# Why are cintiq wacom tablets so expensive?



## Crystal_the_Vixen (Feb 23, 2014)

Cintiqs look similar to ipads, but why are they $1,000 instead of $100 like ipads?
I want to convince my mom the cintiq is best for me, I tried the bamboo but it did not work for me at all.


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## Taralack (Feb 23, 2014)

Because they are completely different pieces of tech. It's like asking why a gaming laptop is so much more expensive than a gaming desktop. Apples and oranges. 

A Cintiq is a serious investment for any artist. I would only recommend getting a Cintiq if you are serious about pursuing art as a career. Have you used a Cintiq before?


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## Crystal_the_Vixen (Feb 23, 2014)

I really want to bloom with my art talent, I never used a cintiq but I've drawn on things like ipad apps you draw with finger & nintendo DS notes.
If I do get it, I would be alot easier for me to practice & I'd want to take art classes.
I can't stand doing traditional art, it's very frustrating because my skin hates pencil lead.


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## chesse20 (Feb 24, 2014)

Idk I just use an iPad and sketchbook pro (+ a databender) and my finger but I'm not exactly good with art
i just usually draw surrealism abstraction dada furry looking stuff
i think


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## Abbi Normal (Feb 24, 2014)

If you couldn't even get the bamboo to work, the problem isn't the tablet, and a crazy expensive tablet won't teach you to draw better. The bamboo is a totally serviceable tablet, that many (mostly hobbyist, but that's you, right?) artists use and successfully "bloom" with it, including myself. 

I made the jump from traditional to digital about a year and a half, maybe two years ago, which I still use. Here is the last thing I drew with it (I've since then been doing some 3D work...with the same bamboo tablet). I'm obviously not saying I'm perfect, there's a lot there to improve, but it's a nice enough piece, for someone my skill level, and I think it's pretty safe to say it shows the bamboo is a serviceable tool.

Does buying an expensive sketching pencil set and fancy paper make your drawings sudden good in traditional sketching? No, you're better off with a regular mechanical or No.2 pencil in your hand and a dollar store sketchpad than pouring a lot of _(someone else's)_ money into a set of charcoals you barely know how to use. If you absolutely must have the crazy expensive tools right out of the gate, like someone trying to learn how to drive in a formula1 race car, the least you could do is save up your allowance or part time job money or something and buy it yourself.


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## Batty Krueger (Feb 24, 2014)

One. Find me an ipad for 100 bucks. Two. Those tablets are top notch quality. You pay for quality in a product.


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## Taralack (Feb 24, 2014)

Oh my sweet summer child...

Buying an expensive tablet does not automatically make you a better artist. It's like saying buying an expensive piano or guitar would make me a good musician, or buying a set of doctor's tools would make me a doctor. You want to invest in something so expensive, you're gonna want to prove to not just your mom, but also to yourself that you have the drive and perseverance to stick through each and every painful learning process that creating art entails. 

And I'm sorry, but traditional art classes would require you to start traditionally. Which means using pencils. Most art schools stick to traditional for the first year or so, at least that I know of. 

I don't mean to be condescending but have you even drawn anything at all? The kind of sheer ignorance here in thinking that having an expensive piece of equipment will make you a good artist is kind of mind boggling.


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## Valery91Thunder (Feb 24, 2014)

Buying a professional tool when you're still unexperienced will more than anything be a waste and will most probably make you underappreciate the product you've bought; you won't understand/use most of its features and it'll likely be much more complicated than a regular tablet.
I've been doing traditional art since 2005 (and I still do, because it's the most effective media to practice on and much more useful if you have to draw from life), and I've bought a very cheap and easy to use tablet three years after that when I felt comfortable enough. It takes some time to get accustomed to every new media, so if you still feel stiff with your Bamboo, just give it more chances! It took me several months to finally use my tablet at fully functionality.
My boyfriend draws comics on a professional business and he has bought a Cintiq only a couple of years ago, after drawing for so many years on a regular tablet. He has had quite some time to practice, and with all the years of art class, he has earned the fair experience to use it. I personally tired inking with it last time and it still took me patience to get accustomed to the settings: don't think it's like a magic, automatic drawing machine that "works" instantly.


