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Hand Painted Textures


Renzatic

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Learning how to do hand painted textures is something I've been wanting to do for a long, long while now. I like the style, I like the look, I think it's quite neat. Thing is, I've always put off trying it out for myself because I know next to nothing about digital painting. I know quite about about manipulating photos to make textures, and a goodly bit about modeling them in a 3D editor, but painted textures are something I figured would always be just out of my reach.

Then I realized that the only reason why I don't know how to do it is because I've never tried it. That the only thing between me and success is a good bit of practice.

So here I am. Last Thursday, I decided to do one texture a day for the next month to see how I take to it. I've crammed a few hours of tutorials on Youtube, inspected other people's works, and just studied the hell out of it. Minus some stumbles here and there, I can already see a slight improvement just after a week with it. It started out with my admitted janky first texture, and has come to today, with a grass texture that's actually surprisingly good.

This thread will act as my diary, detailing my journey from totes noobis, to maybe hopefully pretty decent. If anyone wants to add or critique what I've done, feel more than free. I'm always up for some tips, tricks, and a bit of harsh, but honest criticism. 

(FYI, these images are scaled down from their original size)

Day 1. My first attempt. It is, like I said, kinda janky. To my credit, at least you can tell what it is.

HPPractice1.jpg.dc17975fea23f20401137aa5740ba653.jpg

Day 2. Another stone floor. Probably the one texture I spent the longest time with. Trying to get the shading just right.

HPPractice2.jpg.faa2bd72fbeaaabe68cbdb2ed5659e04.jpg

Day 3. A wood floor. This one was, eh...okay. It's a little flat and plain, kinda rough, but hey. Just my third day.

HPPractice3.jpg.86ab941aa4aea3da84d5a9cc0c9fa5e6.jpg

Day 4. Wooden roof shingles. This is where I felt like I was starting to get a slight feel for things. It's still pretty sloppy, and you can see a few areas where I guffed up, but it's not bad.

HPPractice4.jpg.f0c3a05e1d45a3c0c9d8ee1adb422123.jpg

Day 5. Stone tiles. My least favorite of the bunch, and the one I spent the least amount of effort on, truth be told. I tried to do something in a celshaded style. Ended up just looking bland.

HPPractice5.jpg.fadaba5ab828b41e7e82c722f0d32018.jpg

Day 6. My 2nd attempt at a wood floor. It's certainly better than my first, with some actual texture and depth to it.

HPPractice6.jpg.32b3a8935f89e51a82e1999e5a118c2b.jpg

Day 7. Grass. Dunno if I'm improving, or if the stars happened to align just right on this one. It's the first texture I've done that I'd consider actually decent. Though if you look at it closely, you can see how I cheated things a bit.

HPPractice7.jpg.c5c5080477055943cedbbbc5ecd7a901.jpg

And there you have it. My work so far. From here on out, I'll be posting one a day. Like I said, if anyone here wants to throw in their 2 cents, you're more than welcome. :D

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I always wanted to play that game when I was a kid...

I could probably make RPG maps like that, but my eventual goal is to make something like a cross between this:

l7Tx7NS.thumb.jpg.9040baaafbf473a187dff19e527c7ba0.jpg

...and this:

WCExample1.thumb.jpg.20ac495fe2830a8102f6dc2d5ce0273e.jpg

 I've been working on this one big idea for a comic for a good while now. It's something I'll do in 3D, which'll give me a lot of flexibility without as much overhead as drawing everything piece by piece. I recently started to really pick up steam on it, but after hours upon hours of experimenting with the style,  I came to the realization that my mix of solid, bold colors paired alongside more realistically shaped assets just wasn't doing it for me. I thought that something a little more painterly would do me better. Something like the examples above. It'd allow me a lot more detail, and still help maintain my intended style.

It'd also be a lot cheaper on my polycount. Doing EVERYTHING with flat shaded polygons looks neat, but it's a drag on the old computer. This shot, the one that finally made me decide to branch out in style, is over 15 million polygons. I could cut this down to tens of thousands of tris easily by relying on textures more.

OldHouse.thumb.jpg.3e6eb9fbf8ae77f7274d10e758ae7f23.jpg

The only problem with it is I'm only so-so with painting textures. Which leads me to where I'm at right now. 

I'm still doing it. In fact, I bought a tutorial this last Friday that I've been working on. Upside? It's teaching me quite a bit. Downside? It's got me working on the same texture day after day. My one-a-day plan has changed into a more open ended practice everyday affair.

But I'll have something to show soon, I swur!

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I still think is way faster to fully paint it all, not a single help from 3D (not even as reference). And I believe it by experience (3D modeler, texturer, "renderer" and illustrator,comic artist). In the long run, is better developing a fast drawing and coloring (if applies) technique. But I believe is an admirable effort. Also, being a 3D geek, I love anything using low pol and hand painted textures.  :)

For a comic, doing this approach, I'd never use millions of tris. Don't need those... just proper texturing. Also, if the output is comic, no harm in painterly retouch after the render.... As you seem to go after a painterly comic, not a line art based industry standard (manga, american superheros or darker themes, now a bit mainstream too).

A benefit is (in pure 3D)... you could easily make a some seconds animation for promo material, would make the comic sell a ton better, specially if using a Youtube channel to promote it.

And sth like that, definitely rocks for a Kickstarter project (been at 3 already...er...successfully, haha) , as the main thing people tend to look first is the video. That said, when doing a comic KS, is enough some good After Effects, Davinci , Htfilm or whatever with just average skill, and use the existing 2D artwork cleverly (even just some pans and zooms, some effects, just not horrid rotoscoping as some do, lol), some good sound track, contract some good narrator (is not outstandingly expensive, it is worth it a lot). 

AD, AP and APub. V1.10.6 and V2.4 Windows 10 and Windows 11. 
Ryzen 9 3900X, 32 GB RAM,  RTX 3060 12GB, Wacom Intuos XL, Wacom L. Eizo ColorEdge CS 2420 monitor. Windows 10 Pro.
(Laptop) HP Omen 16-b1010ns 12700H, 32GB DDR5, nVidia RTX 3060 6GB + Huion Kamvas 22 pen display, Windows 11 Pro.

 

 

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On 1/23/2019 at 1:13 PM, SrPx said:

I still think is way faster to fully paint it all, not a single help from 3D (not even as reference). And I believe it by experience (3D modeler, texturer, "renderer" and illustrator,comic artist). In the long run, is better developing a fast drawing and coloring (if applies) technique. But I believe is an admirable effort. Also, being a 3D geek, I love anything using low pol and hand painted textures.  :)

My justification for doing it in 3D is, well, that's where most of my skill set lies, and I thought that posing 3D characters in 3D environments, treating it like I'm taking pictures in a panorama with little characters in it, would allow me so, so much more flexibility in how I set up my scenes, while taking only a 10th of the effort. The effort comes from building all the individual assets, making them look good. But once they're done, they can be used, reused, endlessly tweaked, then shot from any angle I want in any scene I plot them into. The sky's the limit. 

Doing it all purely by painting would require me to do every single frame from scratch. That'd take forever, especially considering I'm pretty shaky on my feet at that particular affair. It might be nice to do that one day, but for now...

