Drawing Digitally
Help! What do I buy??
I get this question all the time from students diving into the digital drawing realm. I’m not an expert or a reviewer, but here’s a quick guide to what’s what when you are looking for digital drawing equipment.
Graphics tablet or Drawing tablet?
A graphics tablet is something you plug into the computer
and it allows you to use a pen like a mouse. The pen is usually pressure
sensitive, so you can have good line quality and some are tilt sensitive as
well, letting you make beautiful brush strokes. Sometimes there are buttons on
the side that you can program with your favorite keyboard shortcuts (Ctrl+Z!!) so
you don’t have to keep reaching for the keyboard.
Up side: these tend to be MUCH cheaper than screen tablets.
Also, they are more sturdy and portable, good for tossing in your backpack and
taking to school without much fear of damage.
Down side is you have to look at your computer screen while
your hand is off to the side. It takes some time to get your brain used to this
coordination, but give it a week of steady use and your drawing coordination
will improve and get up to the level of drawing on paper. #ProTip Sometimes it’s
helpful to tape a piece of paper on top of the tablet surface which give you more
resistance and makes it feel more like drawing on paper.
Drawing Tablets:
This is where you have a screen that you can use the
pressure sensitive pen directly on. This means you are looking right at your
drawing, just like you would on paper so the hand-eye coordination is natural.
Upside: Drawing with these is easier! Most have the same
sort of programmable buttons, pen pressure sensitivity etc. as graphics tablets.
Downside: These can be pricey. There’s more things to plug in — power cords, USB and HDMI connections, so check compatibility with your computer. Also, drawing on a screen just feels different than paper so it takes getting used to. You can possibly get a clear screen protector that will give you that slight friction that replicates paper and that can make the experience better.
On a side note, some tablets like the iPad and Surface have great drawing and animation apps. and an optional pen you can buy to use with them. If you have one of these already you can make animation without connecting to your laptop. If you can export a frame sequence from the program and transfer it to your computer, even better — you can edit and work with it like any other animation sequence.
Brands and prices:
Wacom tablets are great — well-built, sensitive and will
last a long time. They almost always end up at the top of the review lists. I
personally think the investment is worth it, if you can manage it. However, if
the price-point is outside your budget right now, there are other options. I
have not reviewed any of these, but others have. It’s always good to read
outside reviews on electronic equipment before you buy (amazon reviews can be helpful,
but I would put more stock in an artist who has reviewed a lot of tablets, like
Brad Colbow
and Frenden.)
Brad Colbow’s Top 5
Drawing tablets
Frenden
Reviews Huion’s Graphic Tablets
Frenden
Reviews Monoprice Graphics Tablets
Some anecdotal reviews from my students and colleagues:
“The drawing experience with the Ipad is
surprisingly good. If a student has an ipad, an apple pencil, and a Mac
computer they can use Astropad for $30 (unfortunately unavailable for PCs as of
now) to make a pretty good cintiq alternative. Despite the fact that a tablet
for a pc is what I’d recommend, I mention this set up as a lot of the students
might already have these products lying around. I’ve known some people who have
liked Huion and heard even better things about Xpen. Both brands have drawing
tablets for about $30 with good pressure sensitivity (but no tilt).” Ryley
“I use an XPPen Display tablet (XP Pen 22E Pro) its $750 (so on the upper end) but has been good to me for the last few years. They also have some non Display options that are cheaper. I have also heard good things about the Huion range.” — Zoe
If you have a tablet you love, let us know!
