this new tablet makes daily practice a breeze, i really didn't know how much better tablets had become over the past decade but the price and the quality of the XP Pen 12 just wasn't something that existed for a long time. I've honestly been calling it the "poor mans tablet" which doesn't sound like a compliment, but means everything to me as someone who came from not really ever having money. My last tablet was an intuos 4, and I had to beg and beg and beg my parents to get it for me. I was 12, and I knew we didn't have a lot of money, but I was really getting into digital art and really enjoying how much more accessible it was for me than a traditional pen and paper.

If I remember correctly, around the time of purchase, I think my tablets was 400+? I could be wrong, or the numbers could have been exaggerated to me later in life by my parents, but it wasn't an easy chunk of change to drop.

I have come to understand 2 big things in my 10(?) years of using my old tablet.

1. I needed a screen. I know there are many many many many many many artists who get along amazingly without a screen, and who with enough practice have been able to deal with the hand eye coordination of screenless graphic tablets. I tried to be, but could never be that person. My skills improved, but slowly and there was so much of a disconnect between what I was drawing on it, it practice just felt like punishment or a chore. Drawing directly on the screen is like nothing I've ever experienced before, there's a smoothness to it, and sight of my pen directly creating the lines beneath it really makes it feel like i'm creating something.

2. Tablet technology has come a long way! I was always worried about the precedent that Wacom was setting with their high priced on screen tablets. That accessible drawing was always only going to be for anyone who had money. I always beat myself up over not being able to get better with a screenless tablet, because I never thought I'd have the money for any other kind. My financial situation at almost-23 is better, but nowhere near where it should be if I wanted a $1000+ tablet of any kind.

The tablet I'm drawing on now, plus the stand and the case all came out to about $310. Not to mention the tablet itself comes with a ton of adapters and nice addons to just make your experience with their tablet better. If you tried to sell me this 10 years ago, I'd think you were scamming me, and I would have been right.


tl;