Oh, and selling it? I'm nowhere near quick enough to consider that route just yet. For now, it's a hobby project. Something to work towards, and build up my skills.

So, texture! It's been a minute since I last updated, I know. Besides watching more tutorials, I've been spending a lot of time practicing my hand control, spending an hour a day drawing circles, ellipses, loops, and basic shapes to address the fact that I'm considerably sloppier with a tablet than I am with pencil and paper. Showing that off every day would bore everyone to tears. 

But I did finally do a texture! It's another wood floor! At least I now know I can do these like a mad mofo.

HPPractice10.thumb.jpg.bd8138428d44204587c1343f167841b9.jpg

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Hi, Renzatic,

Seems like most people are better w. pen and paper, than a tablet. My guess is that the paper's "tooth" gives better feedback to the fingers as the pencil is drawn across. I got a sheet of "paperlike" plastic for my iPad screen, and it helps a little. 

But anything that takes hand & eye co-ordination just takes lots of practice. The younger started the better. Unfortunately, many people don't even write w. pens or pencils anymore. 

iMac 27" Retina, c. 2015: OS X 10.11.5: 3.3 GHz I c-5: 32 Gb,  AMD Radeon R9 M290 2048 Mb

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Huion WH1409 tablet

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I handle the wacom now almost as I'd do on paper (and I trained mostly on paper, so..). I'd say the issue, more than the texture of the paper, is the coordination of hand-eye-screen. That's why a ton of people find it easier to use a display-pen (ie, cintiq, or XP-PEN 22, Yiynova, Huion or etc) rather than a pen-tablet. Even with a cintiq or alternative, your hand control is still of much higher "resolution", way less jittery than the best wacom solution today. That's what you notice, and is not your fault. It requires certain long term training with a wacom or similar. The path is shorter with a cintiq or cintiq alternative, as you paint in way more similar to traditional drawing and painting,  but I am in this belief of pen-tablets not only being cheaper, they're in my opinion also healthier (eyesight, back, and neck).  Even more the case with small screens like the Cintiq 13" or ANY iPad Pro. The wonders gained in technology are lost by the small screen.

Remember you can also activate line smoothing. I don't have an issue now with even accurate, detailed ink line art (in CSP I don't need line smoothing anymore (probably it already averages the line in zero value)), and if anything, only slight line smoothing (probably matching the only bit needed to compensate the magnetic tablet system. As I've no line shaking at all in paper) when using something like A. Photo or similar.

The procedure I lately recommend to all going traditional---> digital is this : Start with heavy line smoothing setting. Practically all important painting software apps do have it today. Then, go forcing yourself into lowering that setting, never past the line where you 'd feel uncomfortable or doing too many "tries" for each line (btw, is a total joy when you don't need the tries anymore). so that you can have more freshness and control over the line. At some point you don't need it that much.

The first area to notice improvements will be in digital painting. As is not that much important there (maybe yes in your case as you are doing a hand painted but cartoony style, relying very much in hard edges). You would start reducing the line smoothing setting when digitally painting. Then, will do so also with line-art / comics (the latter require much moire training)

The hand-brain system gets used to it. Is one of the areas where the lizard part of the brain takes action. It does not give a warning... You just keep trying and, as is slow, you don't notice, but you are getting more and more accurate. So, best advice : Draw and/or paint, a lot with your tablet. And the better control appears. Just try to do my trick of go lowering very day or every week a bit the line smoothing. Is an absolutely essential feature : in some cases you do need yes or yes, as is a type of line you would also struggle with in paper. But is mostly a nice helper in the learning and skill training process. Before I just did look at it as a remedy for a bad hardware implementation (which it is). Today my view has expanded: Is it exactly that, but also a software (a feature)  helper in the path of getting your best crafting with a wacom or the like.  Good for you and everyone else, that Affinity added it to Photo.  :)

Quote

Oh, and selling it? I'm nowhere near quick enough to consider that route just yet. For now, it's a hobby project. Something to work towards, and build up my skills.

Sorry, the full time freelancer mindset. At some  point I need to realize I'm in a world full of people working 9 to 5 (or having "a real job", as some say ;D )

The quality  you are aiming at is high, though. I wouldn't trash the income plan for later on....

About tablets...I'd very highly recommend NOT to use a small wacom tablet. Or small, in general. Bare minimum should be a 170 bucks Wacom Medium, or, better, a slightly bigger XP-PEN Deco 03 (100 bucks)

But my ideal of all times is a Wacom Intuos Pro L (between 500 and 600 euros). True that my intuos 4 XL is way too much. Must be of the likes of many like me, as is a rare case of an old "4" model still being sold officially at the Wacom's store !  Yet I recon, XL is huge for most desktops.  Probably the two golden purchases would be a Deco 03 or the Wacom I. Pro L.

I know that for line work and accuracy, a large tablet is very important. A cintiq or alternative shall do even better, if it is a good one. I just dislike painting on a screen, think it has too many cons. For just, ONLY , digital painting, I'd say most people are fine with a Wacom Medium or XP-PEN Deco 03. I wouldn't be  the cheap bastard which I am with the machine (my pc) for the case of the drawing device : Purchasing a Wacom Small defeats the purpose, unless you only do pixel art, vectors of photo retouch.

 

AD, AP and APub. V1.10.6 and V2.4 Windows 10 and Windows 11. 
Ryzen 9 3900X, 32 GB RAM,  RTX 3060 12GB, Wacom Intuos XL, Wacom L. Eizo ColorEdge CS 2420 monitor. Windows 10 Pro.
(Laptop) HP Omen 16-b1010ns 12700H, 32GB DDR5, nVidia RTX 3060 6GB + Huion Kamvas 22 pen display, Windows 11 Pro.

 

 

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5 hours ago, gdenby said:

The younger started the better.

That's so true that first time I read certain complaints about cintiqs,  it made me almost cry in laughter....  "I hate cintiqs:  My hand gets in the way" (meaning  the hand covers their drawing, lol.... seems they can't integrate the usual hand withdraw to check how it's going as a non conscious mechanism in their brain... it's all about mechanical habits...!  ) ....Is a strange generation that has grown with the computer as the main toy (I built my own sling and other stuff as a kid, enjoyed the countryside, not a nintendo) they more rarely do handwriting and a lot of them have almost never seriously tried drawing on paper or the like.  Dunno, sounded funny to me. But that generation is one point in time : As soon as cintiq (not only the alternatives: Wacom is finally producing a cheaper cintiq line... But they need to bet for it more strongly, in more sizes) become a cheaper norm, I'm guessing the non-screen ones will still be produced for more casual usage, signing, retouch, as no matter what, they're cheaper to produce than a magnetic system AND a screen monitor. But most artists, amateur students (large target market for the 15.6 ") included,  will probably be able to afford at some point a 200 -250 $ device, and I asume this could come to the 15.6 size, as in the current 12" for that price is a bit useless for certain serious uses. By that point ALL will find the hand "not actually getting in the way". In a way, this is good, as is so similar to draw on paper that they should do just find if left alone with pen and paper.