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## Volkodav (Feb 24, 2014)

I use a Bamboo for all of my digital art, had it for like.. 7 or so years now
if and when I get the cash, im def jumping to a Cintiq though


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## Batty Krueger (Feb 24, 2014)

Clayton said:


> I use a Bamboo for all of my digital art, had it for like.. 7 or so years now
> if and when I get the cash, im def jumping to a Cintiq though


I have a bamboo stylus for my drawins on my tab 3, I fucking love it.


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## Tica (Feb 24, 2014)

Practice harder with the bamboo. If you can't get the hang of that, the cintiq is not for you, imho.

and if by your skin hating pencil lead you mean you're allergic to it, you could try either sketching with colored pencils or using gloves or something?


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## Crystal_the_Vixen (Feb 24, 2014)

Abbi Normal said:


> *snip*



You totally don't get why I want a cintiq by a long shot.
I don't give a shit about how fancy & expensive it is, it's the fact I CAN DRAW ON THE DAMN SCREEN!
The bamboo did not work because it was way too confusing for me draw & look at a different direction.
I could not draw correctly because how un-natural it was to me.

Ugh... I hate how everybody assumes that's why I want one & writes huge paragraphs.


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## Valery91Thunder (Feb 24, 2014)

I'm pretty sure that, on the other hand, whoever's going to buy you the Cintiq *cares* about how expensive it is. Who has written you huge paragraphs are trying to explain that what you're looking for is not a toy for everyone, but a work tool for professionals.


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## Batty Krueger (Feb 24, 2014)

Crystal_the_Vixenit4610856 said:
			
		

> You totally don't get why I want a cintiq by a long shot.
> I don't give a shit about how fancy & expensive it is, it's the fact I CAN DRAW ON THE DAMN SCREEN!
> The bamboo did not work because it was way too confusing for me draw & look at a different direction.
> I could not draw correctly because how un-natural it was to me.
> ...


Listen here sweetheart, I think you have much learning to do before you switch right over to digital art.
There is much hand and eye coordination to be learned bdefore you can just jump into a tablet.


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## Tica (Feb 24, 2014)

Crystal_the_Vixen said:


> You totally don't get why I want a cintiq by a long shot.
> I don't give a shit about how fancy & expensive it is, it's the fact I CAN DRAW ON THE DAMN SCREEN!
> The bamboo did not work because it was way too confusing for me draw & look at a different direction.
> I could not draw correctly because how un-natural it was to me.
> ...



It's not that hard to get used to a tablet. you just have to keep practicing. how long have you had it for?


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## Taralack (Feb 24, 2014)

Crystal_the_Vixen said:


> You totally don't get why I want a cintiq by a long shot.
> I don't give a shit about how fancy & expensive it is, it's the fact I CAN DRAW ON THE DAMN SCREEN!
> The bamboo did not work because it was way too confusing for me draw & look at a different direction.
> I could not draw correctly because how un-natural it was to me.
> ...



How do you think the masters did it? They certainly didn't have fancy screens to draw on, they bloody well did it on paper. 

If you want to draw on a screen so bad, get a tablet.


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## DeCatt (Feb 24, 2014)

I have found my art improved a lot with my move to digital. Just use your Bamboo as a mouse substitute and draw a little bit on it every day and you will get the coordination down. The first week feels a bit gross but after that you will have it down pat. I don't think you really need a Cintiq at this point. Sometimes the older 4:3 models sell second hand cheap. I saw one on Furbid recently that was only $350.


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## Abbi Normal (Feb 24, 2014)

Crystal_the_Vixen said:


> You totally don't get why I want a cintiq by a long shot.
> I don't give a shit about how fancy & expensive it is, it's the fact I CAN DRAW ON THE DAMN SCREEN!
> The bamboo did not work because it was way too confusing for me draw & look at a different direction.
> I could not draw correctly because how un-natural it was to me.
> ...



