The Middle-earth mock transit notices that are sweeping the New York metro
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TORn: You’ve made more than 200 now. What is it that you try to achieve when you develop a piece? How do you draw inspiration?
GRR is the best way to the land of Mordor by William Puck.
My inspiration comes form the MTA’s postings. I see potential in every sign they make. It forces me to come up with a concept each time I see a new one.
TORn: How long do they generally take to create?
Now that I have templates, some are completed in an hour or so. Some can take a week or two with tweaking and refining. The biggest task is coming up with an idea. The execution is the easy part. Right now, I’m working on some more special event posters. I’m creating one for Durin’s Day and that’s in both English and in Dwarvish, so it’s taking me a little longer then most.
TORn: Can you map out the creative process and the planning involved, from concept to finished work, for us?
I take photos of MTA postings I come across around the city. I write down an idea on my phone, maybe do a sketch. Then I create the design. I use a local copy shop for printing, stamp each piece on the back with a watermark for copyright protection and add double-sided tape to the back corners.
Once I’ve created the posters, the real work begins. Finding the right location for people traffic is a science. I have to be quick and careful. I put up the piece and take a few pictures. Then I post the photos to Twitter and Instagram, so fans can find them. Some stay up for a few days, others are gone in minutes. There’s a kind of beauty in that.
I’ve asked that people leave them up when they find one. Or if they feel compelled to take a poster, to please take a picture of it and let me know where you found it. A few fans have done this. At least I know the work found a good home and has not landed in a trash bin.
TORn: I’d love if you could briefly profile for us a couple of posters that you especially like.
The Special Event: Mirkwood Elves Lunar New Year is one of my top favorites. It was challenging to do it in both English and Tengwar. Plus, the posters were up for days and days. I plan on doing more with this theme.
Mirkwood Elves Lunar Year - English.
Mirkwood Elves Lunar Year - Tengwar.
But my favorites are the PUCK Middle-earth Cards. They are a lot of fun to place in and around the subways. They are the smallest pieces I’ve done. I call them the “Halflings” of my Middle-earth series. Small and unassuming, I place them on benches, turnstiles, train seats and metro machines. When found, people usually think they are real Metro cards. Upon further viewing, they realize what they truly are: little pieces of art that they can put in their pocket or wallet. How cool is that?
TORn: Do you intend to continue? How many possible posters do you think you can come up with?
Yes, I intend to continue this Middle-earth Transit series. Both the books and films continue to inspire me all the time.
But, I do have other ideas I want to explore. They won’t necessarily be Tolkien-related. I’m interested in travel, time and space and want to keep challenging the viewer about what it means to go on a journey. I’m not following a set map. I’m just heading out the door to see where the road takes me.
As Bilbo said [in the movie], “I’m going on an adventure!”
Readers can follow, and comment upon William Puck’s artworks on his Blogspot called PUCK WORKS. He also has a Google-plus account, a Twitter and an Instagram.
TORn also has its own poster, “It IS our Fight”, created by artist David Powell from Badali Jewelry. If you like what we do pick up a copy of this Evangeline Lilly-inspired Tauriel poster here!
