General Discussion

I have a teen that would really like a drawing tablet for Christmas. (I might be older than the average player on FR, lol.)

Ideally, she'd like a standalone, portable unit but that is not necessarily a limiting factor. But her absolute must, is that it has it's own screen.

Could I please get some recommendations for a budding artist?

*no need to ping, I'm subbed- but it's ok if you do*

The most popular screen tablet by far is the Wacom cintiq, which will cost you an arm and a leg. They do have the cintiq 16 which is their more affordable model but even that is over 600 usd.

There are other companies that make screen tablets but I cannot personally attest to their quality. I know Huion makes them and they make pretty decent products in general and I have heard pretty good things about their tablets but have never used one. There are others I’m not familiar with, but anything decent is still going to cost you a few hundred dollars.

Nearly all screen tablets are going to be monitors that you need to hook up to a computer. The only one I know of that doesn’t need to be is the Wacom mobile studio pro which is basically its own computer and costs a few thousand dollars.

Alternatively if she really wants something she can take around with her, you could get her an ipad and apple pencil. Still pricey but perhaps not as much as a good art tablet. I have an ipad and apple pencil that I use, I don’t like it as much as my cintiq but it works well enough and it’s nice not to be chained to a computer all the time. And I have a normal gen 6 ipad and the first gen apple pencil, I have heard the apple pencil 2 works better but it’s not compatible with the cheaper normal ipad. Keep in mind that you won’t be able to use most of the same art programs on an ipad that you can use on a computer, like adobe photoshop or Krita. But some of the iOS art programs are pretty good, I personally really like sketchbook and especially Procreate.

I don’t know how much you are looking to spend, but if you are looking for something less expensive perhaps you can try to convince her to start with a normal non screen tablet? They are much more affordable though they take some getting used to, and there are plenty of really good pro artists who use them.

i have a wacom intuos medium and i love it!! its pretty sturdy, thin and portable,
i plastered the back of mine with stickers too and its held up great.

@Reltseo, @ChickenOverlord thank you for your feedback.

I'm of the mind that a paper sketch pad and and pencil can't be beat, lol. She's just starting out and fairly young, so I'm not interested in breaking the bank, but I do want to be supportive.

Reltseo, is there a screenless drawing pad you like or recommend more than others?

i personally have only ever used an ipad pro/apple pencil but i can say the durability is definitely a plus. mine functions as a computer of sorts as well, so when i was in school id take it with me to classes and it allowed me to draw and take notes at the same time which i found very useful. its more of a long term investment id say, like if shes planning on college or things like that it would be more useful but of course the price is crazy. mine has cell service built in and a ton of memory, so i could really only afford it as a gift from my grandma for graduation haha

but ive only ever heard great things about wacom tablets, still expensive but maybe more affordable. ive only ever used an ipad so i cant say from experience or anything.

edit: oh! and the program i use is called procreate. i believe it costs a bit extra to download but its so easy to use and is very good for beginners especially

[quote name="Gibberish" date="2019-11-03 18:59:28" ] @Reltseo, @ChickenOverlord thank you for your feedback. I'm of the mind that a paper sketch pad and and pencil can't be beat, lol. She's just starting out and fairly young, so I'm not interested in breaking the bank, but I do want to be supportive. Reltseo, is there a screenless drawing pad you like or recommend more than others? [/quote] @gibberish It is screenless, When i got mine it was about 200 for the medium and its 80 dollars for the small, She'll need a computer with Windows 7/8/10 Or Mac os for it to work.

I would look into Huion tablets, they have ones with the screen and they run around 200 bucks. My first tablet ever was a wacom bamboo and it lasted me many years. Still works or at least kind of does but I just got a Huion tablet and I am quite happy. It is a very large tablet and only costed me 60 (my bamboo when new was 150 I think?) I know your child might be set on a screen, but it might be better to start with one without a screen and maybe they can work towards a screen one? It just takes getting used to and it is at least something if screen tablets are out of your budget right now.

