A paladin’s sword made for the Omens of War expansion.

Of all of the weapons that I designed for the Everquest expansion "Omens of War", I found this sword to be the hardest to design because it was the simplest. Since Paladins are righteous, holy characters, I thought it would be appropriate to subtly incorporate the overall shape of a cross, and add a fish motif in the shape of the pommel and scale pattern of the handle, alluding to being a "Fisher of Men".

In the end, I was very happy with this design, and felt that it had just the right balance of realism and stylization.

I created it by rendering the design in pencil, inking it in felt pen, and painting it in painter. I used Photoshop only to flatten the final layers and add text when it went to print. One of the best things I think I was able to accomplish was making the flame look as though it was rendered in watercolor.

It was recently included in the new ballistic publishing book "Painter" along with 6 other weapons I created.

(Used with permission from Sony Online Entertainment)