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Graphic Art Tablet

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AsleepInYorkshire
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Graphic Art Tablet

#255463

Postby AsleepInYorkshire » October 2nd, 2019, 8:15 pm

I'm trying to identify one for my 12 year old daughter for Xmas.

I've absolutely no idea where to begin.

I'm guessing I need to focus on certain things

  1. No of pixels?
  2. Rechargeable battery pen?
  3. Screen size?
Any pointers appreciated.

I don't want to get something that will cost more than she uses it, but suspect these things get better as the budget increases.

AiY

torata
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Re: Graphic Art Tablet

#255506

Postby torata » October 2nd, 2019, 11:20 pm

Hello AiY

I'd suggest you go for a graphic art pad (Wacom is a well-known maker) that plugs into a computer USB.
It takes a while to get used to, as eye is not looking at hand, but so many more advantages to buying a tablet. Pad is not tied to one specific piece of equipment; much more sensitive; screen can be massive, but hand doesn't have to move so much; looking ahead, not down; etc.

If it's a hard sell to your daughter, tell her that it's how professionals do it (at least all my friends who are illustrators, etc use them).

In terms of tablets, I've tried several, not for art, but in an futile attempt to move from written paper notes to electronic ones and by far the best in terms of ease of use, screen responsiveness, cost-performance is an iPad. But I'm still on paper... with several bits of kits hanging around the place... including a Wacom graphic art pad. Ho hum.

torata

AsleepInYorkshire
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Re: Graphic Art Tablet

#255510

Postby AsleepInYorkshire » October 2nd, 2019, 11:59 pm

torata wrote:Hello AiY

I'd suggest you go for a graphic art pad (Wacom is a well-known maker) that plugs into a computer USB.
It takes a while to get used to, as eye is not looking at hand, but so many more advantages to buying a tablet. Pad is not tied to one specific piece of equipment; much more sensitive; screen can be massive, but hand doesn't have to move so much; looking ahead, not down; etc.

If it's a hard sell to your daughter, tell her that it's how professionals do it (at least all my friends who are illustrators, etc use them).

In terms of tablets, I've tried several, not for art, but in an futile attempt to move from written paper notes to electronic ones and by far the best in terms of ease of use, screen responsiveness, cost-performance is an iPad. But I'm still on paper... with several bits of kits hanging around the place... including a Wacom graphic art pad. Ho hum.

torata

Thank you so much for your advice. I get it and I will look into it much further. My daughter is not very good at art, but she refuses to give in and that requires respect. She gets enjoyment from everything she does and I have no idea where that comes from but again she earns admiration from both her piers and her teachers. I did read about the equipment you've mentioned and thought to myself it would allow a much larger screen - and she has access to on a huge screen - a smart TV. Would you mind if I was really cheeky and asked if you have knowledge of running a graphic art pad on a smart TV please ... may I add my daughter is very good at looking at the music whilst playing her keyboard which may be a transferable skill. She's not got natural skills. She just slogs it out until she gets it.

AiY

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Re: Graphic Art Tablet

#255517

Postby servodude » October 3rd, 2019, 12:18 am

torata wrote:Hello AiY

I'd suggest you go for a graphic art pad (Wacom is a well-known maker) that plugs into a computer USB.
It takes a while to get used to, as eye is not looking at hand, but so many more advantages to buying a tablet. Pad is not tied to one specific piece of equipment; much more sensitive; screen can be massive, but hand doesn't have to move so much; looking ahead, not down; etc.

If it's a hard sell to your daughter, tell her that it's how professionals do it (at least all my friends who are illustrators, etc use them).

