XPPen's New Artist series of drawing tablets impress, whether you’re a seasoned digital artist or a new convert to drawing and painting on a tablet. The balance of leading-edge tech with a low entry cost makes these digital art tablets some of the best around.
Two things are synonymous with XPPen; affordability and quality. This of course means that XPPen’s drawing tablets are suitable all-rounders – they defy the ‘sky high’ prices of more premium brands whilst offering specs that match, meaning beginners and pros use them, alike.
If you're making your first foray into the world of digital image making then this should grab your attention. XPPen has been around long enough to know what the score is, and has a range of digital art tools that cater to the majority of users or complete beginners.
If you are a beginner looking for that first purchase then one look at the vast range available might leave you with more questions than you started out with. Thankfully XPPen has made it easy for burgeoning digital artists to navigate by releasing a brand new series of perfectly formed drawing tablets aimed at those just starting out.
XPPen's New Artist Series has been around for a while and is still worthy to be considered more. First time buyers might be drawn to more premium models but with XPPen virtually matching them in terms of specs nowadays there is more than one reason to save money and still come away with something that will exceed expectations.
Whether you’re interested in digital arts, animation, illustration, game art, design, or 3D modelling, the XPPen New Artist Series will give you the tools you need
In September 2021, XPPen released its first drawing display from the Artist series – the Artist 12 (2nd gen), built on the success of the previous generation. This year XPPen has released two further drawing displays in this range – the Artist 16 (2nd) and Artist 10 (2nd). These Artist drawing display tablets (meaning you draw directly on the screen), which come in three different sizes, offer all the graphics tablet tech a new starter could need.
Whether you’re interested in digital arts, animation, illustration, game art, design, or 3D modelling, the XPPen New Artist series will give you the tools you need. As already mentioned they come in three sizes, depending on your own criteria, with either a 10, 12, or 16-inch screen, and also come in four beautiful colours: black, blue, green and pink.
Size and colour of the tablet aside, the most important thing is the colour range on the screen. Rest assured that these XPPen tablets' colour gamut – the colour range and ability to match colours from program to program, and device to device – is suitably ‘wide’ and up-there with anything else on the market.
The connections a drawing tablet offers is important too. How does this thing power-up? Well, it’s a simple three-in-one cable affair and USB Type-C connection. This means an XPPen Artist Series tablet can easily be connected to a laptop in minutes, and is stress-free.
In terms of usability this new Artist series is standard in all its features, and features include multiple customisable shortcut keys to give you the chance to program shortcuts to your liking, for example brush sizes, zooming, scrolling, or anything you like. Features such as this in the new Artist series all adds to a smooth and efficient workflow.
The screen itself comes laminated. The laminate has an ever-so-slight texture to it and this gives you that much-coveted pen-on-paper feel when you’re drawing. This isn’t merely affectation for those wanting to mimic the analogue drawing sensation, it ultimately gives you more control when sketching and painting as the screen doesn't slide like 'normal' glass. This laminate also acts as an anti-glare screen which neutralises those annoying reflections.
In terms of the pen itself, or stylus, XPPen’s latest X3 smart chip technology gives you a sharper, smoother and more stable drawing experience. Drawing action is responsive, quick, and there is no lag whatsoever.
For something so portable and affordable that you just grab, plug-in and play with anyway, which also supports an Android connection via a multi-functional Type-C port, then you could do far worse than investing in a XPPen Artist Series Drawing display (2nd Gen).
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