AD, AP and APub. V1.10.6 and V2.4 Windows 10 and Windows 11. 
Ryzen 9 3900X, 32 GB RAM,  RTX 3060 12GB, Wacom Intuos XL, Wacom L. Eizo ColorEdge CS 2420 monitor. Windows 10 Pro.
(Laptop) HP Omen 16-b1010ns 12700H, 32GB DDR5, nVidia RTX 3060 6GB + Huion Kamvas 22 pen display, Windows 11 Pro.

 

 

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Whether it's a tablet, a Cintiq or an iPad, you often expect a better result than what you actually get with a real marker, brush or pencil.

If you get used to making sketches on A5 or A4 sheet, an iPad Pro may be enough, if instead of using the wrist movements you're used to using your whole arm you need a larger surface.

Obviously if you are a digital native accustomed to working at 200/300% your features will seem more inaccurate than those you get with a pencil on the sheet.

I use an old Cintiq 20 "and an iPad Pro ... the improvements are there and on the iPad I can keep the pencil also far from the tip getting a "almost" natural trait.

A digital native, however, often thinks that a brush can be like a pencil ... in reality it is not like that.

If you make a sketch on paper and then pass it on to the scanner you will realize that it will be much more inaccurate than what you perceive on paper.

It takes exercise and knowledge of natural media to better control digital ones.

How to try to use a pencil kept very far from the tip to not cover the drawing, or very close by helping with a finger that rests on the paper to make very precise strokes.

The iPad is much more natural than the Cintiq in many ways ... keeping the pen away from the tip is more natural than the Cintiq. Even simulating a brush is more natural, but it remains a brush and you can not use it like a pencil.

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1 hour ago, SrPx said:

I handle the wacom now almost as I'd do on paper (and I trained mostly on paper, so..). I'd say the issue, more than the texture of the paper, is the coordination of hand-eye-screen. That's why a ton of people find it easier to use a display-pen (ie, cintiq, or XP-PEN 22, Yiynova, Huion or etc) rather than a pen-tablet. Even with a cintiq or alternative, your hand control is still of much higher "resolution", way less jittery than the best wacom solution today. That's what you notice, and is not your fault. It requires certain long term training with a wacom or similar. The path is shorter with a cintiq or cintiq alternative, as you paint in way more similar to traditional drawing and painting,  but I am in this belief of pen-tablets not only being cheaper, they're in my opinion also healthier (eyesight, back, and neck).  Even more the case with small screens like the Cintiq 13" or ANY iPad Pro. The wonders gained in technology are lost by the small screen.

Remember you can also activate line smoothing. I don't have an issue now with even accurate, detailed ink line art (in CSP I don't need line smoothing anymore (probably it already averages the line in zero value)), and if anything, only slight line smoothing (probably matching the only bit needed to compensate the magnetic tablet system. As I've no line shaking at all in paper) when using something like A. Photo or similar.The procedure I lately recommend to all going traditional---> digital is this : Start with heavy line smoothing setting. Practically all important painting software apps do have it today. Then, go forcing yourself into lowering that setting, never past the line where you 'd feel uncomfortable or doing too many "tries" for each line (btw, is a total joy when you don't need the tries anymore). so that you can have more freshness and control over the line. At some point you don't need it that much.

My biggest problem right now isn't that I have sloppy lines. I'm fairly decent at doing quick strokes, and drawing from the elbow. It's my hand-eye coordination that needs a lot of work. When I'm drawing on paper, I pretty well know where my strokes will go, probably due to the fact that everything is within my field of vision. With a tablet, I've got it down below me, and my eyes are aimed away from it, up towards my monitor. The end result is that I'm all over the place. Things I can easily do on paper, like drawing a random shape, then tracing over it without any huge variances in my strokes, I CANNOT do with a tablet. It annoys me to no end, though I am getting better at it.

...slowly and surely.

There's also the fact that I cheaped out, and opted for the itty bitty Intuos Art. It doesn't bother me much, though I am starting to see how a larger tablet would serve me better. Like if I'm drawing a long line, and I start getting towards the edge. My strokes get shakier the closer I bring my elbow in towards my body. With a larger tablet (and a better all around general setup, honesty), I wouldn't have to worry about that.

As for screens with what to draw upon, I actually had a Surface Pro 4 up until here recently. It was...eh, alright. I never drew on it much, because desktop applications felt crowded on a screen that small, the pen felt floaty, and the screen would flex inwards when I put pressure on it. In contrast, I tried out an iPad Pro-Apple Pencil combo a little while back, and loved every second of it. The only complaint I had was that drawing on glass feels a little too smooth, but getting a paper texture screen protector like gdenby mentioned above would probably fix that. Moreso than getting a larger Intuos, or opting for a Cintiq, I'm deeply tempted to grab a Pro for myself.

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3 hours ago, Renzatic said:

My biggest problem right now isn't that I have sloppy lines.

But...have you really tried setting a high (or a middle, as if not, gets unusable) line smoothing setting ? Clip Studio Paint has the best on the market, but you have it also in Affinity Photo, Krita, and almost all digital paint solutions. I mean, is not A solution, is THE solution, until hardware evolves to a really seamless solution compared to traditional drawing. And from there you go training yourself by forcing yourself to get less and less "help". I had to do so despite being a realistic painter and comic artist for 40 years...These digital devices need a very strong training, due to be yet very far from our human accuracy, even if  that sounds crazy, and only to get at a 60% of what you could do in traditional (compensated by the other advantages of the digital world, specially for fast production (color...))

3 hours ago, Renzatic said:

There's also the fact that I cheaped out, and opted for the itty bitty Intuos Art.

There it goes. There lies the problem (well, 50% of it. The rest is ...u gotta draw with these things. Get used to this cr4p, haha. ). I myself would be unable to draw -at least with any comfort- with a Intuos Small. For that I'd rather draw in paper and scan the lines. (Dunno if the W. Art has yet the MEDIUM size as it used to. If yours is Medium, then that's fine (kindda)). The "Small" would require such high setting in line smoothing in every tool I know, that you could be even better off just drawing with the mouse, lol. Is fine for photo retouching, tho. For fully drawing and painting... IMO, no way. I HAVE used  that for producing the entire artwork (well , my part of it, included pencil-like sketches, textures, matte painting, maps, sprites, etc) for a large video game (we were 3 artists) during 8 months at a game company.  And we're talking the wacom's models back then, I believe 256 levels of pressure... It can be done, is just WAY worse. Drawing the pencil concepts was a nightmare. And back then, the only ones with line smoothing/averaging, were Corel Painter in raster (and am all for raster) and Flash/illustrator in vectors. That's it.

3 hours ago, Renzatic said:

With a larger tablet (and a better all around general setup, honesty), I wouldn't have to worry about that.

You don't really get full control like in paper. Forget that dream :). You get enough so that is bearable and at least usable in production. In line art, I enable/disable line smoothing, sometimes to get fresh lines, sometimes as I want a very steady very long curve that I need very accurate in placing. Sometimes because I get bored of the smoothing... Only in line-art/comic inking. As in digital painting, I totally disable it, in all my tools. Is not needed, there.(maybe yep in the cell shaded style you are kind of making... or better said, the Blizzard's WOW style from some years ago.

