Need advice on using tablets for art

I'm still using a Monoprice tablet that costed about $50. I used it for about 5 years before the circuitry broke, and then I bought a replacement from Monoproce again.

Honestly if you already have solid drawing skills, the level of tablet should not affect you too much.

My current tablet has been on and off, and the outdated drivers piss me off enough to want a newer tablet, or at least one with fairly recent driver support.

Huiom doing the Halloween sale atm. 20% off new release and 40% for others.

One of it :

Screenshot_2019-10-17-06-53-05-56.png720x1280 360 KB

You'll probably mostly hear to not buy a too expensive tablet, and it's a good advice for many people.

But because I struggled a lot with tablets, I'll give you also my point of view.

I bought a very cheap tablet, before screen tablet even existed (or at least before they were easily available, I'm not sure). It was terrible. I thought digital drawing was not for me.
Then, because I needed it for my job (not art-related drawings) I decided to try again with a better one years later. I struggled for months, trying everyday. It almost disgusted me of drawing, even traditionally.

Last year I bought a relatively unexpensive screen tablet (still way more expensive than these without screen though), and FINALLY could draw digitally.

For a good while I was really furious against everyone who persistently advised me against buying a screen tablet. Now I realized they only meant good, but I thought I would share my experience, not so much to tell you that you need a screen tablet, but rather to tell you that if that does not work for you, there is still hope!

If you want to start out with a less expensive tablet then see if you can maybe get a older iPad Second hand. I swear by iPads sorry, I tried two different Wacom products and felt there was to much of a distance between me and my creation.

I use an iPad with an iPen, and a special screen protector that mimics paper. I feel like I am drawing on a paper pad and it was a much smoother transition then when I used Wacom no screen tablets.

As for apps I use the app version of Clip studio which has a yearly fee. I also use Procreate which has a one time expense of 7.99. It’s really up to you how much you want to invest, my set up wasn’t cheap but I really love it and I use my iPad for everything, I don’t even own a personal computer. So you spend the money on the iPad you get more than just a drawing tool.

Are you talking tablets with a screen or graphics tablets that you plug into a computer's USB port? Because as far as screen tablets go I'm faithful to the Samsung Note line, paired with Autodesk's art program. The only major downside is that Audodesk's programs are pretty good at crashing. Though I have heard of many people having great success with apple iPads and have seen some great digital work done on them.

As far as screenless graphics tablets go, I adore my cheap Wacom Intous. I was skeptical of getting another Wacom tablet after having a brand new Wacom Bamboo break on me 3 times when it first came out. I was so frustrated with the tablet that I literally threw it away. Years later and I was looking into getting another tablet specifically to use for Clip Studio Paint (easily one of the best comic making tools on the market). But after seeing my brother buy a cheap tablet (either XPen or Huion) for playing Osu and watching it go from brand new to completely dead in a month, I was reluctant to buy one of the cheaper tablets. Unfortunately I found that most tablet reviews online are sponsored and biased towards the cheaper tablets. I decided to just chance it and bought a $70 (now cheaper on Amazon) Wacom Intous and I love it. I've never had any technical difficulties with it. And as a bonus it actually came with Clip Studio Paint, the program I was gonna buy anyway. It has made illustrating comics 10× easier.

I have experience with most popular art applications, I was even was trained in PhotoShop in my animation program, and recommend Clip Studio over them all 100%. Even if you don't get the Intuos that comes with it, it is definitely worth the $49 or so. Illustration wise it can do almost everything if not everything PhotoShop can do, plus a whole lot more. The program also comes with pre-installed 3D figures, rooms, and objects for you to pose so you can get an idea of where you want things before committing to drawing. This is also an incredibly handy tool for new artists who are still struggling with anatomy.

I also use an ipad and it works great for me (the regular 2018 ipad, not an ipad pro). I tried using the paper-like protector but I didn't really like it because it kinda changed the quality of the image on the screen, idk how to explain it and drawing on a glass surface doesn't bother me at all. But I know that a lot of people prefer drawing with the screen protector and don't even notice the difference in the quality of the image like I did, so it's worth buying a cheap one to try.

The only downside I have with using an ipad for making comics is that I can't add or edit text on Procreate, so I have to export the files to my pc and add the text on Clip Studio Paint. But maybe you can do it on the Clip Studio app for ipad, I only have it on my pc so idk

@punkarsenic I bought mine brand spankin new(on Black Friday) for $250. I also got an email that Apple is selling iPads as low as $329 right now...of course the Apple pencil cost $90.

@silacinnamon I could've sworn Procreate came out with an update that allows text..?

Oh my GOD it did but I didn't notice. Thanks for telling me!!

if you want recommendation for a super cheap tablet, try out the Veikk A50. I got one for free as part of a promo (VEIKK is a newer company so they do a lot of giveaways on their social media) and compared to my previous generation Intuos Pro M, it's basically the same thing, only for 60 bucks instead of 200+ or whatever mine costed. VEIKK's drivers aren't as pretty or refined as Wacom's and their pens don't have erasers on them like Wacoms, so you have to keep pressing a button to change between your pen and eraser instead of flipping the pen over, but it has the same active area, is more compact, the same amount of hotkeys, everything. I would still be using mine if I hadn't lost the cable, since it's a lot sleeker and more portable than the hulking giant that my Intuos is. I'm not gonna say that the VEIKK is better than the Intuos, because god knows it isnt and there are things that could be better, but feature-wise it does the same thing. Support was also very responsive to me, but I don't know if that's how they always are or because they wanted a review out of me, but I had an overall good experience with them. They did try to get me to take some of my gripes out of my review but I pushed real hard lmao

