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 weapons

Types
Weapons vary from sharp metallic objects to dull-edged staffs. (Modern weapons excluded...) The most important info you need to know about weapons is that they are mainly rigid. If you look at the lineup above, most weapons are can be drawn using a ruler. Of course, there are some blades that are curved and for the machete, it's practically the whole thing!

Shapes
The basic shapes of these weapons are as shown above. They aren't extravagant for a reason - they show the basic makeup of their type of weapon. From left to right: wooden staff, sword, axe, (magic) staff, rapier, machete, scythe (or sickle), and spear.
Weapons not drawn to scale with each other, btw. :)
From these basic shapes, you can add your own creative touches and embellishments. I recommend that you are at least familiar with these basic shapes before you begin changing them.

Sizes
Regarding the size of a weapon, if you change and play with it, you get a different look for the same item. Look in part A on the right. The sword is much wider and and is a lot shorter than in the previous page. Considering it's new size, it would be called a "short sword" than just "sword" as they are much longer. The axe next to it also is more in the line of your average garden axe. The distance of the blade from the handle and its design was redone. Even though they are the same weapon, they are different.
I must mention that one of the most popular trends these days is to "supersize" small weapons into big, huge hunking ones. If you've never seen one before (^_^;;) just think of a shuriken drawn much larger and is basically the same height as the person wielding it.

Design
Design is one of the most obvious effects that seperates your own weapons from another artists weapons. Section B in the drawing above shows various designs based on the base weapons in the past page.
The scythe, for example, is much more stylistic and has more character than the base weapon. With just a few bends on the blade, an attachment from the blade to the handle, and even the slight bend of the handle gives it that distinct look.
You don't have to make something as completely different from the base form. Even simple additions as the grain and wear of the wood to a staff adds character. Just a slight change of a swords handle from cloth wrapped to coil wrapped adds that slight difference. The end of a magical staff is all you really need to change, for instance, to make that difference.

Point of View
One of the most crucial part of drawing weapons is drawing them in different points of view. When drawing anything, point of view is always there whether it is obvious or not.

To the left shows a sword at different points of view. The center is a sword as it would be viewed at eye level, or from the top down. The others are how it would look in other angles.
Notice that at angles, space changes from thin to wide affecting how a weapon is drawn - thinner handle and wider blade tip. For more info on perspective, check out these other tutorials: One Point, Two Point, Three Point Perspective (tutorials being re-done. Will be linked when completed. ^_^).

Weapons in Action
One of the most fun part of drawing weapons is when they are in the thick of battle! The quickest way to draw a weapon moving is to draw motion lines. Motion lines are basically just several lines drawn from the object moving to whatever direction it was moving from.

For instance, the drawing to the right has motion line coming off the sword and to the left. This makes the sword look as it is being swung from left to right. Note that the motion lines have a bit of curve to it making the swing of the sword at an arc. If the sword was moving horizontally, left to right, the lines would also be moving from left to right, horizontally.

The other way to show a weapon in action is to exaggerate and "move" its physical shape by curving it, usually in an arc, as well as the motion lines right after it.



Above are two examples on this method at two different angles. Looking at the two, the motion lines may vary from just the end of the weapon itself or to include surrounding areas as in the case of the first picture.

There are some people who just use a "streak" effect when drawing weapons in motion. The "streak" is like those in popular pictures of cities and vehicles in motion. All that remains are lighted lines. Another way to think of it is an after image. When the item moves too quickly for the eye and it leaves an image "imprint" of where it was before. If this sounds like mindless babbling - then forget I mentioned it. :D

And that is pretty much it to weapons! All that remains is being able to draw different types of weapons - axes, staffs, etc. - and all you really need is a ruler and some imagination for that. :)