OK, first of all, that was not a "huge paragraph" (*though you're about to get one now, so help me*).  I wrote a post of a more than a few sentences long, because I was doing  you the courtesy of telling you why I think you're going entirely the  wrong direction in a way that's not going to be helpful to your artwork  in any way, instead of just telling you "No" and leaving. Reading that  post should take a minute or less. Reading your posts takes maybe 30  seconds. What the hell are you doing that's so important that the  difference between 30 seconds and a minute is so horribly offensive (not  drawing, apparently)? If you'd rather that courtesy not be extended in  the future, people will be perfectly happy to be rude to you if you keep  up this attitude of complaining that everyone's not immediately jumping  on board with your 1000-dollar party. If you weren't going to accept  any answers but your own, why even ask other people, much less complain  their answer was too detailed? 

And are you seriously wondering  why your Mom doesn't want to plunk down 1000+ dollars of the household  money that she uses to feed and cloth you and the rest of your family,  to buy you a complicated, relatively fragile, and highly specialized  piece of equipment that you know literally nothing about, and will  quickly become discouraged trying to learn? What happened to the 100-200  bucks she already spent on your bamboo? 

You're basically a  student driver trying to force your parents to buy you a Ferrari as your  first car. Even if the expense and status of having a Ferrari are only  secondary reasons for wanting it, the fact remains you're a student  driver trying to convince everyone that they *need*  a Ferrarri or they can't learn to drive. And no one is buying it,  because everyone here already learned to drive, and they did it in a  dependable second-hand Ford, like a rational, reasonable person. 

Using the bamboo--or any other tablet--for the first time is _supposed_ to be strange. It's _supposed_  to be challenging. It applies to anything else too, that until you put  in the time to build up a skill, it will be awkward and hard and you  will suck, and it's supposed to be like that. You're not going to just  pick up a cintiq (or a grand piano, or a Fender guitar) and instantly it  will be easy. That's why it's a _learning_ curve. Because you start out sucky, and then you _learn_.  If you don't have the patience to completely suck at this for a good  long time, then you're never going to learn to draw, and it doesn't  matter if you have a pencil, a bamboo, or a cintiq. 

Yes, looking  at the screen and not your hand to draw is hella awkward coming from a  traditional art background. I know because I did it already. I showed  you my newest thing, I wish I had my oldest for comparison, but imagine a  5 year old doodling in MSPaint. But I kept doing it, and it got less  awkward, and I got the hell over the hand thing in like a week because I  actually practiced instead of complaining on a forum that my Mom won't  replace my expensive new toy I don't understand with an even more  expensive new toy I understand even less.

Having the screen under  your hand won't help you with this, because it's not going to remove  the learning curve you're trying so hard to avoid. It just gives you a  different one, namely learning how to work the screen on this expensive,  powerful tool. It's still a screen, it's still not the same as a paper,  it will still be "weird" to you the first time you pick it up. If you  think a bamboo is confusing, a cintiq may as well be rocket science. It  will take far longer to learn than to just pick up the hand thing on the  bamboo, and if the fact you tl;dr at a single paragraph tells us  anything, it's that you don't have the patience for the more complicated  tool. I've tried a cintiq belonging to someone who was drawing  commissions at a furmeet. It was *harder to use* than my bamboo, and like I said I've been using the bamboo for about two years.

Since  your mother's not going to buy you a Ferrari as your first car because  she has all the household bills to worry about and is not a fool, you  basically have three options. 

You can get your bamboo out every  day and practice for the week it will take to get the hang of the  co-ordination, and then keep practicing for years until you're actually  ready for a specialized, complex, in-depth professional artistic tool  (recommended). 

You can totally ignore all the advice unanimously  given in this thread by more experienced artists in your chosen medium,  and decide that you absolutely must have a Ferrari as your first car,  and you can go out and get together 1000$ of your own money for it,  instead of breaking your mother's bank while she's trying to run a  household and has already got you a pretty expensive toy. That way,  you'll at least be really sure you actually want to put in all the time  to learn your cintiq once you have it, and if you still think it's a  good idea by the time you earn a grand plus, then you can have it.  Though I think when you're the one who has to pay for it, you'll realize  even you don't want the brand-new top of the line one and find  an older, simpler, cheaper second hand model is still far more than  enough for you.

Or you can huff at me like a child some more, groaning about how terrible I am for making you _read_ of all horrid things, and telling people why your lack of experience is the fault of your tools. 

