A Look at Other Fantasy Weapons!

Your fantasy world would not be complete without a host of other fantasy weapons (styled after midieval weapons) for all your characters to use! Here are a few weapon drawings to inspire you!

The previous lessons where we drew different types of swords, knives, and bows, should give you a good drawing foundation to work with that will allow you to experiment with different fantasy weapons on your own.

Just remember the four steps:

Create a gesture drawing
Flipping it to make it symmetrical
Working on the details and flipping it again
Adding shadows and lighting to make it real

Everything else is up to your imagination!

1. Draw an axe

Axes can come in many shapes and form depending on what it is needed to do during battles. Therefore, as you draw the axe, think about its main primary function.

A hatchet is a quick but powerful axe that you can use as a swinging weapon. The main feature of this weapon is its asymmetrical nature as it is meant to be swung in one way (downwards to cleave).

If you were to extend the axe, you will get a halberd. This particular weapon is used to piece as well as to offer close quarter battle potential as a regular hatchet should the staff break.

The last type would be a symmetrical two handed battle axe. As it is meant to be swung in many ways with two hands, the blades are usually the same for both sides.

fantasy weapons

Shrink the axe proportions down and it can be used for throwing as well.

As long as you know the function of these axes, you can create characters will the abilities to use the axes properly.

For example, have a character that's built strong enough to hold these heavy fantasy weapons.

2 Draw a spear

These next sets of fantasy weapons are mostly range based. The most common one would be the spear.

With the spear, its main function is to keep things at bay from getting too close to the spear welder. Variations of the spear may include a trident or any other split blade configuration on its main head.

Another interesting ranged fantasy weapon is the staff. It can be used as a bludgeoning mace or a magical staff for wizards and casters.

The other type of ranged weapon would be a scythe. In reality, this particular weapon is impractical for regular combat. However, it is a cool looking weapon to integrate into your world.

fantasy weapons

Each of these weapons can be done by flipping your layers and merging it together to form the general shape and the long pole that holds it into place.

To get the long pole using your brush tool, you can click your starting point, hold on to shift, and then click another point. This will connect the dots from one brush point to another.

Note: holding the shift key before you make your first dot will paint a perfect horizontal and vertical line. So be careful not to confuse these two different procedures!

3. Draw a hammer

Designed to bash rather than to cut, hammer-type weapons are excellent short ranged weapons which are simple to use.

A club is the first of these simple weapons. Regardless if it's a regular stick or a has an elaborate blunt head, the club is a weapon where normal people can pick up and use very quickly.

A little bit more complicated to use are regular hammers. In a fantasy world, these types of weapons are usually reserved for paladin knights. It is a symbolic weapon that you should try to incorporate in your fantasy world.

fantasy weapons

Next on the list is a morning star. Normally, it's a ball with spikes coming out of it. Depending on what you required for your project, you can make it as fancy as you need it to be.

With a little bit of creativity, you can even turn regular harmless objects into weapons. Take the fan for instance. When it is closed, it can be used as a club. However, opening up can reveal sets of blades for cutting.

This brings us to another set of fantasy weapons...

4. Draw a weapon with hybrid abilities

The best fantasy weapons usually combine long range and short ranged attacks into one. To get this effect, the most common combination is between a gun and a sword.

You can attach a blade to a standard handgun to create a weapon that is useful at close range for swinging and shooting.

Next, you can attach it to a standard rifle type weapon and have a weapon that favors more towards ranged battle situations.

Of course, you can also attach it to a long firearm such as a shotgun to create a piercing/slashing weapon.

fantasy weapons

Again, just remember the steps that you need to do to get from a gesture drawing to a finished drawing. As these weapons are asymmetrical, you will have to paint in a lot of things manually on one side.

I hope you enjoy this lesson on the types of fantasy weapons you can create for your characters and your fantasy world.

As an artist, you need to always think of ideas that separate your unique strengths while working on your weaknesses.

Fantasy weapons will not only allow you to try drawing something we are all familiar with, but it will also allow you to think outside your comfort zone as you create original weapons.

I look forward to your creations on this site's galleries!