Felixir's______________
Practical Approach_____
____to the Dark Arts

here you will find:
→ Aparecium Challenge
→ ... in the form of traditional art
__→ Pen and ink
__→ Mechanical pencil
__→ Coloured pencils
__→ Markers
__→ cleaned up in Photoshop
→ ... and possibly digital art
__→ Edits
__→ Manips

This is my fourth year participating in Seektober and I will be doing the Aparecium challenge again. I will also be using my RPG characters again, either as inspiration, subjects, or as a lens through which to look at a particular prompt prompt. Be prepared for some mental gymnastics in getting from the prompt to the final piece.

I'll be tackling these prompts in all manner of ways depending on time and inspiration, and most will be their own standalone pieces but a couple might end up being component parts of a bigger piece. Aiming to keep a running theme but by using a variety of approaches (or whatever ultimately fires up my creativity).



checklist & index
▢ APARECIUM CHALLENGE
___▣ day 1 - walking stick
___▣ day 2 - cornish pixies
___▣ day 3 - quidditch
___▣ day 4 - secrets
___▣ day 5 - lumos
___▣ day 6 - electric blue
___▣ day 7 - unicorn
___▣ day 8 - dementor
___▣ day 9 - philosopher's stone
___▣ day 10 - foe glass
___□ day 11 - ?
___□ day 12 - ?
___□ day 13 - ?
___□ day 14 - ?
___□ day 15 - ?
___□ day 16 - ?
___□ day 17 - ?
___□ day 18 - ?
___□ day 19 - ?
___□ day 20 - ?
___□ day 21 - ?
___□ day 22 - ?
___□ day 23 - ?
___□ day 24 - ?
___□ day 25 - ?
___□ day 26 - ?
___□ day 27 - ?
___□ day 28 - ?
___□ day 29 - ?
___□ day 30 - ?

SPOILER!!: wordswordswords

Quote:

Originally Posted by sweetpinkpixie

here we gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

I'm prepared to be dazzled by things yet again.

no pressure then

i will do my best to activate edward cullen mode. maybe not in these two prompts but!!! soon!!!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Emzily

Hi Felix! I’m very excited to stalk here. I was such a massive HUGE fan of everything you did last year, I remember some of your works well!!

aaaah that's so nice to hear, thank you! I hope you enjoy some of what's to come

Quote:

Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19

You know I'm always ready to be stunned by your pieces

I hope I can live up to that!! so lovely

day one:
_____walking stick
__________mad-eye moody #22

SPOILER!!: day 1 - walking stick

A5 paper, mechanical pencil (0.3), uni pin fine liners (0.2)


slow starting because I have been unhappy with almost all my attempts at
prompts so far. eased myself in with this. lil vague moody sketch as a bonus.
just for fun.

I only have a window of a few hours at night (plus weekends) where I can
focus on anything so here's hoping the weekend bears some fruit. many fruit.

day two:
_____cornish pixies
__________gilderoy lockhart #12

SPOILER!!: day 2 - cornish pixies (nightmare fuel)

A5 paper, mechanical pencil (0.3), uni pin fine liners (0.1, 0.2),
faber castell colour ecopencils, white gel pen (bc we all need rescuing sometimes)


almost everything went wrong from this from start to finish; one big mistake
was me being too lazy to look for a 0.1 pen until I was almost done. also,
foreshortening is my nemesis. I also neglected to add the wings even though I
intended to because by the end of it I was just ready to be done!!! or to throw
it all out of the window. which would be cruel, as the little guy has no wings.

anyway. a white gel pen can cover a multitude of sins, but there was no saving
this after I over-inked it. threw in some coloured pencil to see if it would help
and actually I think it kind of did help. still. horrifying. enjoy.

SPOILER!!: wordswordswords

Quote:

Originally Posted by ArianaBlack

hello enemy. you are once again slaying the game!!! I have no idea what foreshortening is, but both drawings look absolutely stunnin'. I'm always so impressed by your attention to detail in these drawings (& always lbr) and how realistic youre able to pen these out by hand. the pixie is kind of cute. i would keep him in my pocket. i love his pointy teef.

you didn't actually ask for an explanation BUT you're getting one anyway. it's when an object (or limb or whatever) is projected towards the viewer, so like a pointed finger or outstretched arm. it can be a real pain to draw bc all the proportions are different and if it doesn't look like it's actually being projected forwards it can look really strange. so with the pixie it's the forearm on the right as you're looking at it that I had issues with (and the thigh on the same side which I had more luck with)

anyway anyway thank u for your kind words o enemy (as always)!! although I have concerns about your taste in pixies. he probably bites and also reaps souls.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19

*sighs in contentment since there's Feely art to admire*

That walking stick is SO elegant! Need me one of those for my old age

The pixie looks cheeky as ever so great job with capturing that expression! :3

you're so kind :3 for the walking stick I used the one from the film as a reference which is described as looking like a ram, but I like to think it's a thestral even though it predates the film thestrals

and thank you! i was thinking he looks utterly diabolical but cheeky is much better

Quote:

Originally Posted by kayquilz

I love that you’re so detailed, Felon. The walking stick and the pixie are just….I have trouble with words!