Now  go ahead and tl;dr at me (since that tells us all we need to know about  your ability to persist in the face of challenge) and tell us and your  mum again about how much you need a tool you can't use that costs almost  as much as a used car.


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## Crystal_the_Vixen (Feb 24, 2014)

I read your whole thing, sorry if I seemed a bit closed minded before. 
I'll try my best to learn how to not draw on a screen, sadly I returned my bamboo awhile ago because it won't let me have those free art programs.
It kept telling me the code was used or telling me about the code can be only used in a different country.
But I'm gunna buy the bamboo again, even if it doesn't give me the free art programs it promised.
I'll just buy sai or something.

Thank you for the advice and dealing with my ignorant BS, I will practice more & not give up in frustration this time if I get a new bamboo.


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## chesse20 (Feb 24, 2014)

d.batty said:


> Listen here sweetheart, I think you have much learning to do before you switch right over to digital art.
> There is much hand and eye coordination to be learned bdefore you can just jump into a tablet.


Play a lot of quake and counter strike and that should get your hand to eye coordination up


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## Volkodav (Feb 24, 2014)

Crystal_the_Vixen said:


> I read your whole thing, sorry if I seemed a bit closed minded before.
> I'll try my best to learn how to not draw on a screen, sadly I returned my bamboo awhile ago because it won't let me have those free art programs.
> It kept telling me the code was used or telling me about the code can be only used in a different country.
> But I'm gunna buy the bamboo again, even if it doesn't give me the free art programs it promised.
> ...



Trust me, it takes a lot of time to get used to drawing off-screen, but it's doable. I've been doing it for almost 10 years now on the same tablet.
The reason why people are criticising your choices is because a Cintiq is a HUGE investment, and if someone else is buying it for you and you decide to give up, that is a LOT of money down the drain. I can't tell you how badly I want to yell at my friend who tossed her Cintiq to the side because she likes her Intuos better, omfg.
If you can't put the time and effort into learning how to use a regular tablet, which (like Bamboo) will only set you back like $100, imagine throwing $1000+ in the trash because you aren't willing to put the effort into learning how to use a Cintiq.


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## Crystal_the_Vixen (Feb 24, 2014)

How exactly are cintiqs more complicated than those wacom tablet without screens?
I'd imagine drawing on a screen would be alot easier than drawing on some black board.
I really wanna know.


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## Tica (Feb 25, 2014)

just to answer the original question, cintiqs are more expensive than regular tablets because of the pressure sensitivity they have with the stylus. tablets don't have pressure dynamics at all.


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## Volkodav (Feb 25, 2014)

Crystal_the_Vixen said:


> How exactly are cintiqs more complicated than those wacom tablet without screens?
> I'd imagine drawing on a screen would be alot easier than drawing on some black board.
> I really wanna know.



Cintiqs are not something that you can be rough with like you can a tablet. There's a special glove you should wear so that your hand doesn't get stuck to the screen when you're sliding it around. Pen pressure is like tablet pressure, not mechanical pencil on desk pressure. If you sweat from your hands (like I do), that's an issue for the screen.
If you're too rough or don't take good care of it, that's an expensive piece of equipment ruined.
Going from paper to tablet is hard, and the transition from tablet to cintiq is not a big leap, but the leap has more to do with being more gentle and aware of how valuable the tablet is. You can be rough and get away with scratches on a Bamboo Fun (mine's pretty beat up), but you can't with a Cintiq.

I'm talking $1000 MINIMUM for the smallest Cintiq available.


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## Crystal_the_Vixen (Feb 25, 2014)

Thanks for the info.


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## Valery91Thunder (Feb 25, 2014)

Clayton said:
			
		

> Cintiqs are not something that you can be rough with like you can a  tablet. There's a special glove you should wear so that your hand  doesn't get stuck to the screen when you're sliding it around. Pen  pressure is like tablet pressure, not mechanical pencil on desk  pressure. If you sweat from your hands (like I do), that's an issue for  the screen.
> If you're too rough or don't take good care of it, that's an expensive piece of equipment ruined.
> Going from paper to tablet is hard, and the transition from tablet to  cintiq is not a big leap, but the leap has more to do with being more  gentle and aware of how valuable the tablet is. You can be rough and get  away with scratches on a Bamboo Fun (mine's pretty beat up), but you  can't with a Cintiq.


