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Caption: [I think I got pretty lucky to be a lesbian (laugh) ya know? Cuz I was always gonna look like this uhh and I think if I looked like this and my type was just like, dudes named Chad (laughing) I think I’d have a bad time! What anomaly that would be, if I wanted to hook up with Chads. If that was my thing. I dunno I just I just think that sounds way gayer than like the lesbian marriage I’m in right now.

I’m pretty sure God would be confused (laughing)if I dated a Chad. I think God would look at us as a couple and be like “Okay you’re a girl, he’s a guy. That’s pretty good, uhhhh somehow this is still a sin”. (laughing) This is SO unnatural! You guys think I could do it? You think I could find a Chad if I wanted one? The one Chad would be like “Baby, I don’t care that you look like Terk from Tarzan, I love you (kiss noise).

Hey guys,

Let’s face it, more often than not, the stereotype of the starving artist applies - and even if it doesn’t, not all of us can or want to spend a lot of money on art supplies.

Well, here’s the truth: alternatives sometimes work as good as the big brands do, perhaps even better.

So, here’s a list of affordable graphic tablets and pen displays.

First, let’s see what Wacom has to offer. 

Wacom is the leader company when it comes to digital products for artists. These products are not flawless, but they’re made with artists and photographers in mind.

Wacom Cintiq is an interactive pen display that comes in various sizes, from the smaller Wacom One to the giant Wacom Cintiq Pro 32.

Wacom MobileStudio Pro is a computer and a portable small Cintiq, much like a Microsoft Surface (side note, if you’re looking for a similar device, you may consider investing your money in the iPad Pro, which is mentioned later in the list).

To discuss pros and cons of all these products would take a couple of hours or another post, so we’ll just say that if Wacom is the number one brand, there’s a reason. In the industry, most artists use Wacom products because of their quality, durability and superior pressure sensitivity and response.

Still, they have one noticeable flaw: the price.

Prices: $400 - $3.300

Wacom - Amazon

Alternatives

We can’t say that Huion is the alternative to Wacom, but it’s close. Every year their products get better and better and the Huion Kamvas is a good alternative to the Cintiq.

Huion Kamvas comes in different versions, from Kamvas 13 to Pro 22. These displays have a very good resolution, a nice texture applied to the surface of the display (which is a new feature, absent in older Huions), minimum screen parallax, express keys and battery-free pen.

One detail that proves the improvement of these tablets is the former position of the cables that tended to bend and get in the way in the older pen displays. That’s not an issue in the new ones.

Prices: $240 - $899

Huion - Amazon

The Artist Series Displays of XP-PEN is very similar to Huion’s design and quality-wise. They have the same features (laminated, matte display, battery-free pen, shortcut buttons) but there are slight differences. 

The new Artist Displays have a red dial to zoom, rotate, scroll, change the size of your brush etc. It’s a cool new feature that looks more elegant compared to Huion’s touch bar.

This series of pen displays is slightly more affordable than Huion’s.

Prices: $200 - $700

XP-PEN - Amazon

A lesser-known brand is Artisul. This company has a series of pen displays in various sizes. These tablets have good resolutions, build and the now beloved battery-free pens. 

However, there are small things that other companies (Huion, XP-PEN) have already improved like parallax, the texture of the display and driver problems. As seen with Huion, however, Artisul may work on this cons in the future.

Prices: $270 - $400

Artisul - Amazon

This one was a pleasant new discovery. Gaomon’s pen displays seem to be as good as Huion and Wacom’s, but have a much more affordable price.

These tablets offer the standard features (high resolution, laminated screen, touch keys, battery-free pen…) but still have a few imperfections such as parallax and driver problems.

Prices: $184 - $400

Gaomon - Amazon

Parblo pen displays are as good and cheap as the brands already mentioned.

Parblo tablets have pens with 8192 levels of pressure sensitivity (battery-free in the new models); express keys on the smaller displays (the 22″ screens don’t have express keys); a dial ring (Coast 13/16); laminated screen to terminate parallax (again, new models).

If you’re looking for a small tablet, Parblo may be a good choice.

Prices: $260 - $560

Parblo - Amazon

The Ugee pen displays are still a few steps behind Huions and XP-PENs, but worth mentioning.

The tablet has a good resolution, but a glossy glass screen. The pen has 2048 levels of pressure (vs the 8192 levels of other brands) and is rechargeable.