3 hours ago, Renzatic said:

I actually had a Surface Pro 4 up until here recently. It was...eh, alright.

Yeah....Not sure on the 4, but those tend to have a bad ( borderline terrible) palm rejection system. Also, since they trashed the wacom tech ( I smell business fights, as technically makes no sense...) to go with n-trig (not sure about what they use in their latest ones), they've been having terrible critics in every single device (included the huge AIO, the MS Studio) for having horrid jitter/wobble/however you call it, trembling lines I mean, very bad pen control for drawing. And unlike some thought about the Surface in first moments, is not for the slippery screen. The problem runs deeper. Plus other issues like being way too small (12 inches) but also with too high res for those inches, while running desktop apps, showing there really tiny icons , tiny UI fonts, due to that. Making them anything but comfortable. Again, at least for illustration, painting. As portable computers, not bad. But I always recommend better, to have the same or better, a much better priced laptop (asus, lenovo, acer, hp, whatever) of enough power + a medium wacom, or medium size whatever. Both things together fit in a regular bag. I have had sort of that, but with a 18" laptop, hehe. 

3 hours ago, Renzatic said:

I'm deeply tempted to grab a Pro for myself.

That's an option. Which I can't recommend.  xD. At least for the task in hand...

Or can I.     .. in your case... if you definitely felt comfortable in the Pencil experience, then, why not. If after all you are doing zoom-ups, so to say, that is, you only want it for textures !! Not for a complex illustration of a battle full of solders and horses,  on a complex battlefield scene, where you prefer not to loose the global view, the composition and still keep the capability of painting many details, without loosing the view, neither having to work in zoomed-in a 95% of the time... You are actually "zoomed in" all the time, so to speak, by working in an actual texture, which is neither hyper-realistic in treatment. Neither big complexity in composition or scene detail.

Each thing depends on the planned usage. My only grip is that with a, say, XP-PEN 22E, you have 22 inches for detailed work, but still, you can do gorgeous textures like those you are making now. And you are still on a fully capable PC/Mac. And the investment is around (quite less if comparing with the 12inches iPad pro, as they are now way expensive) the iPad pro cost. Yes , the portability advantage, and you get a full working autonomous, portable device,  but you get disconnected from the environment of your 3D production (blender, Max, Maya...)...  Dunno, even in your case I see more sense in getting a 22 XP-PEN (my fixation with it is only due to the reviews I've read and watched, and some friends testimonies), or a HUION of the 20 or 21 models... In the case of Yiynova, I can only recommend their top of the line model. As in the lower/mid ones I have seen issues that are a total no-way for me. (but their highest model is, in contrast, among the best screens on the market).  IMO, these give a ton more control over the lines than an iPad Pro. (have handled both). Now an interesting product is the latest launch of Wacom. Older tech, despite being a new model, meaning, probably is tech comparable to the prev gen (but heck, even an arcane  21UX cintiq is a God send! ) , some stuff stripped (none of which affects my work, mine at least) but at 600 bucks, FINALLY. Issue is it's a 16 inches display.  I still can only recommend stuff from 19 and up, and more likely nothing smaller than 21/22. maybe for your very specific usage a 16 one is fine. But in that case, you get quite cheaper offers, and with a 92 - 94 % of Adobe RGB coverage, in XP-PEN PRO 16, and Artisul 16 (pro, I think), respectively. Not much cheaper, tho. Maybe from 100 to 200 $ cheaper. While I believe the Wacom's in that line get less wide color coverage.

If what you have is a Wacom SMALL , you would see a great benefit with the XP-PEN Deco 03, or just a Wacom Medium. For the eye-hand-screen coordination, surely, only a solution that paints on screen, if want to get productive very fast. Also the nice part of getting used to the pen-tablets, is that when you then get to switch to a Display-tablet (ie, in the job !  ;) ) you are outstandingly good with it, better than other ppl : You already trained yourself to the magnetic tablet tracking (is the same in a cintiq than in a non display tablet, for that matter) , but having now the advantages and easiness in a display-tablet. At that point you don't need those advantages, but find you are extremely faster than people who only trained, directly, in a cintiq or cintiq-like. But is a weirdo advantage that requires also years of training (in my very arguable opinion).

AD, AP and APub. V1.10.6 and V2.4 Windows 10 and Windows 11. 
Ryzen 9 3900X, 32 GB RAM,  RTX 3060 12GB, Wacom Intuos XL, Wacom L. Eizo ColorEdge CS 2420 monitor. Windows 10 Pro.
(Laptop) HP Omen 16-b1010ns 12700H, 32GB DDR5, nVidia RTX 3060 6GB + Huion Kamvas 22 pen display, Windows 11 Pro.

 

 

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Yeah, I have the SMALL Intuos, and it is truly itty bitty. For where I'm at right now, it seems to work well enough. It's definitely better than drawing with a mouse. Though I do tend to zoom out more often than not to do big, sweeping strokes. With a bigger tablet, I probably wouldn't have to futz around so much.

...and if I had a tablet that'd let me draw directly on the screen, I wouldn't have to undo my strokes 15 times until it finally lands where I want it to.

It's funny that you brought up XP-PEN, because after posting my last reply, I started looking at different tablets. It seems they're the best alternative to Wacom for someone who isn't an absolute, cutting edge pro. They're stable, slick, have nice features, and, most importantly, don't cost the earth. This tablet in particular has caught my eye. It's less than half the price of an iPad Pro with a Pencil, and it's just kinda neat overall. Not super fancy, but it seems to do the tablet thing pretty well. I've been looking for an excuse to grab a 2nd monitor for my computer anyway, so this is kinda tempting me.

But like you said, portability is a nice advantage. I'm not tethered to my study with it. Hmm...

Now, pen stabilizers. I've turned it on a couple of times, but I didn't want to use it too much out of fear that it'd end up becoming a crutch for me. I figured it'd be better to learn how to draw smooth lines without any assistance, only using the stabilizers as an extra boost here and there. I'll keep a more open mind to them from here on out.

Oh, and since you brought up Krita. Well, uh...I did cheat a bit, and used it to tile my last wood floor. I know, I know. This is an Affinity board. I shouldn't talk about the competition here. But comeon. It's wraparound mode is an absolute godsend for doing textures. I'd love to see that feature in Photo.

...and while we're wishlisting, smoother canvas rotation would be nice too. 

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1 hour ago, Renzatic said:

...and if I had a tablet that'd let me draw directly on the screen, I wouldn't have to undo my strokes 15 times until it finally lands where I want it to.

Only a small comment in this fluid conversation we have going on here ( :D )  , I would agree to that, but with a lil comment, here... The on-screen is not as good as most people think, and to my experience, it still inherits a bit of the magnetic grid lack of accuracy (IMO, that trial and error wouldn't happen to you if drawing on paper. I know as I have conducted "kind of" scientific tests... And that super random "huh, I land where I want, am a line with personality, dude"  you would find it diminished as you go to bigger and bigger tablets. To some extent, I believe it is even more important than the on-screen factor, just that removing fully the coordination problem means a lot (not a prob after some time, though).

