Illustration: Design a Fantasy Sword

Sketching

Step 1

Start by sketching some ideas. Make sure you use plenty of references. Search for photographs of animals like owls, eagles, dragons, insects…

Step 2

We can mix some sketches together to create different ones.

Step 3

Choose the one you like the best.

Defining the color palette and cleaning up

Step 1

The next step if to define the color palette.

Step 2

Now, clean up the rough lines.

Step 3

Create a New Layer in Multiply mode and increase the opacity slightly to start painting.

Painting the sword

Step 1

Now apply the flat colors to the sword using your chosen color palette.

Step 2

Create a new layer and link it to the layer below to paint the texture.

Step 3

Apply the color variations with the same base color

Step 4

Gradually apply more texture to your illustration.

Step 5

Check the details using your references to make sure you get the appearance of the original material, in this case, iron.

Step 6

Let’s see how it’s coming along. It’s looking good, let’s keep painting.

Step 7

It’s a good idea to put one layer in Overlay mode to play around with the light and reflections.

Step 8

Take a look at the effect of the light!

Adding detail

Step 1

Have fun adding details. But keep the layer in normal mode, just use your brush.

Step 2

We could add some details like blood or rust.

Step 3

We’re almost done!

Step 4

Look for some references of owl eyes and copy the shadows and textures.

Step 5

Let's create this cool flame effect!

Step 6

Try different color modes to add cool lightning effects.

And finally, the sword is done! Well done guys!