My daughter is on an Art course at college and has expressed an interest in drawing on a tablet. I spoke with a designer I used to work with who is a huge Apple fanboi, so obviously his recommendation was an iPad Pro. She has no desire to own a PC and often used her mams 2012 MacBook Pro. Does anyone have any recommendations?
I used to plug a Wacom Bamboo Fun (basic old one without a screen) into my old Mac for photo editing and really liked it. Think the newer/better ones are quite pricey though. I did eye up a Huion Kamvas tablet with screen recently as a cheaper alternative to Wacom but it also needs to be plugged into a Linix/Windows/Apple/Android device. I'm no professional but I do like messing with art apps on my Galaxy Tab S8+ with Pen. It was quite a bit cheaper than an equivalent iPad too. I've mainly used Autodesk Sketchbook but I understand a lot of Apple users like Procreate which is not available on Android. So depending on your app of choice you might be pushed down the Apple route.
Daughter graduated this year with a graphic design degree. She went through the course and the art / photography college course before with one of these https://www.storexppen.co.uk/series/artist-series-display.html , a laptop and an Adobe subscription, but then she was dead set against getting into the Apple ecosystem for some reason
If you want a self contained unit it's Ipad Pro + Pencil + Procreate + Adobe CC. With the proviso that she'll need some kind of external backup because the Ipad file management system is pants. Also insurance or Apple Care because Ipad Pros are thief Catnip (another reason for a good backing up habit too). The software available for Android simply isn't as good as Procreate although the Samsung Tab S line arguably have the best pen tech of any tablet. It might be worth her talking to her college tutors about what they would recommend. She might not want to end up with a laptop but they might insist on the extra power. Alternatively she can build a battle station with a tower PC, a Tourbox and Cintiq, it's the best set up by miles and thoroughly impractical to move.
As a [albeit long time ago now] design graduate - If 'no interest in having a PC' is strong then Ipad + apple pencil + Procreate or if 'and no apple' is a thing samsung.+ s-pen + autodesk sketchbook For connect-it-to-pc/mac tablet options, XP-Pen, or Huion [https://store.huion.com/uk/] if you don't want to spend WACOM money + Krita or Photoshop
I have a Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra which I use almost exclusively for watching YouTube - judge me However, my daughter, a self-taught amateur, can produce the most awesome digital art on it. Not advice, just anecdotal. Expensive but awesome, and a great all-round option for those who are either already in the Samsung/Android ecosystem and/or want to avoid Apple for whatever reason.
We stuck our heads in Curry's today, she's also been speaking with others on her course and it looks like it's going to be an iPad Pro + Pen + Procreate. Thanks for everyone's help. Would anyone like to go a step further and help me pay for it?
Unrelated to the above but try and ensure they don't neglect any traditional art skills... don't make [some of] the mistakes I made...
Apple do discounts for students, so that could be your first port of call. Missus was looking for a new pro for her, not a student, the cheapest she found so far was with Very. If you don't mind last gen M1 costco has some deal on the 12.9 pro wifi/cellular with 2 TB coming in £100 less than the entry level 128Gb latest one.
We just went with an iPad Pro 11" from John Lewis for £840. But then this snowballed a bit, we now have an Apple Pencil, Apple case with keyboard, iPhone15, Airpods, and then an iPhone 15 for her brother. I'm a total soft touch and now not getting a new bicycle.
That's true Dad dedication there, I know what you mean. Giving up your leisure items to support the kids. Thankfully we should be able to get away with a standard iPad and Gen 1 pencil for my daughter at Drama college.
She is absolutely no bother. Looks after herself, tidies up, you just have to put up with her being a total arsehole like her dad.
