Just some swords im messing around with.
Swords
Be careful. Bear in mind, the size that any sprites are going to be viewed at. Equipment and item images, last I checked were to be set at 32x32 pixels, which means that fine detail is always going to be lost.
If you're going to work on sprites, do it the only way that ensures you know what you're going to get: pixel by pixel, in real-size (at, of course, a magnified view). Shrinking down bigger images gives you results that, while technically correct, won't look the way you want them to. It's the first rule of sprite art: you have to work as an impressionist. Suggest a curvy, ornate hilt, but don't draw one outright or it will look strange.
Secondly, in order to keep things somewhat standardized throughout this project, try to work in png format (rather than bmp), with fully transparent backgrounds. The white outline separating the sword from the black background is distracting and makes things harder to distinguish at the smaller size.
If you're going to work on sprites, do it the only way that ensures you know what you're going to get: pixel by pixel, in real-size (at, of course, a magnified view). Shrinking down bigger images gives you results that, while technically correct, won't look the way you want them to. It's the first rule of sprite art: you have to work as an impressionist. Suggest a curvy, ornate hilt, but don't draw one outright or it will look strange.
Secondly, in order to keep things somewhat standardized throughout this project, try to work in png format (rather than bmp), with fully transparent backgrounds. The white outline separating the sword from the black background is distracting and makes things harder to distinguish at the smaller size.