Should i change my drawing tablet?
https://www.reddit.com/r/ArtFundamentals/comments/v0emqy/should_i_change_my_drawing_tablet/
2022-05-29 16:20
Bazinga8000
Drawabox has been a great help for me these past few months, my ability to think of what lines i should put down on the page very much improved, and the 50% rule really made me stop being so shy/embarrassed about drawing for myself, even if the art i do is nowhere at the level i desire.
One other thing that drawabox teached me is how much better drawing from the shoulder feels for me! Way more for fluid line making, way more consistent in general and again, it just feels better for me, and im not as in such a risk to hurt my wrist.
The problem is, my drawing tablet that i use to do art (not the exercises of course, i do those on paper like its supposed to) is an wacom Intuos s, which although apparently pretty decent, is just way too small for me to use my shoulder without feeling incredibly restraint by the small space i have, so all i can really do is draw from the wrist. So my question is, should i upgrade to a wacom intuos M? Should i go for the wacom one M, as that one is a lot cheaper, and i dont really know how much "worse" it is compared to the wacom intuos. Or should i just continue with this one and either just continue just using the wrist all the time, or try to use my shoulder anyway despite the almost no space i have.
I dont have much money currently, so i doubt i would buy anything this soon, but i thought asking this question now seemed like a good thing to do.
Uncomfortable
2022-05-29 21:56
My honest answer is a big yes. You do not have to pick up the latest and greatest in wacom tech (xp-pen and huion both have tablets that are comparable for far cheaper, and I have a couple I still have yet to properly test/review, though I hope to get to that eventually for my youtube channel) but if you check out Brad Colbow's channel he pretty much tests everything under the sun very thoroughly and gives a good breakdown on what's worth your money.
The thing is, you absolutely can draw from your shoulder for marks of any size, but that doesn't mean it's easy - and when you're still getting used to drawing from your shoulder as a concept, it certainly doesn't help to have additional hurdles to deal with.
Personally, back when I started, I did so with a teeny tiny, second-hand 4"x5" Wacom Graphire 2, which is actually smaller than the smalls that are available now. A couple years later I upgraded to a 6"x8" Wacom Intuos 3, then later an Intuos 4 Large, an Intuos 5 Medium, and an Intuos Pro Medium (once they decided to make their naming schemes super confusing, but basically prior to that point all Intuos tablets were basically Intuos Pros).
I found that the change from a small size to a medium size to be night and day, while switching to a medium to a large (and more importantly, back to a medium later on) didn't really make a noticeable difference. Furthermore, when I started dating my girlfriend, I bought her an Intuos Pro Medium to upgrade from her Intuos Small, and it definitely made a big different for her, reducing her strain and generally making drawing much more comfortable. As a whole it made it clear that while the tools certainly don't make the artist, there are definitely things that can add further barriers, and that small size tablet is definitely one of them.
So! Save up your money, but don't jump straight to Wacom. Go for XP-Pen or Huion instead.