I'm fairly new to digital drawing, at least from a technical standpoint. For the last few years my only tool for it has been a 3DS and Colors3D and well... it's very limiting. Can I get some recommendations for drawing/graphic tablets? I know pretty much nothing so reasoning for your recommendations would be neat; kinda like "I recommend this because it's easy to use and it doesn't break easily".

I would prefer something I can look down on as I draw, like with a screen, over those ones that connect to your computer and transfer the pic onto its screen. Reason being I only have my laptop as far as pcs go, and I don't know if it would handle a drawing pad thingy. I don't really have a price range; I could probably fork out for anything if I saved up, but obviously the cheaper the better. However if I'm paying for quality I will absolutely go for that one over a cheap but poor quality one.

Also looking for recommendations for software. I've pretty much only heard of Clip Art Studio. I don't know if drawing tablets come pre-installed with stuff; I legit know NOTHING other than these tablets exist and that I want one.

If it's reasonable and cheaper to get a regular tablet and just download drawing software tell me that too. I don't want to draw with my finger or mouse, so keep that in mind, I think there's like tablet pens out there right? I normally draw with a pencil so it's what I'm used to.

I'm sorry for my complete ignorance on the subject but I want as much info and as many recommendations as I can get before I commit. I come from a kinda poor background so scrounging around for the best deal is pretty much beaten into me at this stage.

To summarise into neat points I'm mainly looking for:
A drawing/graphic tablet with a built in screen and tablet pen thingy, even just brand recommendations are fine.
If I need software as well, that too.
Any tips I should know and if there's anything I should avoid.

Thanks. (I did peruse older threads but I kinda got lost in a bit in the jargon and I think this kind of info gets old fast with new hardware coming out. I would appreciate if you could put it into baby words for me...)

As an added question, anyone got any neat tips and tricks? Are there tips and tricks? Like I said I'm a pretty much a newbie and want as much info going in as possible.

oracle_of_delphi said:

To summarise into neat points I'm mainly looking for:
A drawing/graphic tablet with a built in screen and tablet pen thingy, even just brand recommendations are fine.
If I need software as well, that too.
Any tips I should know and if there's anything I should avoid.

Thanks. (I did peruse older threads but I kinda got lost in a bit in the jargon and I think this kind of info gets old fast with new hardware coming out. I would appreciate if you could put it into baby words for me...)

As an added question, anyone got any neat tips and tricks? Are there tips and tricks? Like I said I'm a pretty much a newbie and want as much info going in as possible.

I'm going to talk from my personal experience:

The brands I've used are Genius and Wacom. I've had 2 Genius tablets, started with a big one, then moved to a smaller one; both have been complete trash, my first tablet came with a failure in the pressure sensibility and took me months to notice that because I didn't know that pressure existed in tablets xD, after few months the cable started to fail and RIP, same cable problem had with the next genius tablet, but at least I learned that I work faster and better with smaller tablets xD (my hands are very small).

Then I moved to Wacom brand, my first Wacom was a small Bamboo, and until today it still works without problems! after taking few commissions with it decided to upgrade because with the years Wacom launched stuff with way more pressure points and wanted to reward myself by upgrading my tools :9. My next tablet was a small "Intuos Pen and Touch" , more pressure points, 4 shortcuts buttons, and wireless option if you buy the kit, it helped me to work way faster; the bad part is that the wireless had some problems.
After few years of commissions, decided to upgrade again, but this one was a hell of a experience, I "upgraded" to a "Cintiq Companion".... probably the most expensive piece of trash I've expend on; the first days it worked amazingly well, since then I was working directly drawing on a screen I had more accuracy and speed with the clean up process, but in less than a week it started having problems with the charging port and battery until the point I couldn't charge it anymore and became unusable, I did expend a lot of hours trying to contact Wacom Support, which was a complete trash, in the whole process it took me 2 years to have it replaced, and guess what, the replacement started with the same exact issue after a month. Horrible experience for me and my wallet.
In the 2 years of wait, I obviously had to come back to the previous tablet, made lots of commissions and upgraded to a "Cintiq 13HD" , that one worked way better than the more expensive "Cintiq Companion" , this one is still alive as well and working perfectly, the version of these years had a lot of shortcut buttons, so I got used to work very fast there.

Right now I use a "Mobile Studio Pro 2019", its way more expensive than the 13 HD because its a computer itself with tablet functions , until now It works pretty good, has more pressure points than my previous tablet and drawing there feels better, the only thing I complain about it, is that they fucked up my favorite shortcut buttons.

To summarise, if you are new, start with the smaller wacom tablet you can find. If you find success, its on you if upgrading or not to a screen tablet like the Mobile Studio.

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About softwares, I personally prefer using Sai, its around $50 usd, 1-time payment and the blending brushes are best I've worked on. Also, its the software that will lag and crash the less compared to others.

Another software I use a lot for lineart its Clip Studio Paint, I highly recommend it because it has everything you need, its 1-time payment, and sometimes it goes 50% off their original price.

Since I am in the same boat as you (starting to get into digital drawing), I think I can give you some tips on the tablets I have used.

To start off, the best brand is Wacom, there is no denying this. I am currently using a "One by Wacom" which is of a decent size, not to big or small, has a nice texture when you draw on it, however it lacks many features, but it is to be expected since it is the cheapest Wacom there, it is around 60$ IIRC.

Another brand I have tried before is Huion, they are a lot cheaper than Wacom and still offer many features, however, the materials can feel a bit cheap at times, and the pen texture is a bit slippery when compared to Wacom, but they are of great value. The tablet I got was a H420, at the price of 30$, which I replaced with the One later on because it was too small fof my liking.

In terms of quality alone
Wacom > Huion

In terms of features/value for money
Huion > Wacom

Now, regarding software, I tend to stick alot with free/open source software, which are surprisingly good if you find the right one, there are two that come in mind when talking about digital drawing. Krita and GIMP, Krita is an amazing raster/vector editor for the price of exactly 0$, and the one I am currently learning. GIMP on the other hand is mofe focused on editing similar to Photoshop, think of it as a post-drawing editor, also free by the way.

Lastly, you should really look into whenever your tablet is compatible with the software you are planning to use, now this doesn't mean you can't use them, just that it will take a bit of messing around with the settings to finally make it work rather than having them work right off the bat.