There's also this thing (I don't know if it has happened to others, but when I tried it I had this issue) that you must keep the pen tip exactly perpendicular to the Cintiq's surface, or else you won't get the line starting from the exact point you want. It's a weird posture, and considering most of us keep our pencil/pen slightly oblique when we normally write or sketch, it's kinda like developing a bad habit if beginners learn to use that pen posture at first.


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## Abbi Normal (Feb 25, 2014)

Valery91Thunder said:


> There's also this thing (I don't know if it has happened to others, but when I tried it I had this issue) that you must keep the pen tip exactly perpendicular to the Cintiq's surface, or else you won't get the line starting from the exact point you want. It's a weird posture, and considering most of us keep our pencil/pen slightly oblique when we normally write or sketch, it's kinda like developing a bad habit if beginners learn to use that pen posture at first.



Very true. That kind of thing was pretty much the main issue when I was having trouble with the other girl's cintiq. The odd pen posture, and maybe she just keeps her pressure settings on a hair-trigger (I'm rather heavy-handed and like mine a bit lower) but I found the sensitivity much greater than I was used to and tougher to control. It's basically a case of the device being designed with the assumption the user is already quite expert in their craft.


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## RTDragon (Feb 25, 2014)

Crystal_the_Vixen said:


> I read your whole thing, sorry if I seemed a bit closed minded before.
> I'll try my best to learn how to not draw on a screen, sadly I returned my bamboo awhile ago because it won't let me have those free art programs.
> It kept telling me the code was used or telling me about the code can be only used in a different country.
> But I'm gunna buy the bamboo again, even if it doesn't give me the free art programs it promised.



Did you actually use the CD's that came with it though?


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## Valery91Thunder (Feb 26, 2014)

Abbi Normal said:


> Very true. That kind of thing was pretty much the main issue when I was having trouble with the other girl's cintiq. The odd pen posture, and maybe she just keeps her pressure settings on a hair-trigger (I'm rather heavy-handed and like mine a bit lower) but I found the sensitivity much greater than I was used to and tougher to control. It's basically a case of the device being designed with the assumption the user is already quite expert in their craft.



Exactly: buying a Cintiq is like assuming you already know normal tablets through and through and you need an "upgrade" as your skill level progresses.


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## Abbi Normal (Feb 26, 2014)

RTDragon said:


> Did you actually use the CD's that came with it though?



Also, do you mean the extra free software stuff, or the actual driver and Bamboo dock CD? 

Because  if it's the first one, it doesn't really matter, I've never even looked  at those and I don't know anyone who uses those (It's something called  something like SketchProBook or something, and some office thing, I  think, something about signatures?). If you're looking for software to  actually draw in, just torrent you some Photoshop or PaintTool SAI. If  you object to, or are for some reason unable to, do torrenting, start  with something free. Free programs I see a lot of people use include  GIMP, OpenCanvas, maybe FireAlpaca (though I hear that has ads now?  Never used it but know other people who are fans?), and then get SAI  when you get the hang of things, as your first tool upgrade. PaintTool  SAI's popular, reliable, easy, and only about 30 bucks if you decide to  buy it. 

But if you mean the disc with the drivers and Bamboo  dock, then it would have let you use the tablet without them, but...not  well. By default, your computer will try to treat your tablet as it  would a mouse, as in, it moves the cursor around the screen relative to  the cursor's previous position, not relative to the pen's position on  the tablet. You need the drivers to make the parts of the tablet be  mapped to the corresponding parts of the screen, among other things.  Which is kinda the point of the tablet, so if you didn't manage to get  those installed, that might be where a lot of your difficulties were  coming from, and everything will feel a lot smoother when you do. If  your driver disc isn't working, bamboo drivers are here (scroll down), and the dock is here. 

The  dock is kinda-sorta extra, but it is a nicely put-together light piece  of software for managing your tablet settings and programs, and comes  with an interactive tutorial, which should be right up your alley. And if you're looking for free software  goodies, the Bamboo dock has a sort of free app store thing with lots of  productivity stuff and some little games. 