So, I believe you would get the benefit in both cases (if going for a bigger tablet, or if going for a bigger and on screen one). Now, if going for painting on-screen...Not that much of a difference, and probably a lot of money invested, yet. The exception can be the iPad pro. IMO, their tracking tech is simply superior, and the pencil feel, too. But is like throwing gold to the  trash can, not offering at least one single size at 16 /* 17 inches. Or using the tech to make a MS Studio (the AIO) or Cintiq competitor. If that tech is applicable to large screens, I believe it'd wipe out everything else...  Others could only use price as a tactic. But that wont happen. They even made an 11 inches Pro, this time, lol.  

Meaning, ... I could see sense in purchasing an iPad Pro, has many advantages. Not my cup of tea for illustration, but the technology for drawing is really advanced. But 12 -13 inches for a tablet, meaning, cramming there a typical desktop UI... I wouldn't get that in any way... I've tested that, during months.... Now.. display-tablet, 16 inches. That starts to make "some" sense. yet a bit too tiny. My point is : A Wacom L or even Medium, a better purchase than a small 12/13 inches display-pen. Perhaps(for some uses) with the exception of the iPad Pro (not so with Surface, as much as am a Windows user for ever). I tell you, with XL I draw from the shoulder and elbow... And I noticed the very first day, IMMEDIATELY how it was much, much better to ink lines than my previous Medium and Small. That was dunno if in 2009 or so. Still kicking. helping me produce entire games, large sets of illustrations...

1 hour ago, Renzatic said:

It seems they're the best alternative to Wacom for someone who isn't an absolute, cutting edge pro

A pro is vague term. I see a lot of people doing higher quality stuff than what I've seen inside companies. And at the end of the day, I don't really see that much of a difference with a current alternative brand and most cintiqs, to be honest. Well, yep, the color management, that's for sure. But again, the top end Yiynova is VERY accurate in that regard, and has nto hit yet (surely it will) the 22 models, but I believer the xp-pen 22E pro latest version is a 88% NTSC or sth like that. This is already quite good, and you can always have your hardware calibrated monitor besides, so to be aware of the issues, and compensate balancing the tablet monitor as needed. As I was telling you, I've made work that went to the stands with sth way worse than ANYTHING on the cheapest ebay offer, today (a graphire 1, I think it was... oh, and a bestbuy....) ...They all allow you to paint. I wouldn't break the bank just yet with a cintiq pro 32, that's for sure.

 

1 hour ago, Renzatic said:

This tablet in particular has caught my eye. It's less than half the price of an iPad Pro with a Pencil, and it's just kinda neat overall. Not super fancy, but it seems to do the tablet thing pretty well. I've been looking for an excuse to grab a 2nd monitor for my computer anyway, so this is kinda tempting me.

That one seems good to me, too.  That's the one I was telling you it has (according to vendor, but none of these are tested like pro monitors, with color calibration tests and etc. Or...not often. So, hard to know how much of promised by the vendor passes a test. That said, can't remember of many tests like those for Cintiqs...) a 92% of Adobe RGB color space support (94% in the pro competitor of this size in Artisul). And well, that, in whatever the monitor is A LOT. :). I'm waiting till the "alternatives" tech brings this level in color to 22 sizes. It hasn't yet, surely a production prob.

Euh....wait, nope. Seems they released a new model...okay, let me watch what Brad has to say about it...

Pretty neat, yup. 

Personally, I only consider XP-PEN for the Deco 03 (but not over a Wacom L ), because the outstanding price for that size, and XP-PEN 22E (pro or however they call it now) , because at that size, any cintiq is super prohibitive in price. Now, just having released Wacom a Cintiq 16 (NON PRO) , at 600 bucks... Dunno, I trust WAY more Wacom for longevity in their devices than XP.  And I mean, A LOT more. Also, look at the labels of demanding test certifications passed. In the case of Wacom is crazy. For XP, well, Deco 03 I think has some, but does not get close. Of course, doing that costs a ton of money, but....

Meaning, having a nicely priced cintiq 16 right now, even if the xp-pen new one is laminated, and the new cintiq 16 is not (to make a difference with their pro, or one of  them) , which means less parallax (so, the distance of where the tip touches, and where the actual pixel lays, is smaller, meaning, the XP new one lets you draw more naturally in that regard, less offset of the cursor, if any) I'd still go for the Cintiq. Yeah, no side buttons in the tablet, neither disc, which I would miss. But the the function keys, I'm always having the keyb on the side as a I draw, so.... 

But having finally a nice pricing line in cintiq FOR THAT SIZE, I'd go Wacom. For 22, no way, Cintiq gets there super expensive.

Aaaannndd....even that said, the key point here is that they have put it -the new xp pro-  as low as 400 bucks, 200 cheaper than the Wacom  Cintiq16.(and a tad more than a Cintiq 16 PRO) Sooooo....might worth the risk, you get A LOT for 400 bucks.

Just... do not press hard: Never do with any tablet, but surely to get the best touch, happens as happened some time ago with wacom's : great feel films tend to be more tending to get scratched. Just draw with care.

Others report from xp devices, that some get broken after some months, somehow. Not a lot, tho. I've read WAY more cases with other companies. Seems to me too, that XP has probably among the best support, lately.

Maybe... being 400$. I could take the risk. But as I paint for very serious stuff, I personally would still go with the Wacom cheapo cintiq. (and more likely, with just a Wacom L standard tablet).

NOW, among this or an iPad Pro... I don't even doubt... This. My personal and super impopular opinion, haha. At least for what is drawing heavy sessions (which I do 90% of  the time), serious stuff.

1 hour ago, Renzatic said:

Now, pen stabilizers. I've turned it on a couple of times, but I didn't want to use it too much out of fear that it'd end up becoming a crutch for me. I figured it'd be better to learn how to draw smooth lines without any assistance, only using the stabilizers as an extra boost here and there. I'll keep a more open mind to them from here on out.

Hmmmyeah, I did used to think so in the past.  But nope, is not like that. You already know how to draw and paint. You are not facing that you are worse or anything. Is that the tech "is not there" yet. You use the stabilizer in the process or getting familiar with this new thing. You go lowering its value in a natural way. Not how you think you should do it to be a purist or anything, but as you are 100% able to do your craft with full control. That full control will be able to be produced each time with less value of the stabilizer. I mean, I have reached the point I can do decent inking without stabilizing in most apps. So, I come from there with this comment. And how is not really a need to learn to draw "manly" with it. As it acts differently. You are just fighting a poor magnetic grid issues. Use the stabilizer to fill that gap. Our brain-hand system is much better, it'll adapt to it as you go diminishing the setting,  your capability comes naturally with almost no trying, just drawing a lot.

I see the case when people is tracing a photo "to draw better". That's stupid.  Your brain ain't working in the process. But this is different. You are being disallowed to get the accuracy you have with a pen and paper. You're only winning it back in a progressive method to get used to the machine deficiencies.