The tablet I have now is a Huion H610, I would get the Huion H610 Pro V2 as you don't have to charge the pen in the newer version.

If it absolutely must have a screen of it's on, definitely look at the Wacom Cintiq line. However, they're a little pricey. I don't know the USD price since I'm in Singapore so my prices are bound to be higher because of conversion.

I'm currently using a Wacom Cintiq 13HD, which cost SG$1200. The screen is 13 inches across, but it's not portable. It has to be connected to a PC or laptop with a HDMI and USB cable, and into a power socket. It's also heavy, so not at all practical for portability.

The Cintiq Companion and Cintiq Companion 2 are standalone tablets, but they run about SG$2000 so I can't imagine it being any cheaper in USD or Euro.

I see you mentioned your daughter is just starting out and young, so maybe you want to consider something screenless - it's going to cause less problems (screen tablets can have display issues with certain laptops - my Cintiq had a display issue with the HP Pavilion Gaming laptop where dark colours were filled with static and I had to exchange the laptop), plus they're more at risk of breaking and need repairs if your daughter isn't careful.

If you're okay with considering screenless, I can recommend the Wacom Intuos Art Small (SG$100), or the Wacom Bamboo Pen and Touch (the green and black one, ran for SG$150). Incredibly reliable. I will admit the small one is a little small for me but it might work for your daughter. There's also Medium and Large sizes for the different Intuos versions.

The wonderful thing about the Intuos is that there are different versions that come with different software licenses. This was something I saw in stores, but looking at the online shop it seems there's only one Intuos type with 3 apps - Clip Paint Studio, Corel Painter, and Corel Aftershot.

I will say, the problem with screenless tablet is need to constantly plug it in and out. Please, please, please do NOT constantly plug the cable in and out of the tablet itself. I did this and 3 years of doing this, the mini USB port became so loosened I could not plug the cable back in. Just leave the cable attached to the tablet and attach it to a laptop when your daughter wants to use it.

Graphics tablets with built in screens are geared more towards professionals, and as such are extremely expensive.

A beginner would be much better off starting with something like the Wacom bamboo pen tablet. It's screenless, but it's much cheaper (I got mine for £50 back in 2012) small and a has a nice sleek, simple design. Perfect for someone new to digital art.

For drawing tablets in general, screen or no screen, you can’t really go wrong with Wacom. I would suggest checking out the Intuos screenless tablet. That is the regular Intuos, not the pro line which costs significantly more. The regular Intuos doesn’t have as many pen pressure levels and it isn’t build as well as the pro line but it’s a really good option for a beginner.

It looks like you can get one that comes with three programs off Amazon for about 100USD. You might want to look around and see if you can find one they sell without the programs for cheaper if you aren’t sure if your daughter would use those specific programs. The price will also depend on the size, you might just want to get her a small to start with. I started with using the small intuos years ago and didn’t mind the smaller size but that’s a personal preference.

A couple people above mentioned the Wacom bamboo, but I had thought that line was discontinued?

I know there are cheaper drawing tablets out there but I’m not exactly sure how great they work. I recommend Wacom because I know their products last a long time, they are easy to install and I have heard good things about their customer service, which to me is important when you are buying expensive tech things. Though I’ve never had to give them a call myself.

But again I have heard really good things about Huion. It looks like they sell a 19.5 in screen tablet for just $300 which would be an incredible deal if it’s as good as the reviews say it is. It probably wouldn’t be very portable if my Cintiq is anything to go by - like someone else mentioned it has wires everywhere and needs to be plugged into a power source in addition to a computer. The one good things about screenless tablets is that they are much easier to tote around. But I am wondering how long a Huion would last, I think they are pretty new to the tablet world so we will see. I’m also not sure how easy it would be to install, I have heard of people having problems installing the drivers for non-Wacom tablets but it looks like it’s not an issue for most with the Huion models.