Question About Drawing Tablets
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@ambria Yet another opinion
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If your workflow is primarily rough sketch followed by detailed painting you may want to consider a non display tablet, from any of the leading Wacom alternatives. I would recommend a large size to maximize full arm movements, although that may need to be balanced against the size of your display monitor. It does take a little to get used to, but it is a lot cheaper and more ergonomic than looking down at a display tablet.
If your workflow includes detailed line art and or inking, I would suggest getting a display tablet. While Wacom is falling behind on almost every dimension of cost vs performance, I still think that Wacom's pen technology is better than any of the alternatives, except Apple pencil. The challenge is staying in the 700 budget which implies something used if you want to get a decent sized display from Wacom. Of course a Huion or XP Pen will check all of the basic marks and probably is fine for starting out. If you have the ability to, it might be worth testing out the different stylus before hand.
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@Tristan-Lapetz Thanks! That's a good idea!
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@davido Ok, thank you! I thought about a non display tablet, but I don't think that would really work for me.
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I used to have a Huion Kamvas and they are a great entry level display for digital art. They are made more cheaply than the wacom cintiqs but I never really had a problem with mine and it got the job done.
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@K-Flagg Ok! I think I'm going to go ahead and get it! Thanks!
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@ambria If your budget is $700 you might want to consider :
I have the Huion Kamvas 22 plus which is really fantastic, but like @Melissa-Bailey-0 said, the resolution is a slight bummer when you go from an ipad pro. This model is last year's but since Huion is releasing their new models in the next month it is $200 off. The big thing here is it has a 2.5k display, a pretty decent and noticeable bump up from the kamvas plus.
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@Jeremiahbrown Ok, thanks! I will check that one out!
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Hi @ambria ! After much research I went for the for XP-Pen artist 15.6 pro last year. It's a great size tablet and the pen is comfortable to use, colours and screen are good, but it does have some glitches, which I suppose at that price you have to expect. The most frustrating is that, even with the laminated display it does have the occasional parallax problem (I’m learning to be very patient)! Overall though I love having a tablet - it’s introduced me to a whole new world of illustration
My dream, of course, is to own a Cintiq, but until that day comes, this is a good, affordable alternative I think.
Here’s quite an in-depth review if you are interested… https://www.parkablogs.com/picture/review-xp-pen-artist-156-pro-pen-display
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I had a Cintiq 24HD and a Bosto 22HD, but since I moved to another country I have been using an XP-Pen artist 15.6 pro for about 2 and half years and it works really great and is as solid as a wacom product, I removed the protective film early on since it does tend to scratch with ease and it got deformed a tiny bit in the summer heat while working with it.
Also, some people really hate the smooth glass but I personally don't care either way, though I did notice the pen nibs last forever if you go with the smooth glass.The only thing bothering me a bit is the size, I would love to have one of 22" instead, but even at 15.6" is still a great product and you can work professionally with it (so far I've made a 6 issue graphic novel, several book covers and video game art with it).
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My veredict on the tablet displays I've owned:
— 13" Cintiq Companion: Super reliable but screen too small, some parallax issues but none critical, served me for many years though before selling it.
— 11" iPad Pro + Apple Pencil: Probably the most natural flow and accuracy I've ever had on a tablet display. Cons: Screen size (great for portablity though) and $$$.
— 24" XP-Pen Artist Pro: Got this one recently because I finally wanted a decent screen size so I went all in and didn't have $3k+ to blow on a Cintiq (paid north of $600 for it — special offer). Although I have desk space for this it's maybe too big for me — the sweet spot lies somewhere between 18" and 22" screen size. Has a gorgeous 2K screen but I've had issues with the USB connection and non-responsive pencil so it is now stored waiting to be serviced soon. Bummed? You bet.