As digital art continues to blossom as a new and exciting creative medium, there are more and more reasons to invest in a tablet for drawing. While traditional media will always be relevant, the laundry list of benefits offered by digital art devices is nothing to shrug off. They have the potential to simplify and refine your artistic process. They can be used to assist you in achieving a final product with your medium of choice or to bring your work to the next level with the many tools they offer. Here are some reasons that you might want to consider investing in a tablet for digital artwork and drawing.
1. Convenience
One of the biggest benefits of having a tablet for drawing is their incredible convenience. You can take it with you hassle-free anywhere, anytime. Stick it in the glove box of your car to make a sketch when you're struck with inspiration. Throw it in your work bag to do some doodling on your lunch break. Carry it with you to your favorite cafe with a pair of headphones and some good music. As loved as our art supplies are, they can be very cumbersome when it comes to portability. Chances are you're not going to want to lug your box of oil paints and an easel to the nearest Starbucks to work while you enjoy your coffee. With a tablet, all you need is the device itself and your digital pen and you're good to go.
2. Versatility
Another part of the allure of the artist’s tablet is its versatility. You can truly make whatever kind of art you can imagine on one device. Digital drawing programs and apps allow you to choose from a wide array of simulated brushes, markers, pencils and anything else you could possibly need to achieve your desired style. The large variety of tools available allow you to emulate your traditional painting or drawing experience with relative ease and even improve upon it. You can use a tablet for anything from sketching your next few comic book pages to creating a watercolor piece with expressive brushstrokes -- the choice is yours.
3. Cutting Down on Costs
Owning a tablet has the potential to save a traditional artist a significant amount of time and money. Even if you ultimately want your pieces to manifest themselves in a traditional medium, a tablet is the perfect tool to prototype and conceptualize. Sketch up a rough concept without having to dig out your favorite sketchbook and the right set of drawing pencils. Try out a color scheme without having to use up expensive paints or pastels. You'll probably even find yourself more inclined to get your ideas out on the spot when you don't have the burden of a setup process weighing you down. No more wasting paper or setting up your supplies just to do a quick mockup.
Speaking of costs, it's a common misconception that getting into digital drawing is going to require a large sum of money. For someone who wants to try out the medium and see if it's something they're going to enjoy, there are several options to try that won't break the bank. For example, you can get your hands on a Galaxy Tab A With S Pen for around $280. This is a device that comes with everything you need to get started making digital masterpieces at a fraction of the cost of some higher end professional equipment. With all the money that you’ll save on supplies, your tablet is likely to pay for itself before too long.
4. Digital Saving and Sharing
Using a tablet for artwork also has the advantage of saving and sharing pieces digitally. Creating art through the use of traditional media can take up quite a bit of space. Consider the wealth of supplies you've collected over the years in addition to all of your finished pieces and works in progress. There's a good chance that you've found your space quite cluttered at some point or another. Once you start replacing steps of your artistic process with digital methods, you're likely to reduce the amount of partially-finished pieces sitting around collecting dust. Instead, you'll have everything neatly saved to your device, ready to be accessed anytime. Just make sure that you back up all your files to the cloud.
Saving pieces digitally also allows you to very easily share what you've been working on. Whether you're collaborating with another artist or you simply like to post works in progress online, the use of digital media allows you to easily share your pieces with others. Not only that, but it eliminates the pressure of photographing your work so that it is accurately depicted. Sometimes poor lighting or camera quality can completely alter the look of a physical piece. Through digital sharing, your images will look exactly the same as what you've produced on your tablet.
There are countless benefits to owning a tablet that can be used for drawing -- the list goes on and on. The bottom line, however, is that digital media is growing ever more versatile and taking the industry by storm. Even if you only use it for planning or preliminary phases, it's going to save you time, money and space. As any artist knows, there's nothing quite like the feeling of diving headfirst into a brand new medium. Investing in a tablet is a great way to streamline your process and expand your horizons as an artist.