Actually, speaking of  Bamboo and free software, one thing I discovered through the free  Bamboo apps repository was Evernote. Bamboo gave out the free client in  their app selection, you can also use it browser-based or on your phone.  Write down everything. Draw a note in "ink". Put them in virtual  notebooks, tag them, organize and checkbox them, sync between devices.  It's so simple, but amazing, it's like the perfect iteration of the  dropbox concept. Doesn't sound very exiting, but it is. It really is.  Like seriously, Evernote has totally revolutionized how I do everything  from brainstorm, to work through creative projects, to get things done  around the house. It's basically the most useful thing I ever  downloaded, and I'm a huge fan of Bamboo dock for showing it to me. 

Also Paper Cakes is crazy fun and perfect to play with a tablet, but doesn't work on all comps.


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## Aggro (Feb 26, 2014)

Ok, so I'm going to go against most here and say that buying a different (and sometimes more expensive) product can help! Say you go to a dollar tree and buy some mechanical pencils for 1$. They will most definitely suck and there's only so much you can do with them. But go to Walmart and but a 10$ pack, you can "bloom" more, so to speak. But I really wouldn't buy something that expensive. Maybe find something in between, especially If you're not sure or haven't used it. But that's my 2 cents, anyway.


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## Ayattar (Feb 26, 2014)

Well, on beginner level it actually doesn't matter what tool you are using. You can do exactly the same things using mouse and tablet. It's just a matter of time that you want to put in a picture - a good tool makes drawing faster and less frustrating. I can achieve same level using mouse as using tablet, or pen, or markers, but to counter it's inaccuracy I need to work in higher resolutions (like 4000 x 3000). Also, drawing something like that with mouse takes me 14 hours whilst using markers or soft pencils (or tablet, but this is only a guess, I'll see tommorow, when I'll finally buy one) it should take something like 3, maybe 4 hours.

I can't say much about tablets, but when I was starting drawing in pencil it didn't matter if I was using common koh-i-noor or blackwing. Right now - it does.


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## Crystal_the_Vixen (Feb 26, 2014)

Aggro said:


> Ok, so I'm going to go against most here and say that buying a different (and sometimes more expensive) product can help! Say you go to a dollar tree and buy some mechanical pencils for 1$. They will most definitely suck and there's only so much you can do with them. But go to Walmart and but a 10$ pack, you can "bloom" more, so to speak. But I really wouldn't buy something that expensive. Maybe find something in between, especially If you're not sure or haven't used it. But that's my 2 cents, anyway.



EXACTLY!


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## Batty Krueger (Feb 26, 2014)

chesse20 said:


> Play a lot of quake and counter strike and that should get your hand to eye coordination up


I wish that were true. I was in cal-I several years ago in counter strike source. I kick ass at css, but drawing?  oh hello no. Im not a terrible artist, I just dont draw and practice enough to become great.


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## Valery91Thunder (Feb 27, 2014)

Aggro said:


> Ok, so I'm going to go against most here and say that buying a different (and sometimes more expensive) product can help! Say you go to a dollar tree and buy some mechanical pencils for 1$. They will most definitely suck and there's only so much you can do with them. But go to Walmart and but a 10$ pack, you can "bloom" more, so to speak. But I really wouldn't buy something that expensive. Maybe find something in between, especially If you're not sure or haven't used it. But that's my 2 cents, anyway.


There's a difference between stuff that is so cheap and produced so badly you know it's going to break, and economic but good and sturdy materials that are a good alternative. The OP mentioned the Bamboo, which is a good product if one has actually the patience to learn how to use properly. No one here has suggested, I dunno, Trust products or anything; we're still talking about products of a certain level of quality.


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## RailRide (Feb 27, 2014)

Crystal_the_Vixen said:


> EXACTLY!



I'm wondering if you even _read_ the part from somebody who actually _tried_ the thing, about having to hold the pen at an odd angle (straight up and down, no tilting) just to get the on-screen pointer to line up with the tip of the stylus? I can't imagine that _not_ being a source of frustration if you cannot get accustomed to using a pen on your desk in place of a mouse.

