if they do have plans, double checking the VCR timer is set correctly three times before your leave for the night.
2. What is the first episode you watched?
The first episode I have a clear recollection of seeing was season one’s Fire. I remember sleeping over a friend’s house and they had fallen asleep before it came on so I watched it in the dark alone on a 13” TV. I remember being blown away during the scene where flames swept down the hallway – I was hooked.
3. What are you looking forward to seeing in the revival?
I think with most shows like this, a huge draw is visiting the characters you’ve grown to know and care about throughout the years. That being said, while it was great to check in with Mulder and Scully in I Want To Believe, we didn’t see any movement on that whole alien colonization plot. Hopefully we’ll have more closure with that story arc in the new season.
4. What inspired you to draw X-Files?
Art has always been a passion of mine since I was a child. If you’d look at my school notes from grade school to college, the margins were littered with sketches and doodles, many of them X-Files related. A few years ago, Juan Ortiz debuted some amazing retro posters for episodes of the original Star Trek, which I was really taken with. A few months later I was out with friends at a restaurant and started doodling Mulder and Scully on a napkin. It was just before October and I had been thinking about doing one of those make some every day of the month challenges when something clicked. So I started creating a piece of episode-centric poster art everyday in October. After the month ended, I kept going, though not everyday. A guy’s gotta sleep.
5. Who is your favorite character?
I can’t possibly choose between Mulder and Scully so if I were to choose another character I’d say the Cigarette Smoking Man.
6. List your top 5 episodes.
This is hard. In no particular order, I’ll say: Home, Beyond the Sea, Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose, Bad Blood and Gethsemane (because it was an amazing cliffhanger to usher in the summer).
7. Favorite X-Files quote.
Since I watched the episode this week, I’ll go with Mulder’s speech at the end of Fallen Angel.
Mulder: "You can deny all the things I've seen, all the things that I've discovered. But not for much longer. 'Cause too many others know what's happening out there. And no one—no government agency—has jurisdiction over the truth."
Either that or anytime Mulder calls someone a son of a bitch. He says it with such righteous indignation.
8. How has The X-Files impacted your life?
It’s played a big part in shaping my love of drama, sci-fi and fantasy. X-Files fandom was at the forefront of a lot of trends, including online fandom in the mid-90’s so it certainly helped to open my eyes to an even larger world out there. And the art I’ve created for the show has gotten a really great response from X-Philes out there, which is really wonderful. I think it’s every artist’s goal to make people feel something with what they create and The X-Files has given me the opportunity to design art that people are really getting a kick out of – what more can a person ask for from a TV show?