I know it’s hard to appreciate the art you yourself creates, but I think it all looks amazing and better than anything I could do with pencil and paper. No drawing skills here. I wouldn’t have thought the pixie was not to your satisfaction if you hadn’t said anything - it could be art in a scary children’s book!

thank you! i think my issue is that I always imagine things coming out very differently. often i'll come back to look at things later and when I have fresh eyes and less frustration from the mistakes i like the result a lot better. but yes, really appreciate the comments

(and absolutely with you on the scary children's book, emphasis on the scary)

Quote:

Originally Posted by sweetpinkpixie

um.

UM,

UM.

Excuse you and the magic that is your fine liner line work. I am always so impressed by the depth and texture you create with simple strokes over and over and over again. The way you capture the knots and tangled carving of the wood in that cane is amaaaaaaaazing. I keep looking at those pixie hands and have hand envy would have LOVED to see your version of wings but also...I get it maybe we can pretend some angelic character somewhere ripped them off and now this pixie is out for vengeance.

thank u, I am excused. and thanK! i actually really enjoyed doing the wood texture with the pen, it's perfectly suited to that technique (at least the way I like to do it). and the pixie hands were very stressful. sometimes I do the pencil drawing and it goes okay and then feel like I'm taking my life in my hands when I pick up the pen.

maybe I will add wings to the pixie later just because I don't want to leave it unfinished. or actually yes. perfect. it's canon.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lottiepot

I have nothing constructive to say other than this is utter perfection and I would like some of your skills please?

thank you! and i wish skill sharing was a thing because I would borrow some of your embroidery know-how in return, heheh

Quote:

Originally Posted by Emzily

Wow!

Amazing details on the walking stick! I’m obsessed with hands holding such objects (weird) and you have done this well! The tools you have used for your art have left such a gorgeous and defined finished effect.

The Cornish pixie BLEW me away, it’s perfection and I for real cannot stop staring at it. I think I’d like to adopt them, tysm.

thank you! hands can be so difficult especially when holding things (hence why I did not attempt much more than a vague outline for these) but it's very satisfying when they go right. I'm a big fan of doing art with fineliners, even though ink is very unforgiving x_x

keep the pixie!!! your very own sleep paralysis demon for the low low price of free

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cassirin

I like your walking stick VERY much, all knobbly and textured beautifully. And I do not like your pixie at all, I"m sorry. I will dream of it during fevers for years to come.

thaaaank you, I'm v glad you appreciate the knobbles and textures. also, I understand. this one might be worse than the time I drew the clown boggart from PoA

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhoenixRising

always forever in awe of your pencil wielding skills and the depth and detail you're able to capture!!! Honestly I didn't even notice the lack of wings on the pixie (until you pointed it out) just because it was just sooo detailed without

pls share your skillz and abilities. kthx.

thank you!! I really enjoy shading things for some reason which kind of helps with with depth and even a bit with the detail stuff too (I do also run the risk of going too detailed but with all the prompts for seektober the time limit kind of prevents that)

from now on maybe I won't mention the things I left out, on the off chance no one notices

day three:
_____quidditch
__________quirinus quirrell #20

SPOILER!!: day 3 - quidditch

A5 paper, mechanical pencil (0.3), prismacolor coloured pencils


this one vexed me for a while. the box did not turn out like I'd hoped but I'm
proud of the actual quidditch balls; I was super nervous about accidentally
messing them up while putting the colours down.

when using coloured pencils I get my best results when I am really patient with
them (very difficult as I am actually very impatient with them) so it was maybe
not ideal to use them for something so time-limited but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ generally I
use many many many layers of pencil, with a very light touch, so it can take
an age. sometimes I use a solvent but I was honestly just way too lazy and
decided I'd put up with with the white showing through on this one.

I think the quaffle is my favourite part

day four:
_____secrets
__________mad-eye moody #3

SPOILER!!: day 4 - secrets

A5 paper, mechanical pencil (HB: 0.3, red: 0.5, blue: 0.5)


this one is inspired by regulus prince and daxton prince (aka father of the year).
an unbreakable vow, for all your conspiratorial needs. anyone who knows my
characters can probably attest to the fact that a lot of them have a lot of very
big secrets (some thrive on it, some are destroyed by it, and some are pretty
much defined and moulded by it) but regulus is one of the handful who
immediately came to mind when I saw the prompt.

I used the film still as a reference, but this is supposed to be regulus (left) and
daxton (right). I tried to make it clear how tight regulus was gripping (because,
1. these vows are a Whole Thing, and 2. daxton is not big on physical affection
and so I could imagine regulus really holding tight in this moment) but I think
there was a slightly better sense of that in the underdrawing. alas.

you can see blue pencil marks and maybe a few in red because I use those for
base sketches sometimes (figuring out basic shapes and then refining them).
the blue and red are very difficult to erase and I was also too lazy to shade the
background to cover it, so I just left it as is.