As for programs, I used Medibang for a while and I absolutely love it. I'd still be using it as my main program if I hadn't upgraded to Clip Studio Paint EX during their sales. They both have features for comics, but CSP is very heavily geared towards mangakas, animators, etc. and has many comic-oriented features like speech bubbles and panel templates, layout for printing fanzines... I suggest getting Medibang for now (it also has a phone app that you can sync your drawings to the pc version with,) and trying out the CSP demo to know if you can use it or eventually want to upgrade. It's good to make the most of what you can do with it BEFORE the 30 day trial runs out. Medibang is a really good program though, if I was working on a real big project or a commission, I might sketch on my phone, then send it to my computer and do lines, or I would send a big piece I had already lined into the cloud and do the flats on my phone while I was on the train.

I also suggest getting a drawing glove, but its optional. You can get a pack of two on amazon from various brands for ~10 bucks, but if you really dont want to then cutting off the top half of an old glove (cotton preferably, not something like leather that will drag more) will do the trick. They're meant to reduce drag on your tablet so your hand doesnt get caught and ruin your lines. I've used both and use my gloves pretty extensively since I have trouble with certain textures, so I swear by them, but if you have small hands like me then you're kinda fucked finding ones that fit you, since they come in one size usually unless you're getting a big name glove thats upwards of 20 bucks.

Don't go for a pen display as your first tablet. Just using a tablet in general has its own learning curve since you need to develop a slightly different sense of hand-eye coordination and the muscle memory, so you're going to suck ass when you first start using one. I was really young when I got my first wacom bamboo and that learning curve almost made me quit digital art completely. When you're more comfortable with the concept and you think a screen display will benefit you, then you can think about it.

Pen displays come in two forms: one that is basically just a computer monitor with extra stuff slapped on it, and one that is just a tablet, but with extra stuff slapped on it. The ones that are monitors are like regular tablets except they have a screen and shortcut keys sometimes. The ones that are tablets are separate beasts, running on an operating system and everything, they're just optimized for art. The latter are quite obviously wayy more expensive.

I adore my Intuos, but because Wacom has such a big monopoly (kind of) on the art tablet market their prices are super up there, IIRC they were the first if not one of the first companies to make pen tablets and such.

So super quick I have a wacom from over a DECADE ago and it works totally fine. It was barely 75$ on amazon on SALE at the time when I bought it (2005 ish? older?) Back then it was hard finding a program that was free that could even read the software's pressure sensitivity. (It's a graphire ce7 or something iirc without looking at it) Came with the pen stylus (no replacement nibs, recent ones do in their pen stand canister thingie, and the mouse). You can buy replacement wacom nibs for different textures to use - does not effect the actual programming. Oh and my graphire came with a plastic hardcase - not all do - so the actual tablet itself isn't the thing I draw on and I can wash it with soap and water if shit happens to it (only above, doesn't cover the bottom).

The one thing, it's the smallest size available - the drawing size is like 4" by something. It's teeny weeny but I like that.

For apps - look for free ones that have user interfaces you like and naturally gravitate toward. openCanvas was a ton of fun but the free side of it didn't offer a lot in terms of scaling up your canvas size in pixels and saving. Photoshop usually has student versions you can get on discount but still is spendy. PaintToolSAI is one of my favorites that also takes the pressure sensitivity software. One that doesn't, if you don't need it and just need to learn how a tablet works, pick up paint.net (paint dot net) since it has a lot of the stuff PS has but it's freeware and is super easy to use and get into - again it doesn't have the pressure compatibility. But I use it all of the time cross with SAI for my stuff and in fact it's one of the main things I use for prepping my artwork like adjusting levels and stuff, if it's traditional and been scanned.

And dirty little secret about my wacom before I disappearrrr mwahahaha the drivers might not be available in the US anymore but they're still up on the UK sites, and the graphire ones are interchangable with the bamboo ones - so you can just get the bamboo ones (that match, do your google research) and it'll work!

Honestly the hardest thing about going to a full tablet instead of a "Screen to draw on" investment is learning to not look at your hands. It sounds dumb but that will literally be your first 100 hr challenge when you first get it.

this is the truest thing. it's exactly what i mean by needing new hand-eye coordiation and muscle memory. until you learn to just know what you're doing with your hands while keeping your eyes on the screen then you will struggle a lot. getting used to it and doing this is one of the most important things you'll learn, but it also just kinda comes naturally with use.

I recommend buying a cheaper one if you're just starting out and you're not making any money off of art yet. Actually, an expensive display tablet isn't going to be an immediate ticket to better art - it still boils down to technique and skill.

Don't know about other brands, but Wacom tablets are ridiculously sturdy. I've seen someone say that their tablet was 8 years old, and another 14 years old!

I still have and use my first tablet- a Wacom Intuos Pen Small I bought four years ago for about 179 USD. That bad boy's gone through a lot - I've placed food on top of it (while the bottom of the plate is still wet since I don't wipe under the plate sometimes, btw), my cat's sat on it, my dad's disgusting feet has been placed on top of it, I've dropped it (multiple times), I don't clean it, I've even sat on it accidentally, and still works just fine, lmao.

As for programs, one thing I've heard is to try using Medibang first before CSP because they're pretty similar, and as someone who's used both, I agree! A lot of the keyboard commands are the same (I just had to change one of the keys, the key for flipping the canvas horizontally - I couldn't find it anywhere on CSP's interface). Also CSP goes on sale a lot, so pretty sweeet.