Which Tablet should I get?

MOO

I am just returning a tablet I bought from Wacom. It was an Intuous Draw and was supposed to come with Art Rage lite but I wasn't able to register it in the USA. (and therefore couldn't get the Art Rage). I am very new to digital and have decided to bite the bullet and get a tablet and a good program. Being that Art Rage came with it and it seems to have good reviews I went for it. Now that I'm returning it I wonder if I should be getting a different tablet (especially one that can be registered in the US!) I don't need the really expensve ones because I am a fledgling in the digital drawing world. Any recommendations? Thanks.

Kevin Longueil

@Marsha-Kay-Ottum-Owen IPad Pro plus Procreate ..... So easy to use ... Have not touched my Cintiq since I got it ......is expensive though - but it is worth it

smceccarelli

@Marsha-Kay-Ottum-Owen
I still have a lot to learn, but I cannot call myself a digital fledgling - I have been drawing digitally since 2011 and stopped using anything else but digital tools since at least two years (apart from sketching on paper). I would honestly recommend you get at least an Intuos Pro. If they are too expensive, you may try to get a used Intuos4 or Intuos5. There is a distinct quality difference between the entry tablets and the pro versions, and I do not think you would get a good start into digital with an entry-level tablet.
I know Will Terry says it is difficult to draw on a non-display tablet, and he recommends getting a Cintiq. He is right that the Cintiq makes a world of difference, and if you are serious about going digital you should consider buying one of those - but it is a big investment. I have been drawing all-right on non-display tablets (Intuos 4 and Intuos 5) for a while before getting a Cintiq - it does take quite a while to re-train your eye-hand coordination though.
Software-wise, ArtRage is a decent program, and the lite version only cost 30 USD (indipendently of a tablet bundle).
One unconventional solution you may want to consider is to get an iPadPro instead of a tablet. I have one since a month and I love it wholeheartedly. The recommended app with that is ProCreate - Will has a couple of tutorials and courses on that here on SVS.

smceccarelli

@Kevin-Longueil
Just wrote it! Ipad + ProCreate is indeed awesome!

MOO

@Kevin-Longueil Okay, but isn't IPad an apple thing? I have Windows 10. Does that matter? I really don't know a lot about this digital mumbo jumbo.....Yikes!

MOO

@Marsha-Kay-Ottum-Owen Ooh! Just looked at the price.....probably not going there. Maybe I'll go hunt for a clone.

evilrobot

There are a few good Wacom alternatives out there. Check out Frenden's reviews of a lot of them. Some he says are very good and really cheap. Also as far as the Ipad Pro goes....The longer I have it I find myself using it more and more and my cintiq less. It's expensive but it's a very good product especially when you combine it with the Apple Pencil and ProCreate.

MOO

@evilrobot I will definitely consider those down the road. I need to get familiar with digital and make sure I can and will do it enough to buy it. It sounds really great though. I keep hearing about Frenden. Who is he and why do people keep referring me to him? He must know something. I will definitely look him up. Thanks!

smceccarelli

@Marsha-Kay-Ottum-Owen I believe it is a bit risky to "try digital and see". I see many artists who stop when they realize it is not as intuitive and responsive as traditional media. You need an initial time investment before you can reap the benefits. It is like with traditional media - you can try and learn watercolor with one of those children´s set (apparently Frazetta used nothing else than that!), but chances are you will only be satisfied with the results if you use better paints and brushes. The more I use the iPadPro, the more I agree with the other comments, that it is probably the ideal entry point...

Christine Garner

@smceccarelli said in Which Tablet should I get?:

@Marsha-Kay-Ottum-Owen I believe it is a bit risky to "try digital and see". I see many artists who stop when they realize it is not as intuitive and responsive as traditional media. You need an initial time investment before you can reap the benefits. It is like with traditional media - you can try and learn watercolor with one of those children´s set (apparently Frazetta used nothing else than that!), but chances are you will only be satisfied with the results if you use better paints and brushes. The more I use the iPadPro, the more I agree with the other comments, that it is probably the ideal entry point...

I agree with this as well. It took me ages and ages to get into digital art, and before that I had a basic foundation in traditional mediums. In fact I think going back to traditional mediums in recent years has revitalized my passion for art again as I was getting frustrated with digital techniques... For digital art programs though I would say artrage and rebelle are good for beginners and apps like the ones you can get on the ipad as they are not over complicated and are more intuitive. When I started digital art I only had a basic tablet, it was pretty rubbish, I had to save up for a wacom at a data entry job. Now you can get much cheaper tablets by brands like yiynova and ugee which are fine for starting out. I personally now use an ugee 2150 monitor tablet (I am loving it), but if I was just starting out and not sure of whether I liked digital art or not i would get an ugee drawing tablet or something similar as they are really affordable now.

MOO

@Christine-Garner My son fond me a huion for about $35.00 today It has good reviews so, I will be using that for a starter. I'm also going to play with the demos I have some more and watch the photoshop for beginners class and try to adapt it to GIMP.

Christine Garner

@Marsha-Kay-Ottum-Owen Cool