Oh wait...wasn't it you in another thread who stated you don't even have a desk big enough for your laptop and a regular tablet to sit side-by-side?

*Edit:* Yes.

---PCJ


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## RailRide (Feb 27, 2014)

Abbi Normal said:


> Also, do you mean the extra free software stuff, or the actual driver and Bamboo dock CD?
> 
> Because  if it's the first one, it doesn't really matter, I've never even looked  at those and I don't know anyone who uses those (It's something called  something like SketchProBook or something, and some office thing, I  think, something about signatures?). If you're looking for software to  actually draw in, just torrent you some Photoshop or PaintTool SAI.



Since the forum rules frown on suggesting piracy, I'll point out that Sketchbook Pro is a digital sketching application similar to SAI, with all the different brushes and settings and canvas rotation and such. If you cannot get it to run, there are also a couple of freeware digital-sketching apps, MyPaint (don't worry about the 'linux' in the URL, there's a Windows version too) and SmoothDraw. Both support layers, a variety of brushes and also feature canvas rotation, which can be an invaluable help in drawing lines at awkward angles since you can re-orient the picture so you can sweep sideways or up/down or however angle you need to get the smoothest lines most comfortably.

By the way OP, watch a digital sketch on a stream sometimes--you'll see that even some very high-tier artists will draw and [CTRL-Z] (abort) the same line a half-dozen times or more before it comes out the way they like before moving on to the next one. It's not at all like a carnival sketch artist banging out portraits without any do-overs or backtracking. 

(BTW, here's a pic I did almost completely digitally on a Bamboo using MyPaint. It's only the second time in six years I've tried drawing digitally, but between that first attempt and this one are 180+ pictures that were drawn on paper, inked, scanned and then colored using a Bamboo-or-Grafire tablet and a Windows 95-era image editor. All on laptops (sometimes even netbooks). And prior to that, using a tablet and its stylus as a mouse going back to Windows 3.1.)

---PCJ


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## CaptainCool (Feb 27, 2014)

Why are they expensive? I guess there are many reason.
First of all, they make great products. Their tablets are very accurate and "just work". Great products are usually expensive.

Then there is the fact that Wacom tablets are pretty much the industry standard... If you are in the market for a new tablet you usually look at Wacom only.
It's just like professional cameras. If you are a professional photographer you are gonna look at a Nikon D4 or a Canon 1Dx. Or if you do a lot of model photography you are gonna get a medium format camera system from Hasselblad for 10.000 to 20.000 bucks... There are cheaper alternatives from other brands but they are not as established on the market. It is easy to get good used lenses for Nikon or Canon systems but if you need a special purpose lens for a Pentax camera things get more complicated.

The same is true for Wacom tablets. Since they are the industry standard it is easier to get spare parts for them.

But as an amateur artist, and especially as a beginner, it would probably be better to look at other, less exansive brands. There are good alternatives! You should ask Lapinbeau on FA for advice: http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/5277555/


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## Terror-Run (Feb 27, 2014)

Just thought I would mention. the cheapest cintiq I've found that would still be an upgrade from the intuous, will cost me $2.6k   (blame it on taxes ans import and all the stuff you get when living close to the north pole, but still no where near 1k). If you are going for the cheapest cintiq I would rather say go for the new intuos or bamboo. (yes I am biased towards the intuos ) You'll get used to. Drawing on screen is quite bad actually - not to mention the bajillionsettings you would have to spend hours getting into, just to even start sketching.


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## RTDragon (Feb 27, 2014)

RailRide said:


> I'm wondering if you even _read_ the part from somebody who actually _tried_ the thing, about having to hold the pen at an odd angle (straight up and down, no tilting) just to get the on-screen pointer to line up with the tip of the stylus? I can't imagine that _not_ being a source of frustration if you cannot get accustomed to using a pen on your desk in place of a mouse.
> 
> Oh wait...wasn't it you in another thread who stated you don't even have a desk big enough for your laptop and a regular tablet to sit side-by-side?
> 
> ...



Seriously forget about a cintiq you can't even handle a beginner tablet which is a bamboo. Cintiq are professional tablets for a reason they're very large. 

And Ayattar that's not exactly true that a good tool makes drawing faster. Considering i still use basics and have a few of those good tools i save those for when i am experienced enough with what i currently use.

