Choosing Your First Drawing Tablet: A Beginner's Guide

The rain hammered against my office window like an impatient debt collector. Three empty coffee cups formed an unsightly semicircle on my desk, the casualties of a night spent researching the shadowy world of digital art hardware 🕵️‍♂️. You want the truth about drawing tablets? I've seen what happens when amateurs buy the wrong one. And it isn't pretty.

Do You Even Need a Drawing Tablet?

Let's start with the question nobody in the industry wants you to ask: do you actually need a drawing tablet? Youtubers would have you believe that without one, you're stuck in the analog dark ages.

A notepad and pencil have served artists for centuries. They never need charging. They never crash. They work in power outages and outside. The graphite leaves evidence of your mistakes like bloodstains at a crime scene – but that's how you learn.

But digital art isn't just traditional art with added USB ports. It offers layers, undos, perfect duplications, and color options a plenty. The question isn't whether pencil and paper "work the same" – they don't. It's whether the digital advantages matter for what you want to create.

If you're just testing the waters, an iPad or Android tablet might be your gateway. They're multipurpose devices that happen to support drawing. The Apple Pencil paired with Procreate has lured many traditional artists into the digital underworld. Likewise, Android tablets with decent stylus support can be had for less than the price of a professional drawing tablet, and they'll still let you doomscroll when you're not creating.

These tablets are the casual affairs before the marriage to a dedicated device. They'll give you a taste without the commitment. Just know that like any casual relationship, they have limitations – pressure sensitivity isn't always on par with professional equipment, and the software options can be restricted.

Understanding the Different Types of Drawing Tablets

If you've decided to cross the line into dedicated hardware, you need to know what you're getting into. There are three main suspects in the lineup:

Pen Tablets

These are the veterans of the digital art world – flat, featureless slabs that connect to your computer. You draw on what looks like a cutting board while watching your monitor. It's like conducting an interrogation through one-way glass – your hand moves in one place, the results appear somewhere else.

Pros:

• These are generally cheap
• Light enough to throw in a backpack
• No screen means no glare and fewer things to break
• Tend to be quite rugged

Cons:

• The hand-eye disconnect feels like trying to write your name while looking in a mirror. It takes a lot of practice and some people just don't 'get it'.
• The learning curve is steep and unforgiving
• Your brain will rebel for the first couple of weeks

Pen Displays

The natural evolution – screens you can draw on directly. What you see is where you draw, like writing in the condensation on a bathroom mirror.

Pros:

• Drawing directly on your artwork feels more natural to most people
• The transition from traditional art is smoother
• Your hand-eye coordination remains intact
• Great screen real estate

Cons:

• They can empty your wallet faster than a skilled pickpocket if you choose the wrong tablet
• The power cables and connection wires form a nest of snakes on your desk. These are generally getting better.
• Screen glare can turn your workspace into an impromptu mirror
• They're about as portable as a small refrigerator

Tablet Computers

These don't need your computer to function. A tablet with a Stylus Pencil is more than enough to start your digital art journey. Pair this with a dedicated digital art app and you are ready to go.

Pros:

• Freedom from the desk – draw in bed, in cafés, at crime scenes
• No cable spaghetti
• They multitask between drawing and Netflix with equal skill

Cons:

• Premium models can be incredibly expensive
• Battery anxiety becomes your constant companion especially on cheaper models
• Professional software often comes in watered-down "mobile" versions
• Certain brands try to keep you locked in their ecosystem

Testing the Water

If you're not sure digital art is your future, don't dive into the deep end. An entry-level graphics tablet or a tablet computer you already own can tell you if this is a passing fancy or a lifelong obsession.

The tablet you use for reading crime novels might be hiding artistic potential. Paired with a decent stylus (it doesn't have to be the expensive branded pencil offering), apps like Procreate can give you a taste of digital creation without additional investment.

Android tablets are the more affordable option. Samsung's S-Pen devices offer pressure sensitivity at prices that won't require a second mortgage. Apps like Infinite Painter or Concepts provide enough functionality to determine if digital art suits your temperament.

Remember: these are gateway devices. If you find yourself bumping against their limitations – craving more pressure sensitivity, larger screens, or better software – that's when you know it's time to consider dedicated hardware.

Only you can determine if a drawing tablet belongs in your creative arsenal or if the traditional tools still have stories to tell.

If you do have a tablet computer buried under magazines, resurrect it. Download a drawing app. See if the relationship develops naturally before committing to something more serious. These casual encounters with digital art can reveal whether you're compatible or just infatuated with the idea.

But if you've already had these flirtations – if you've pushed your tablet to its breaking point, if you find yourself cursing at its limitations then it's time to consider professional hardware. The dedicated drawing tablets reviewed elsewhere in these pages aren't just tools; they're accomplices in creativity.

The choice isn't simple. It never is in cases like these. But the right tool in the right hands can crack cases that seemed unsolvable. Your art might be waiting for exactly that breakthrough.

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Images used are from unsplash.com