You can’t get the kind of crosshatching and precise linework necessary for comics without that.”

“A lot of them are fine for painting and coloring, but for illustration, you really need to draw on the screen. There are other tablet options available for artists, but Marzullo says they have their own drawbacks. The studio version runs $2500 retail for a 24” version and Wacom also offers a Windows-powered portable device, the Cintiq Companion, ranging from $1400-$2400 depending on power, memory and storage.

“The Cintiq is great but it’s a major expense,” he says.

He said his workflow requires jumping between applications and rendering files in different formats, which is not something he’s sure he can get even on the new iPad Pro. He also uses the Wacom Cintiq for his main work because of the superior control and performance that the large tablet attached to his desktop affords. He’s done a few videos on using the iPad as a sketching and painting platform, and has done some remarkable digital works using the Procreate app. Comics and storyboard artist Robert Marzullo runs a popular YouTube channel offering digital art instruction. “Having a native Apple stylus would hopefully improve accuracy and open up more options for apps by making it easier for developers to include things like pressure-sensitivity and tilt controls.”īetter value for starving artists. “Stylus developers have come up with hacks and software to get around these issues, but the results can be patchy and inferior,” she says. Jones thinks the Apple Pencil could be a real game-changer if it works as advertised. It’s not only an accuracy problem, but also things like pressure sensitivity and palm rejection.” The third-party styluses have come a long way over the years, but none of them are as comfortable as a Cintiq stylus or dedicated art tablet. “The drawbacks are mostly subtle, but just annoying enough to keep it from being a widespread art-making tool. “I am using my iPad Air just fine to make professional quality work,” she says. Artist Dani Jones created this digital painting on her iPad.

Sketchbook for ipad