Quote

Oh, and since you brought up Krita. Well, uh...I did cheat a bit, and used it to tile my last wood floor. I know, I know. This is an Affinity board. I shouldn't talk about the competition here. But comeon. It's wraparound mode is an absolute godsend for doing textures.

Nobody would blame you!. To my knowledge, not even PS has it ! . And even with just a W key toggle. I've done too tons of textures for the plate of food, and that feature is literally invaluable. Plus, don't worry. Krita is lacking a ton of functionality that AP has. Logically as is done as a digital painting solution. Sadly, most graphic apps developers STILL think that doing a super painterly app is enough for the 98% of the work of an illustrator. Fatal error. In real life gigs, you need just a bare good working brush with good flow and opacity control, and then the features that PS or AP have. THEN you're covered. Not with a canvas rotate, symmetry , watercolor with dripping water all over the table or a canvas that ends in the borders like real natural paper. That's nice for the toy purchasers, not for full day work and complex gigs...

Edit: About typos. You will find MANY. As am not reviewing this wall of info/text, lol...

AD, AP and APub. V1.10.6 and V2.4 Windows 10 and Windows 11. 
Ryzen 9 3900X, 32 GB RAM,  RTX 3060 12GB, Wacom Intuos XL, Wacom L. Eizo ColorEdge CS 2420 monitor. Windows 10 Pro.
(Laptop) HP Omen 16-b1010ns 12700H, 32GB DDR5, nVidia RTX 3060 6GB + Huion Kamvas 22 pen display, Windows 11 Pro.

 

 

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Sorry for the late reply. I've been kind of busy, and save for tonight, the time I've spent painting has been mostly dedicated to yet more boring drills. Nothing worth gabbing on about here.

The tablet advice is much, much appreciated, and I'm not entirely opposed to grabbing a Deco 03, but I'm still leaning more towards a good, inexpensive touch screen for a number of reasons. First and foremost, my current drawing setup sucks. I've got my little Wacom snuggled in on one of those slide out keyboard trays below my desk. I can't move it up, because I've got a fairly big monitor. I'd have my face plastered up against it if I drew that way.

But I do have an L-shaped desk, and the portion along the right side of me barely has anything on it. That's where I usually do my drawing anyway, so it'd be perfect place for a decently sized screen tablet. I could just pivot in my chair anytime I want to paint.

So anyway, to get back to the original topic at hand. Textures! Yup. I did another one, and it's a...you guess it...ANOTHER WOOD FLOOR! Yeah, maybe I'm starting to get in a rut, but I can do them fairly decently, which is a good boost to the ole self esteem.

This is an in-editor, because, well, I think they look neat, and I could show off my layer stack for anyone wanting that bit of extra info. I didn't tile this one, because I  didn't feel like using Krita, or hitting up the affine filter over and over again. This round was all about practicing technique.

 

HPPractice11.jpg

Oh, and if anyone wants to know what I doing when I talk about the drills: circles and ovals! Sometimes, if I'm feeling crazy...I'll shade 'em.

Now if I practiced doing anything else over the years, who knows how far I'd be right now. O_0

1836224671_CirclesOvals.thumb.jpg.628902312936169d953905d6074ffefd.jpg

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Now a bit in a hurry, but some fast notes :

- I'd.... maybe buy an Ikea cheapo table, I got mine long ago, 40 euros (and I believe about 30 for the other table parts in total), about 80 cm depth, i believe, so, it's quite far, the LCD from me, and the XL is between me and the monitor when I draw.  I handle then the keyb in one side, mouse at the other. When typing, I mount slightly part of the Intuos Pro into the monitor base -surely should not be doing that, but till date no bending has happened-  and fit the keyboard in front of me, just before the XL (the usual position for typing (mouse still on the right, but is where I have it always, now, and when I used an A6, lol..... Space is important to draw well.... Drawing now in that extendable  drawer makes it way more difficult to have a controlled arm (shoulder or elbow) flow. Also, I bet you might start getting back and/or neck pain, sooner or later. Body position , a correct one, is KEY for we people drawing so many hours all year. (besides doing pauses and stretching : at least each hour, little walk, some light stretching of neck,back, arms, wrist, hands. Specially when you are drawing 8 or more hours per day)

- So little desktop depth Is it maybe due to having a CRT still? man, change to a LCD, they tend to be more healthy, and there's really good ones now....(you gotta pay attention to specs, and specially, advanced professional reviews (not youtube or general tech reviewers).

- If you move all the drawing matter to the right area in your L shaped table,  by buying a cintiq or cintiq alternative, yup, that could do. Tho I insist in having a deep table, and enough table space, in general, as key.

- So, if you go for display-tablet... My today's favorite purchase is the Wacom Cintiq (non pro, always that you have a pro or semi-pro monitor, well calibrated, so that you can always send to the monitor (or if you have it in clone mode, just will be easy to catch things) to check color accuracy in what you are painting. Surely calibrating (many tablets can't be COLOR calibrated ! ) the display-tablet color as close as possible to the pro monitor) ....THAT's by very, very far my best advice. BUT...if dollars, even that not such of a big difference (maybe is from 450 to 600 ? Wacom deserves THAT difference, IMO) are so very tight, then, IMO the best take is NOT a 12 or 13 inches... Don't do that. Don't make that horrible mistake... I made that..had to sell second hand -loosing tons of money- just 8 months later of heavy pro work. Was a wacom, and was not giving probs, but that size is not the good one, trust me... At least get a 16, although by all means, if you have space in that right area, ideal would be to go for the 22 from XP-PEN. Again, if money is the super barrier, well, then the 16 latest from XP that we mentioned : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDmFzYZclyk

It is about the best purchases of the moment in that range. I would NOT go huion for these sizes. Maybe not even artisul. I reiterate that my choices here would be: if 16 inches, no-brainer, is Cintiq NON Pro 16, for so many reasons. If you can jump to 22" (around 800 bucks) , then XP-PEN 22E, ...OR the highest of the gamma in Yiynova (I believe around 900 $, no idea right now),  but none of the lower ones. I myself have it super solid that I wont purchase never, ever again (and that was a Cintiq!!!) a display-tablet of 12 -13 inches .  Actually, nothing smaller than 22 ". Those 8 months were.... well, can't use the most accurate word , here... >:(

 

AD, AP and APub. V1.10.6 and V2.4 Windows 10 and Windows 11. 
Ryzen 9 3900X, 32 GB RAM,  RTX 3060 12GB, Wacom Intuos XL, Wacom L. Eizo ColorEdge CS 2420 monitor. Windows 10 Pro.
(Laptop) HP Omen 16-b1010ns 12700H, 32GB DDR5, nVidia RTX 3060 6GB + Huion Kamvas 22 pen display, Windows 11 Pro.

 

 

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Is not the only reason (there are MANY more) why I am recommending Wacom new cheapo Cintiq over anything else (well, I recommend bigger sizes, tho), but an extremely important one is that you have some wobble/jitter, even if the one in that XP-PEN model is about the best you can get in an alternative, but you don't have that issue in Wacom since some time. This is super important to me. Both for painting and (mostly) comic inking. You don't wont the cursor making unexpected waves by its own when drawing slowly.

