Best device for drawing?

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martyyn

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#293061 25-Dec-2021 12:19

I have absolutely no idea in this space.

Our teenage daughter is massively into drawing, she will spend hours at her desk with paper, pencils and paint and her art teacher at school tells us she's really good.

She's year 10 this year and needs an upgrade to the Chromebook she's had since year 6.

So I'm wondering if it's possible to replace the Chromebook with a device that's decent enough for her to dabble in digital drawing or is it best to buy something dedicated to drawing?

Any help is appreciated.

SirHumphreyAppleby

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#2838253 25-Dec-2021 12:22

Can't draw, so I won't pretend I know much about this space either, but I would think any old PC (with a decent colour-calibrated monitor, of course), paired with a Wacom drawing tablet, would be the way to go.

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jarledb

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#2838254 25-Dec-2021 12:27

Not necessarily the right answer, but a “cheapish” option is the regular iPad that now have support for the Apple Pencil. The iPad is $569 and the pencil is $159.

One good drawing app for the iPad is Procreate.

Just be aware that older regular iPads didn’t have pencil support. If you look at used you should check that the device you buy (would typically be older iPad Air or Pro) have Apple Pencil support.

Here is a list of iPads that support Apple Pencil

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michaelmurfy

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#2838257 25-Dec-2021 12:49

My Fiancée is into drawing. She tried a higher end drawing tablet which was OK but then she got an iPad / Apple Pencil and is now using Procreate and finds there is zero disconnect from the pen hitting the screen making it more natural. I totally recommend going down that route over anything else. Procreate is the app to use too, there are no real decent alternatives from her testing and she’s tried pretty much every Windows / MacOS and iPad app out there.

Also - here’s her instagram if you want to see her drawings: https://www.instagram.com/blackfurstudios/

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Technofreak

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#2838271 25-Dec-2021 14:11

The Samsung S pen and Pen Up is pretty good on supported Samsung tablets. I don't know how it compares to other devices/apps. I guess YMMV depending of needs and preferences.

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michaelmurfy

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#2838376 25-Dec-2021 18:10

For proper drawing, Android tablets just simply don't compare.

SirHumphreyAppleby:

Can't draw, so I won't pretend I know much about this space either, but I would think any old PC (with a decent colour-calibrated monitor, of course), paired with a Wacom drawing tablet, would be the way to go.

Forgot to mention this isn't a great experience. My partner had a moderately powerful PC (older-gen Core i5 with 16gb of ram) and found that yes, it worked but just not well. Pen trails would often lag behind especially on more complex drawings and you feel a disconnect (her words) when using it. The drawing tablet is a decent one also.

Andib

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#2838378 25-Dec-2021 18:40

The best experience would be either a Surface Pro or a iPad pro depending on the platform you want to go with

I haven't had the chance to try a regular iPad with an Apple pencil but have heard good things.

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