Doodling on an HP Envy X360 (Windows 10) and Autodesk Sketchbook
My Daily Doodle project has been in progress since January 1, 2017. A doodle is a quick (15 to 30 minutes) sketch done (generally) every night since then. My iPad just broke (replacement on its way). So, I decided to finally try doodling using an HP Envy X360 running Windows 10 and the free Autodesk Sketchbook. The HP is bundled with an active stylus in a reasonably priced bundle. I spent a minute or two looking at Microsoft’s free Paint 3D. But, it seems so terrible (for doodling at least) that I abandoned it and looked around Microsoft’s app store. Decided to try the free Autodesk Sketchbook.
After using an Apple Pencil with an iPad for the vast majority of my doodles over the years it took a few minutes to start getting comfortable with HP’s active stylus. It did not feel as smooth as Apple’s Pencil. On the other hand, it came bundled with the notebook. Taking that into consideration, it was a pretty good overall experience. The stylus is pressure sensitive. However, it doesn’t seem to allow (or the combo of Sketchbook and the stylus doesn’t allow) doing something like shading using the “edge of the pencil tip” like the Apple Pencil does with the Procreate or other iPadOS drawing software.
It felt a bit odd using a relatively “huge”15-inch Windows 10 notebook display — compared to a 10 or 11-inch iPad. But, it something that can be adjusted for over time.
I may use this combination of a Windows 10 notebook, active stylus, and Autodesk Sketchbook again while I wait for a replacement iPad.