I have not seen a single review yet of an alternative brand not having this issue. And I have seen tons, and for a very long time. Probably any flavor that you could think of now, of what is available.

Seriously. 600 bucks. Buy that Cintiq 16.....  :)

AD, AP and APub. V1.10.6 and V2.4 Windows 10 and Windows 11. 
Ryzen 9 3900X, 32 GB RAM,  RTX 3060 12GB, Wacom Intuos XL, Wacom L. Eizo ColorEdge CS 2420 monitor. Windows 10 Pro.
(Laptop) HP Omen 16-b1010ns 12700H, 32GB DDR5, nVidia RTX 3060 6GB + Huion Kamvas 22 pen display, Windows 11 Pro.

 

 

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1 hour ago, SrPx said:

- So little desktop depth Is it maybe due to having a CRT still? man, change to a LCD, they tend to be more healthy, and there's really good ones now....(you gotta pay attention to specs, and specially, advanced professional reviews (not youtube or general tech reviewers).

Ha! No. I have a fairly decent, huge ass 32" VA panel with a big base. I could push it farther back on the desk another 6-8 inches, but I'm kept from going even farther due having my long power strip, cables, and other computer necessities all snug and organized back there, AND I have low vaulted ceilings. I'm making it sound all inconvenient, but it has been a pretty comfortable setup up until now. I just have new things to consider.

Course I could move the monitor to the longer portion of the L. I could push it practically up against the wall there, but (there's always a but) I'd have to redo all my wiring to hide it again. That'd be a...yeah, that's a quest.

It'd be easier just to get the screen tablet. And yeah, the Cintiq 16 is in the running for consideration. I'm still pretty tempted by that XP-PEN, though...

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Surely Cintiq is a certainty, mine is over 11 years and is still a great product. The transition to iPad Pro was dictated by the need to have a portable device that was as close as possible to the desktop configuration.
The choice was encouraged by the release of Affinity Designer.


The advantage of the iPad Pro is that the software has a user interface that is really intelligent and allows you to take advantage of the 13 ".


No small icons, the use of the hands is well crafted with the pen ... the Cintiq touch are valid but the software still needs to be used with the mouse or you have to make a "remarkable" effort to select the menus with the pen while on the ipad you can easily use your hands to select commands or scroll down to select commands or brushes.


An illustrator with a 20-27 "iPad and software like the Affinity suite would not need anything else!


Of course iOS has yet to mature in the file management sector, but in the future I think it is an excellent solution.


If you do not need mobility, a good Cintiq is still the best solution ... the other brands are cheaper but I do not know how they are in time, those who have the cintiq use it proficiently for a long time.

 

Ciao

Fabio

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18 hours ago, Renzatic said:

huge ass 32" VA panel 

VAs tend to get you great deep blacks, if they are as they used to be. In premium models (they are putting now VAs in more mainstream ones, since quite some years) you could find really good VA monitors for photography or anything image. 32"....I really hope you are at a good distance... if not... my gosh, your neck, could be like watching a tennis match !  ;D

That said, that screen must be gorgeous. :)

A wet dream of mine:  The 32 inches recent Cintiq Pro... But there's so  many things one can do with +3k bucks....

18 hours ago, Renzatic said:

long power strip, cables, and other computer necessities

If serves as inspiration... I move houses VERY often... and in the past was some times as fast as once per month...got a habit of setting up all quick and cleverly (indeed, so many movings make you minimalist in what stuff to really keep... xD )I always set all the cables in the floor.... Yeah, it's crap for cleaning, but if more or less organized and grouped, a vacuum cleaner is all you need. Anyway, each home is a different puzzle.  I have the large XL, but my monitor is small, 23 ", because I wanted it to be of certain color accuracy, and you know how that makes screens really expensive. Going 27 would have been ideal, but prohibitive, in those specs...

As mentioned earlier, as seems you are going to be opnly painting textures for a long while, well, that's sth really doable in a 16 inches, even if clearly less comfortable/accurate than a 22.

18 hours ago, Renzatic said:

And yeah, the Cintiq 16 is in the running for consideration. I'm still pretty tempted by that XP-PEN, though...

Things to consider.... No one has tested for 11 (his cintiq... and my intuos Pro XL is 9 years, now ) years that the alternatives may last that. Even more, I hear /read to often how an alternative have broken, stopped working, or etc, just in a few months. Or in 1 year, past the warranty.  Wacom is clearly better in that, no contest even.

Another thing... is the pen wobble... it still is clearly visible even in a low res non maximized window in a recorded video from Brad....is better than in most alternatives I've seen... But it's there !! Wobbling happening by its own hardware issues. NOT what I was speaking about earlier, with any tablet, of the coordination of hand-eye-brain-screen, the proportions difference among screen-tablet (although you have some sort of fix in the driver, but imo is not perfect), or the lack of resolution compared to your hand, pencil and paper, extremely more accurate than even the best tablet of the moment (meaning, the grid in a tablet always is an averaging, an approach! This leads to many of the problems of line accuracy...It has "bigger grid cells" than our traditional drawing on paper, if we could speak in these terms with humans ;) ) Not even about the polygonal shapes when drawing fast in some apps or some low machines.... or getting t hat effect when painting zoomed out and fast, in some apps......this is not part of all that. This adds on top of ALL THAT. The wobble / jitter caused by the hardware itself, the tablet.  It was for some time  in Wcom's, but since some time, is not an issue in Wacom products, while it is in the cintiq alternatives, with a very varying range, going from horrible, to... Acceptable by Brad, hehe. But he does a type for drawing, comics, extremely different to my hyper realistic work, also, he has fast, confident lines, is natural that the jitter is less of a problem, as tends to disappear. There are people like me that do both, depending on the situation : fast and slow, and for slow strokes, yeah, not that great, for that single reason I'd be strongly in favor of wacom.

My bet for XP-PEN, Yiynova and other alternatives has been always due to price. Now, as a way to react, the premium brand, wacom, is producing 600$ 16" cintiqs. I'd say, that's the path to take. Unless you don't have a hardware color calibrated monitor that can serve as te reference for any color issues with your work, want to depend only on your display-tablet screen, solely. YEAH, then the choice must be for the XP-PEN pro,  or the pro from Artisul, as both have a surprisingly wide color space, surely, from all what I have read and watched, good enough for some decent color. Having a pro, reliable monitor on the table as the reference, I'd say go Cintiq 16.

I mean, in the past, and that's really not long ago, we did not have alternatives. It was only the 12, later te 13 inches, or jump to the 22 -24 cintiqs, always super expensive. So, at that huge difference in prices, it was obvious recommendation to tell people just get an Intuos Medium  for 180 - 200 bucks, as that can work with some training.  With the arrival of alternatives to cintiq for 600 -900 $, the advice over breaking the bank for a cintiq 22 -24 (2000, 2400 bucks, etc) was very obvious, too. Now... Between a cintiq 16 and a alternative cintiq, unless is for the color thing, I'd say go Cintiq, strongly.  Indeed, I have not seen its specs in full depth, but I'd be to think those cheapo cintiqs at least support sRGB color range, and that's even fine for a ton of POD print stuff. (and of course, for everything screen). Plus you can always color-correct your final piece, do some adjusting previous to send to print, using your pro or semi pro desktop monitor.

