I’m still not quite satisfied with this one, but I’m tired of staring at it, so I’m putting it up for now. I really like the letter shapes for “Mulder”, though.
Originally I thought I’d borrow from another one of my drawings for Scully’s profile. I’m not great at drawing faces; I’d probably get better with practice, but that’s not where my interest lies right now.
So I half traced, half drew her from reference (photo below). It’s funny how one tiny detail being slightly “off” can make an otherwise normal-looking face just plain wrong. I went in and fiddled around with her eyes as I was writing this.
If you look past the series’ staples — “The truth is out there”, “Trust no one,” “I want to believe” — you can’t get any more classic X-Files than this.
This weird show about aliens that no one thought would amount to anything spanned eleven seasons and two movies, and this quote started it all.
“Sorry…nobody down here but the FBI’s most unwanted.”
OK, so technically there was some dialog before that, I guess — something with men in gray suits, blah blah blah — but the first Mulder/Scully interaction is where it’s at. She walks into that basement office, he tries to be snarky and fails (because Dana Katherine Scully, MD, is Not. Taking. His. Shit. from day 1, so brilliant) and…the adventure begins.
It’s perfection. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go watch the pilot episode. Again.
X-Files quotes make great lettering fodder. I’m working on a different quote from the pilot episode right now, but this came together quickly in the meantime.
Last weekend I flew to Montréal for Comiccon. It was huge; definitely bigger than the one we went to in Boston a few years ago. There were costumes galore and lots of places to sit quietly and people-watch. I’d originally planned this trip because David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson were both slated to make an appearance, but Gillian had to cancel. I decided to go anyway; I still wanted to meet David, and this con would be easier to wrangle than NYC.
Mitch Pileggi (Skinner) and William B. Davis (Cigarette-Smoking Man) were also there. I bought a selfie with Mitch; he was incredibly nice about making time for everyone, asking questions, etc. He’s very kind, and doesn’t talk through his teeth at all. Apparently he reserves that stoicism for Mulder and Scully.
Ready to go!
It’s Skinner!
This place went on forever.
Comiccon mood ™
Lotsa Little Ponies
Special.
The panel
Hnngggg
The three actors also did a Q&A panel, which was underwhelming — it was advertised as a “Special Event” and tickets cost extra, which probably should have been a red flag. The moderation was sub-par and the fan questions weren’t screened, so there were a lot of repeats. I cringed, a lot. It wasn’t worth the cost of admission, but oh well.
Of course, I got a photo with David:
It’s a picture of a picture so it’s not great quality, but who cares? JUST LOOK AT HIS FACE. I got a side hug. I’m never washing my sweater again.
He also signed one of my prints (I don’t have a photo of the print with the signature handy, so you’ll just have to trust me!) Eventually I’d like to get Gillian Anderson’s autograph on the same print. Between that, and a photo with both GA and DD, and I think my fandom life will be complete.
But the best part of this trip arguably had little to do with Comiccon, and everything to do with my friend and colleague, Kathryn, who made for excellent company while I was in her home city. We had a couple A+ meals (sushiiiiii) and she showed me the most amazing dessert place.
In a wonderful bit of serendipity, she also found these two artifacts while cleaning her house this weekend:
The first is an August 1995 sci-fi magazine with the infamous all-white photo shoot. The second is a script for an X-Files episode that doesn’t appear to have aired. Maybe a spec script from Tim Minear, who wrote a couple X-Files episodes in 1998 (and wrote for a bunch of other shows as well). I can’t wait to read it!
I also had a chance to walk around the city a bit. I haven’t done much solo travel for fun, but I could see this becoming a thing in the future.