You be very surprised at what artists can use with the free digital art tools.


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## Schwimmwagen (Feb 27, 2014)

Cintiqs are expensive because Wacom cover the hugest part of the graphics tablet market, coupled with proprietary tech they have no intention of sharing with anyone (pens that don't need recharging/batteries), so they've basically got a monopoly on graphics tablets. They're not afraid of any competitors so they charge whatever the hell they want and make stuff like nibs and surface sheets as short-lived (and expensive) as possible because they know that their customers are going buy their stuff at the end of the day anyway because they have no immediately obvious alternative to Wacom's products.

However Monoprice and chinese knockoffs like Huion run their own line of Cintiq alternatives that are significantly cheaper but still expensive as tits and I had a very bad experience with a Monoprice Bamboo/Intuos alternative despite the good reviews (driver related) but at least it wasn't that much money down the drain (Â£60 including the Huion rechargable pen).

Get a regular-ass tablet. When you're rich from another source or already making serious money from years of artmaking experience, _then _consider getting a Cintiq _yourself_. Only rich brats get a Cintiq as their first tablet (and don't even know what to do with it). Don't ask your mom to blow over $1,000 on you (WTF) because you're too impatient to get involved with the fundamentals - barring the whole new range of complications that come with using the digital medium - focus on learning to draw and use a Bamboo. Imagine your mom buying that for you and then you realise your drawings aren't as good as you would have liked, and you get discouraged and depressed and stop drawing - how will you explain that?

If a pencil bothers your skin so much, use a pen, or better yet watch where your hand is and stop smudging your drawings, there's a fundamental for you.


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## Crystal_the_Vixen (Feb 27, 2014)

I changed my mind about the cintiq, I don't like it when people think I'm a spoiled brat for asking my mom.
Because I very very rarely ask anything from my mother, I MUCH prefer buying things with my own money.
But wacom tablets are something I need help with buying.
When I ask my mom for something expensive, I make sacrifices for them.
For example; Paying for the item she bought for me little by little, like buying those cars and paying them little by little because it's hard to fully pay for it at once.
Getting nothing on my birthday & christmas.

Since buying a cintiq will take FOREVER for me to pay off, I'm going for something much cheaper now.


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## RTDragon (Feb 27, 2014)

Crystal_the_Vixen said:


> I changed my mind about the cintiq, I don't like it when people think I'm a spoiled brat for asking my mom.
> Because I very very rarely ask anything from my mother, I MUCH prefer buying things with my own money.
> But wacom tablets are something I need help with buying.
> When I ask my mom for something expensive, I make sacrifices for them.
> ...




Then why did you make this thread and be closed minded as well? People were giving you advice, and you sold your bamboo thinking it was bad?


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## Tica (Feb 27, 2014)

RTDragon said:


> Then why did you make this thread and be closed minded as well? People were giving you advice, and you sold your bamboo thinking it was bad?



In Crystal's defense, I think she already got rid of the tablet before making these threads.

I remember when I was in high school my mom bought me Manga Studio, when before I had been using CorelDRAW. I was used to using vectors w/ the mouse, but had no idea how to do raster stuff at the time. Rather than learn how to use the Manga Studio program, when I realized it couldn't do vector art I put it away and never used it until many years later when it was already super outdated (and I had to pay to upgrade to Studio 5).

At the time she bought it for me, it was a great little piece of software, but it was so unlike anything I was used to I had no patience to learn how to use it and dismissed it outright.

I think Crystal is just going through this same kind of thought process... but she seems pretty open-minded to listen to us rant at her. She's just a kid, cut her some slack...


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## Crystal_the_Vixen (Feb 28, 2014)

Tica said:


> *snip*



Thank you.
Most of the time I'm open minded, but sometimes us humans can be dicks sometimes.
Nobody is perfect, when I realize I'm being a dick "I admit it & say sorry" instead of beating around bush and pretend I'm never wrong.
I try my best to be as mature & adult I can be, but for my age "18" I probably can't help being naive sometimes.


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## Tica (Feb 28, 2014)

I was hella naive at 18, but thought I was the shit. bad combination


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