Use the code that Mathias suggested, and place your code after:
if ( $the_query->have_posts() ) {
while ( $the_query->have_posts() ) {
$the_query->the_post();
you can break the php to place your html like this:
if ( $the_query->have_posts() ) {
while ( $the_query->have_posts() ) {
$the_query->the_post(); ?>
<!-- your code here -->
<?php } } else { ?>
<h2>Not Found</h2>
<?php //endif; ?>
<?php } ?>
<?php wp_reset_postdata(); ?>