15 hours ago, Filo63 said:

An illustrator with a 20-27 "iPad and software like the Affinity suite would not need anything else!

Absolutely. B|

But Apple producing even a 20" iPad Pro, as a  dedicated work station (not really mobile, tho yep much more than a desktop to move among your house or company rooms...Again, I've been going to work with a mini tower under my right arm, everyday during 1 or 2 weeks, everytime the job would need that workflow, even in the bus, and boat sized heavy computer (BIG tower + CRT big and heavy as a gorilla) in the back of my car every weekend as I worked in one lil village lost in a sort of wilderness, and had the family at 300kms cross country) ...young ppl these days have a different concept of mobile... for me, mobile is everything I can move.... :D :77_alien: )  that ain't gonna happen. If at some point, facts prove me wrong, It'd be a happy event, as I'd love such device. But don't put many hopes on that, lol...  Dell has made the Dell canvas (not really a computer, but yup a drawing large tablet while they are not in that business... making a very comparable tablet quality to a Cintiq 27 QHD... and that's... a lot of goodness for only 1700 euros) , and MS failed very well with its MS Studio (that one, yep being comparable, as is really an ALL-IN-ONE, huge resolition, huge screen, great quality, but the CPU and card can't really move well those resolutions in heavy load, not like better balanced machines can... And its pen jitters.... HORRIDLY, like all their portable Surface line, except Surface 1 , I believe that one was before they banned Wacom from their surface pens and screen, sigh....

I don't see apple making this move... but I didn't see coming the Pro version of the iPad. And WAY less making actually a pen to handle the device. So... with Apple, who knows... !

Anyway, I too much need a lot of 3D software and of other nature that is not in Apple, and viceversa, most software that is in Apple, one have a version in Windows, almost in every case. In that aspect, for me it's Windows all the way. Now, if one ONLY illustrates (far from my case) then, yeah, an iPad Pro 20 / 22 inches would be a dream come true.

 

AD, AP and APub. V1.10.6 and V2.4 Windows 10 and Windows 11. 
Ryzen 9 3900X, 32 GB RAM,  RTX 3060 12GB, Wacom Intuos XL, Wacom L. Eizo ColorEdge CS 2420 monitor. Windows 10 Pro.
(Laptop) HP Omen 16-b1010ns 12700H, 32GB DDR5, nVidia RTX 3060 6GB + Huion Kamvas 22 pen display, Windows 11 Pro.

 

 

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31 minutes ago, SrPx said:

VAs tend to get you great deep blacks, if they are as they used to be. In premium models (they are putting now VAs in more mainstream ones, since quite some years) you could find really good VA monitors for photography or anything image. 32"....I really hope you are at a good distance... if not... my gosh, your neck, could be like watching a tennis match !  ;D

That said, that screen must be gorgeous. :)

A wet dream of mine:  The 32 inches recent Cintiq Pro... But there's so  many things one can do with +3k bucks....

For the $400 I spent on it, I wasn't expecting it to be as nice as it is. The specs bragged that it covers 99% of the sRGB range, which, going from my various newbie calibration attempts, it does about live up to that hype. It's not something you'd use for high end color grading, but for my needs, it's just fine. Black levels and contrast are great, which, yeah, you'd expect from a VA panel. It's the major reason why I got it. The only downside to it is that it's just a 60hz display, but...eh, I can live with that.

As for the size? I upgraded to it from a 24", and it's really not THAT much bigger, at least not as big as you'd think it'd be. From where I sit, which is maybe about 3 1/2 feet away from it, it fills my field of vision a little more, but I don't have to crane my neck around or anything. The only caveat is that, once you get used to it, everything else will look extra tiny in comparison.

And a 32" Cintiq? That'd be nice, but...it's not for me. Not yet. Maybe one day, but for now, that's way overkill. An 11-16" screen is more than enough for me.

Which brings me back to the subject at hand. My three choices are:

iPad Pro: For reasons that Filo laid out above. I can use it anywhere, and drawing on it is just SO nice.

Cintiq 16: Because it's solid, has a good reputation, and isn't ball bustingly expensive.

XP-PEN Artist 15.6: Great features, some features that are even nicer than it's Cintiq rival, and an absolute steal for the price, but it's overall quality is an unknown. 

Fortunately, I've got plenty of time to chew over my options. My final decision is still a couple-few months away, and my itty bitty tablet is doing the job for now.

1 hour ago, SrPx said:

If serves as inspiration... I move houses VERY often... and in the past was some times as fast as once per month...got a habit of setting up all quick and cleverly (indeed, so many movings make you minimalist in what stuff to really keep... xD )I always set all the cables in the floor.... Yeah, it's crap for cleaning, but if more or less organized and grouped, a vacuum cleaner is all you need. Anyway, each home is a different puzzle.  I have the large XL, but my monitor is small, 23 ", because I wanted it to be of certain color accuracy, and you know how that makes screens really expensive. Going 27 would have been ideal, but prohibitive, in those specs...

Honestly, I'm surprised you haven't opted for a nice laptop. That's what I'd do, cuz I hate, HATE messing with wires. They're the bane of my existence! I can't even make a game out of organizing them, because I hate them so bad. It's a chore you have to deal with to get to the fun stuff, and that's it.

...so I might end up getting the iPad, cuz, hey, NO WIRES! All I need is a power plug to charge it from, and I can put that anywhere. It doesn't HAVE to be around the computer. And if the iPad ends up getting in my way, I can just take it off the desk, and toss it on the couch.

Geez. I think I just talked myself into it. My laziness makes me so pragmatic. 

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I'm gonna call this one of my more interesting failures so far. It didn't turn out at all how I intended it to, but I learned a good bit.

It was supposed to be mud. Came out more like rock. I think my details were way too broad to be really good for either.

HPPractice12.thumb.jpg.edfb00779fbebb949cbd96ec26203c41.jpg

 

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Your work is becoming more and more professional.

For the mud you should increase the sheen of the water in some areas. Shots of light and homogeneous areas alternated with drier and craggy areas. Where there is more water the mud reflects more the ambient light.

Bravo
F.

MUD.png

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15 minutes ago, Filo63 said:

Your work is becoming more and more professional.

Why, thank you. :D

I've still got a long way to go before I'd say I'm good, though. I'm getting more confident with my strokes, and I'm getting a little better with colors, but I've yet to reach the point where I can just paint something without having a few tutorials to help guide me. I've still got my training wheels on, so to speak.

15 minutes ago, Filo63 said:

For the mud you should increase the sheen of the water in some areas. Shots of light and homogeneous areas alternated with drier and craggy areas. Where there is more water the mud reflects more the ambient light.

I'd love to be able to do something with that level of detail. That's still a bit ahead of me just yet.

What I was trying to go for was something a little more simple. Like this:

a59f666bf221c523fdac7811c3d3006c--d-texture-paint-texture.jpg.c3b27629d7b21a1e492dcd6ea8105451.jpg

I got in the same neighborhood, but didn't quite make it. Not bad for a first attempt, though.

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