Prices: n/a

UGEE

Honourable Mentions

Not exactly a pen display, the iPad Pro + Apple Pencil is the perfect alternative to the Cintiq if you don’t mind it being smaller but something more than a graphic tablet.

The iPad Pro offers the best drawing experience. The pencil has a very good pressure sensitivity and there’s no parallax or lag - drawing on the iPad is like drawing on paper.

The iPad Pro isn’t cheap - Wacom One costs less - but it’s a good alternative for portability and quality in certain aspects.

Prices: $750 - $1650

Apple - Amazon

Finally, the most affordable tablet, the PicassoTab by Simbans. This is a portable and cute solution for artists that need a small pen display. 

The tablet runs Android Oreo, the pen has 1024 levels of pressure sensitivity and the device supports Autodesk Sketchbook and other Android apps.

It’s not the most professional tablet and it’s several steps behind other brands, but it’s the equivalent of older pen displays and its perfect for artists that are starting out and don’t have a big budget.

Price: $230

Simbans - Amazon

Warning! Non-objective statement ahead.

We didn’t add the Dell Canvas to the list because it’s not affordable (it is compared to the Cintiq, but not that much), it works with Windows 10 only, and it’s not worth the money. If you have a good budget, we suggest going for the Cintiq. Even the new Huions work better.

Also, to make a more informed decision, we suggest watching reviews, possibly made by artists that work in the same industry you’re interested in as they tend to go into details that other reviewers ignore.

We hope you’ll find this list useful!

If you think there are other tablets that should have made this list, don’t hesitate to let us know.

Thank you and peace out,

G&M

Other articles:

Top 12 alternatives to Photoshop for digital painters and illustrators

10 inspiring and helpful YouTube channels for digital artists

First music, then voice modifiers... Now this. Perfect.

The movie is captivating, but the book is twenty kinds of terrifying, even now, ten years after I first read it. As disturbing as the movie may have been to some, the things Selick added really serve to cushion just how horrific the story really is.

First of all, the character of Wybie does not exist in the book. Coraline is facing all of this nearly alone, with her only help coming from the sly comments of the cat, a warning from the circus mice, and the stone given to her by her neighbor, presented with no comment but that it “makes the unseen seen.”

Second, the Other Parents are never quite as warm (and, dare I say, normal) as they are in the gifs above. They’re described as having paper-white skin and the Other Mother’s hair is said to move on its own, and her long, red, claw-like nails don’t ease any uncertainty that she is absolutely, positively up to no good. The first time Coraline meets them, they (and the rest of the Others) seem to be playing roles (for whatever reason, Coraline does not seem to pick up on this), like they all know what to say and what to do and are simply waiting for Coraline to make her move in their terrifying play world. This is shown to be partly true when the Other Parents tell her they know she’ll be back soon after she refuses the buttons - this time, to stay.

Third, the Other Mother commits atrocities that really should not have been in a book for anyone not fully grown up. She physically deforms the world around Coraline to slow her progress in their game beyond any mild traps the movie portrays, and, instead of turning the Other Father into the wandering pumpkin-thing seen in the film, she simply ceases to use him and throws his body away in the cellar, leaving him to rot with whatever bit of sentience he has left. She begins to lose her touch, as Coraline gains the upper hand. Her world doesn’t just become a nightmare - it falls apart completely. No creepy but oddly cool bug furniture here, just the house that now appears to be a child’s drawing. Whatever the Other Mother is (a beldame, but something tells me she’s much more ancient and powerful than that), she does not give half a hump about what she has to do to ensnare Coraline. Destroy the supporting characters of her twisted creation? Done. Allow herself to be dismembered to ruin Coraline’s life in the normal world? Not even gonna bat an eyelash.

On a final, personal note, imagine eight year-old me, ignored by my parents, absorbed in the story and identifying with Coraline from the start. Imagine me finishing this bloodcurdling book and immediately thinking of my basement, where there is still a locked door that my grandmother swears up and down is nothing more than a storage room, but has not once in my (or my mother’s) lifetime unlocked.

A decade later, at the Opening Night of the Coraline musical, I was sitting next to Morgan, Merilee’s youngest daughter, and told her how her not being scared had made the book happen. And she said “I was terrified. But I needed to find out what happened next. So nobody knew.”

“So today my character decided he is tired of my shit and walked away.”

don't let yourself be caught out! know your draconic lore