I really like doing pieces in pencil, as it's MUCH more forgiving than ink and
easier to shade with, though it isn't as striking/ doesn't show up as nice when I
take a photo. this one did, though, and I'm pretty happy with it. might be my
favourite prompt that I've done so far. HANDS.

SPOILER!!: wordswordswords

Quote:

Originally Posted by Suziella

*finally gets to witness the talent*

Friend.

The talent.

IT OOZES!

I can't even. That staff is amazing and I love the light sketch of mad-eye. And that Pixie....I think he was born without wings. UNIQUE I SAY! I love him! That quidditch trunk is beautiful! and the hands for the unbreakable vow...just lovely <3 You are so talented I can't even express it! I can't wait to see whats next!

thank you! you are too kind. these next few aren't quite like these but I'm hoping to get more done like my first few

Quote:

Originally Posted by BanaBatGirl

These are so, so beautiful... I actually think each one keeps getting better?! I'm so impressed!! The fingernails, the way that pixie is almost giving the V for victory, the QUAFFLE??? I LOVE that quidditch one. I think you must use rulers and everything, considering your attention to detail.

I think you could sell these as prints on etsy. Truly.

aaaaa thank you!! (the getting better stops now but hopefully only briefly). I was v proud of those hands and the fingernails too honestly. but no rulers on the quidditch (though not for want of trying; the lines end up too perfect and stand out too much beside the rest), just a lot of erasing and trying again

you are too kind ;;

Quote:

Originally Posted by Emzily

More hands!!! and oh my gosh, what an incredible depiction of the unbreakable vow! The GRIP, the clothes CREASES… *faints* and love the backstory to your characters.

The shading on the box, especially the inner part of the lid and that QUAFFLE ahhhhhhh, is beautiful. Very very much well done <3

love a bit of backstory exposition, hehe. I'm so glad you like what you see here!! so kind as always (and more hands coming up in the near future hopefully, like at least one)

Quote:

Originally Posted by sweetpinkpixie

↑ relatable content

I hate drawing boxes...or anything that requires symmetry and angles to be precise and you would THINK that a box or piece of paper wouldn't be such a herculean thing the quidditch chest looks SO nice though and I love the vibrancy of the pigmentation of those colored pencils Zinnia is a big BIG fan of this one and agrees that the quaffle is the best bit.

Hands and fabric. I repeat: HANDS. AND. FABRIC. It looks amazeballz, Felix

I hate drawing boxes too!!! I learnt how to do it properly once and the whole process feels so counterintuitive (because of perspective or whatever) that I undercommit and usually don't pick it up till I take a photo (have learned to look at when I'm drawing through my phone camera as it helps me get a different perspective and see errors though, including symmetry, but usually with these prompts I leave most things alone or I'd be fixing it for hours. v helpful for when there's more time though)

also hello zinnia ^___^

Quote:

Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19

The Quidditch prompt’s piece is SUCH a piece of eye candy!!! The box reminds me of a jewel box with that lovely design. I love!

The Secret’s prompt piece is so neat and I adore the way it’s shaded

you are too kind! honestly you say eye candy and my mind goes straight to colourful candy which makes sense with the colourful piece, hehe. so glad you like these pieces

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cassirin

Your Quidditch set reminds me so much of old school Chris Van Allsburg stuff. Are you old enough to remember those books? It's like the richness of the shading and texture for me.

Anyway. Hi. Love it here.

I won't lie, I had to google, but I don't know if that's because of the years they were out or because we didn't see them much here but I did recognise the names of some of the books. either way, I take that as a big compliment so thank you v much

anyway hi lov u being here

day five:
_____lumos
__________quirinus quirrell #9

SPOILER!!: day 5 - lumos

A5 paper, mechanical pencil (0.3)


"And everybody wants to get evil tonight
But all good devils masquerade under the light"
- Turn the Lights Off, Tally Hall


I know there is a St Mungo's prompt but before I noticed it I'd already gone on
a wicked tangent to this piece for this prompt.

when listening to Turn the Lights Off, the lines quoted above made nemesis
upstead wake up (it's on my milo playlist, but they muscled in anyway).
they don't place themselves in the category of ~evil~ at all but they are
definitely masquerading under the light, and are maybe not as ~light~ as the
average bear. they currently work as a junior healer at st mungo's. go figure.

so there it is. lumos. light. healer. st mungo's. it makes sense in my head.

the shield is unfinished. I've not had much time to draw recently.

day six:
_____electric blue
__________mad-eye moody #8

SPOILER!!: day 6 - electric blue

Ohuhu marker paper, ohuhu markers, mechanical pencil, uni pin fine liners, faber castell ecopencils


"Blue, blue, electric blue
That's the colour of my room
Where I will live
...
And I will sit right down
Waiting for the gift of sound and vision."
- Sound and Vision, David Bowie


This one is inspired by my character Milo Evans, a Seer who absolutely does
not see the 'gift' in his ~sound and vision~ (the song did the rest of the work).

day seven:
_____unicorn
__________quirinus quirrell #14

SPOILER!!: day 7 - unicorn

A5 paper, mechanical pencil (0.3)


a unicorn horn (with bonus unicorn)