In terms of tablets, I've tried several, not for art, but in an futile attempt to move from written paper notes to electronic ones and by far the best in terms of ease of use, screen responsiveness, cost-performance is an iPad. But I'm still on paper... with several bits of kits hanging around the place... including a Wacom graphic art pad. Ho hum.

torata


I'd agree with torata that Wacom are the go to guys for pen input
They've been in the game for a long time and there's a few options - and price points
you'll find the their current range here: https://www.wacom.com/en/products/navigation

I have a couple of their older bamboo pads - one medium sized USB and one small wireless
- and a smart "folio" pad (which digitises strokes while you write on paper)

They work really well, but are not "drawing on a screen"

If it is that your daughter is looking for I would be tempted to see if you can get to try one of the wacom styluses (e.g. bamboo-fineline) on an android tablet
- you would be able to take the stylus to any other tablet/iPad as required (I'd expect it to outlast most tablets - given my pads have outlasted several PCs)
- and if the novelty wore off - you've still got a tablet

If you already have an iPad the apple pencil is about the best pen input I've ever tried (recently A/B compared it to my MS Surface Book and it is really really good)

have fun
-sd

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Re: Graphic Art Tablet

#255518

Postby servodude » October 3rd, 2019, 12:24 am

AsleepInYorkshire wrote: Would you mind if I was really cheeky and asked if you have knowledge of running a graphic art pad on a smart TV please


I doubt it would work directly due to the drivers required
- if the smart TV supported a USB mouse I would expect you to be able to get some functionality
- however I have used a bamboo pad into a PC using a smart TV as a monitor which works absolutely perfectly

one thing I forgot to mention in my last post is that one of the main things to look for is the resolution of pressure sensitivity
- as long as it has some you'll be able to get control over stroke width and shading

have fun
- sd

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Re: Graphic Art Tablet

#255543

Postby UncleIan » October 3rd, 2019, 8:44 am

My daughter has a Huion pad that she plugs into a laptop, seems to like it a lot. It's about A4 size. Sorry, I don't know the model number.

torata
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Re: Graphic Art Tablet

#255787

Postby torata » October 4th, 2019, 9:05 am

servodude wrote:
AsleepInYorkshire wrote: Would you mind if I was really cheeky and asked if you have knowledge of running a graphic art pad on a smart TV please


I doubt it would work directly due to the drivers required
- if the smart TV supported a USB mouse I would expect you to be able to get some functionality
- however I have used a bamboo pad into a PC using a smart TV as a monitor which works absolutely perfectly


As SD said, AFAIK you'd need to plug the pad into the PC and output from the PC to smart TV as a second screen.

For software, open source has lots of resources that she can try, but depends on what she wants to do. Krita for characters and Blender for animation? Gimp or MyPaint if it's more towards "painting"? These are all quite sophisticated programs, although going by what my godchildren can do, it won't prove a major problem. Paint.net is slightly less daunting, but maybe add the extensions.

If you check out 'speed drawing digital' youtube videos, it'll give her some idea of the process. I say that because I think it's both a different mindset(?) and skill set to using paper and ink/etc. in so many ways (not least the ability to endlessly manipulate and adjust, he reminds himself...).
Freehand drawing: https://youtu.be/NNBfxHfoaxs
A very different way of doing it: https://youtu.be/v1NRr89C-hs

HTH
torata

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Re: Graphic Art Tablet

#257419

Postby PrincessB » October 12th, 2019, 5:59 pm

I've absolutely no idea where to begin.


I'm not an expert, but I can give some pointers - #1 Daughter is feeding advice as I write this, she is the expert.

Unlike something like an Ipad/Android device, a graphics tablet is designed to plug into a computer.

Although this has been mentioned. There are two types, the tablet which is a blank item that uses the computer's screen to show the drawing (similar to the way we use a mouse) or a screen which lights up and shows the image as you construct it.

She stongly recommends not going for the display screen unit for first ever graphics tablet, while the resulting work can be amazing, software issues can cause these things to break - Her higher end unit went wild after a Windows update and it took a couple of days to get things working again.

You are going to need at least a half decent laptop or desktop PC to make a graphics tablet work. On the plus side, all you need on said computer is a spare USB port. Windows will see the new tablet as another mouse and while you may need to use the driver CD (or download the drivers) it is apparently a fairly painless process.

She had a quick look about and recommends this unit:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Graphics-Press ... 134&sr=8-3
Link to Amazon, no connection. It's about £50.

HTH,

B. + #1 Daughter


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