do you really need a Wacom tablet nowadays?
Let me spoil the fun at the beginning. Yes, if you are taking digital drawing seriously you should consider to buy a Wacom tablet.
A few weeks ago I was asked to try/test a Wacom Cintiq Pro 16 tablet. Since I never used any Wacom products before I was really curious to see how this will live up to it’s fame. I started my digital drawing project on a Samsung Galaxy Note II, back in 2012. At the beginning I’ve used Samsung devices and later various iPads with Logitech Crayon and Pencil 2. So I have a kindda view, and I totally have my own workflow and routines based on iOS, iPads and Adobe’s Fresco.
I was really really excited and curious.
iPad Pro 12,9 (left) VS Wacom Cintiq Pro 16 (right) VS a part of my paper collection and a A4+ cutter
The Cintiq Pro 16 is not a new device, it’s around for a while. You can find many great reviews and detailed specs heavy tests. In this quick test I’ve focused on one question. do we really need a dedicated device in the age of iPad Pro? So my focus was on the Wacom experience.
IMy first surprise was the size. This is huge, a mighty beast.
My second surprise was the neat out of the box setup process. Nicely packed, all the cables are inside, quality all over.
The setup is no brainer, the customization is really flexible, actually way more than I’m used to. And this is the main point of the whole thing, this thing was built in with one thing in mind, the best possible drawing experience. You see, for professional use a dedicated device is always better than any general tool. I was DJing with turntables, CDJs, different controllers and iPads. When you work, you need powertools. A general solution could fail in many situations. The Wacom tablet is the Technics turtable or the Roland TR-808 of drawing. Industry standard for many reasons.
Even if the whole workflow was really strange for me, I felt home immediately. In the last 15 months I used my iPad and Fresco daily, I drawn more than 400 pictures. Using Photoshop for drawing and to use my laptop for the process was odd, but again, this is a different workflow on a dirrefent device. The pen is magical, this and it’s stand is probably my fave part in the whole Wacom journey.
Actually this test solved a big issue what I always had with iPad and Fresco: the file size limit. Maybe it’s only me, but I can’t find the solution to be able to have really big canvas sizes on iPad. The biggest picture what I’m able to make there, due to some cloud limitations, is 70x50 cm. So I was really excited to start a massive 180x120 cm picture, and it worked out smoothly.
Here you go, my first big picture, made on a Wacom Cintiq Pro 16.
A 180x120 cm digital painting. Massive.
We checked it at Pigmenta, and we are brainstorming on the possible final format (material, mounting and framing), but one thing is for sure, to be able to make pictures in this size territory is totally worth the effort of learning a new device and creating a different workflow. Even if I love my iPad and I love to lay on the couch and doodle with it, the Wacom workflow is briliant. I took the whole process more seriously, and it opened new horizons for me, which is probably the most important in making art isn’t it?
So, the answer to the question is simple. Yes, you can’t play games on a Cintiq Pro 16, this is not for watching videos or browse the Interwebs. This is professional tool, for your professional needs. In a perfect world every artist has a mighty beast like this.
