Happy 54th birthday, Mulder. Have some sunflower seeds.
Category: Art
[Art] Talitha Cumi
Another sketch I did back in 2004 but never posted anywhere… until now! This was originally going to be part of a larger kind of collage-like picture for this episode, but I didn’t like the way the rest of it was coming out, so I ended up scrapping it. I always did like this section, though, so I decided to crop it out and let it stand on its own.
I’ve always been interested in the Mulder family dynamics. They were definitely dysfunctional, especially leading up to and following Samantha’s abduction–hell, probably from the beginning considering that at least one, if not both, of the Mulder children were the result of an affair. Until Bill had to make that fateful choice, though, they seemed like they probably held it together pretty well, and then after that, things just completely fell apart. Bill grew distant, Teena repressed. Meanwhile, Fox Mulder, suddenly an only child, was just entering adolescence. In his adult life, Mulder definitely seems closer to his mom than his dad, and one can guess that she probably had primary custody when she and Bill divorced. Around his father, Mulder seems as though he is bracing himself for a lecture, scorn, or disapproval. He seems more affectionate around his mother (pre-Demons, anyway), and one might imagine they needed to support each other after Samantha’s disappearance, though his tendencies toward obsession and hers toward repression probably prevented them from being as close as they could have been. Still, Mulder is generally shown as being gentle and caring around his mom (at least until he starts asking questions that she doesn’t want to answer). But it’s clear that he cares very much for her and wants to protect her, especially when she’s the only family member he has left.
[Art] I Want to Believe – “The Doctor”
No, not that Doctor, but who are we kidding, Scully will always be my Doctor.
One thing I liked about I Want to Believe was seeing Scully in her new role as a doctor at Our Lady of Sorrows Hospital. It’s the life she had originally set out for before deciding to join the FBI, and a life she had sometimes pondered over the course of the series. But in practice, we see her viewed as a bit of an outcast at the conservative Catholic hospital, where her decision to use stem cell therapy to treat a seriously ill child is looked down upon by her colleagues and the boy’s parents. It kind of parallels Mulder’s reputation at the FBI, only it’s her science rather than supernatural beliefs that put her at odds with her religious peers. Brilliant and successful, but never quite fitting in.
(Also, this is totally new art, just finished yesterday, and not something from 10 years ago. Yay!)
[Art] “Fox and Samantha”
Another older piece from 2004 (Spoiler: Most of the old art I’ll be reposting was probably from 2004… I was on a big creative X-Files kick that entire year… also unemployed for most of it and watched X-Files on TNT for like 5 hours a night). This drawing doesn’t have any particular episode affiliation, but I wanted to draw something that took place before Sam’s abduction with the two of them just being bratty little kids who didn’t yet have the weight of the world on their shoulders.
[Art] Fight the Future – “But you saved me”
This one is also from back in 2004 and was actually drawn a little before the last picture I posted. I had a harder time with this one. The drawing itself isn’t quite as strong (though I like how Scully’s hair came out), but I did have a lot of fun playing with the text in the background. I think I was going through some kind of sketchy pencil phase here.