A drawing tablet is an essential tool for today’s digital artists, providing the technological support for innovative creativity. The new XPPen Artist Ultra 16 now sets a new standard and provides the perfect example of how cutting-edge tech facilitates the connection between concept and execution for creatives of all kinds.
XPPen has been championing the art community for two decades, creating digital drawing tools that enable both professional artists and enthusiasts to realise their visions. The brand’s graphics tablets, pen displays and styluses shape the workflows of illustrators and designers around the world, and the new Artist Ultra 16 is the most powerful example yet.
It’s the first pen display in the industry to combine touch functionality, a 4K OLED screen and a huge 16K of pressure levels for an incredibly precise drawing experience. The new Ultra series debuts with this flagship model, combining premium performance for professional creation with versatile portability for multi-scenario applications. With its sleek design, it becomes a catalyst for the imagination, as artist Giusy Amoroso has discovered.
An artist’s perspective
Giusy is an Italian artist known for her forward-looking vision and diverse creative methods. Her immersive cross-discipline digital art shows how tools like the XPPen Artist Ultra 16 support not only traditional digital painting but also new and emerging hybrid forms, from VR to 3D animation.
While her main focus is 3D sculpting and animation, she also works with VR, XR, and other new media. “In my art, I really like to explore reality in different ways, creating hybrid and alien forms and worlds that challenge how we see things around us,” Giusy says. The Artist Ultra 16’s accuracy and portability made it the perfect working companion for her creative process.
“A drawing display is definitely one of my most important tools,” she says. ”Having a tablet with touch functionality is definitely a big plus because it lets me interact better with my work and speeds up my workflow overall. For what I do, having a great colour performance combined with a smooth, responsive touch experience is essential. Being able to bring it with me is definitely a big plus.”
Nature is one of Giusy’s main inspirations, and she tries to spend as much time as she can outdoors, walking in the forest and listening to birds. That means she needs a drawing tablet portable enough to carry with her for whenever inspiration strikes.
“Being surrounded by nature keeps me actually very grounded, connected, and inspired because sometimes I get ideas, and if I'm not in my studio, I can't really sculpt well using just my laptop. It's almost like a torture,” she says.
This is what immediately drew her to the new Artist Ultra 16. “The first thing I noticed about the Artist Ultra 16 is how light it feels,” she notes. “For a screen this size, I'm very surprised how easy it is to carry around. I'm definitely more keen to bring it to a cafe, for example, or work in different settings because it doesn't feel bulky or heavy. I really like how it makes my creative process more flexible. That's super important for me since it's so light and easy to carry, even in my backpack.”
In terms of technical specs, the Artist Ultra 16 ticks all the boxes on Giusy’s list of demands for the perfect drawing tablet. Colour is accurate with 99% Adobe RGB coverage and Calman-verified performance, which is essential when painting textures or sculpting details. Meanwhile, 4K with the strong contrast of an OLED display makes a big difference to the clarity of details, while 16K of pen pressure ensures precision in the variety of strokes.
The X-Touch solution is another big highlight of the tablet for Giusy. This provides smooth and responsive control via dynamic ten-finger multi-touch functionality on both macOS and Windows, allowing Giusy to work intuitively using her fingers directly on the tablet. The mistouch prevention means she can rest her hand naturally rather than having to worry about affecting her work.
“Compared to using traditional mouse and keyboards, rotating a 3D model in the software feels very natural,” she notes. “What I really like also is that I can use multiple finger gestures, and this speeds up my workflow.”
But this tablet is more than just technical tickboxes, Giusy says. She sees it as a facilitator that makes the creation of digital art more intuitive, accessible and affordable, which she thinks will empower more artists to share their vision.
“I think art and technology are deeply connected because technology gives us new ways to express ideas and push our imagination even further,” she enthuses. “These tools remove restrictions, so art can happen anywhere and reach anyone. And I think that's a powerful way to connect more deeply.”
Digital art is evolving, and technology is part of that process. Precise, versatile tools are allowing artists to explore and experiment with new directions and approaches.
“In the future, I believe VR and 3D, paired with other advanced technologies, will open up new possibilities, making collaboration easier from anywhere in the world and blending virtual and real worlds,” Giusy explains. “VR is creating new kinds of storytelling where you're not just watching but you're inside the story, so you feel more connected.”
As Giusy’s story demonstrates, the right technology can accompany and inspire artists to expand their creative boundaries, evolve with cultural trends and find fluid new forms of expression be it in digital painting and illustration, 3D animation or VR.
The Artist Ultra 16 is the ultimate creative tool with its 4K OLED display, X-Touch solution and 16K pressure levels. Check out this next-generation drawing display yourself to discover a new catalyst for your imagination.
The Artist Ultra 16 has a retail price of USD $899.99/GBP £899/EUR €999. Early birds can save 10% from 26 September to 14 October, 2025, bringing the price down to just USD $809.99. Pricing may vary by region.
Discover the Artist Ultra 16 today at XPPen.
