I’ve used a Wacom tablet for years, and I’ve had a Cintiq for a couple years, but I just couldn’t get used to you. I’ve tried drawing with various pens before on the older Ipads, but none of them felt same as a drawing in my sketchbook or the sensitivity of a wacom stylus. Now, I’m considering either an Ipad Pro or Surface tablet. The advances in the Ipad Pro and pen or the Surface seem to finally hit the mark. For years Steve Jobs was quoted as never wanting a stylus with it’s devices, but I’m sure glad they changed their minds. The Pencil from Apple is amazing.
Ipad Pro
My supe at work, Adil, let me use his Ipad pro one day at work and I was VERY impressed. The responsiveness of the pen, the degrees of pressure sensitivity were astounding. This was on the current model not the newer one available for pre-order now. What I also liked is this is a portable digital tablet for drawing and still a fully functioning Ipad. The price point for it is not bad, around $750 with pen.
Here’s a sketch I made on it. Simple 20 min sketch from a photo.
I used the app, Procreate. It felt very intuitive to sketch with it. The great thing is it’s fully compatible with Photoshop. The size of the larger Ipad was great, just the same size I’m used to with my sketch book. I can only imagine how nice it would be to watch shows on it as well. Adil and I wen to a figure drawing session at work during lunch. He sketched with his Ipad and another artist there was sketching with theirs as well. It’s definitely converting people. Even the instructor, Karl tried drawing with it.
I meant to try the Surface out this weekend, but I didn’t get a chance so my comparision of it to the Ipad will have to wait. For now, I’d say you can’t go wrong with the Ipad Pro if you are looking to update your current tablet.
It’s an additional expense, and I do like sketching traditionally. What I’ve missed with my Intuos is the fluidity of line you get from a Cintiq and now the Ipad Pencil. I’m not doing a ton of figurative work and my matte painting work an Intuos is just fine. So do I buy it….hmmm
Studio EB 
I tried the Surface Pro 4 in store and wasn’t impressed. There was major lag using a simple hard round brush and I felt the pen had less feel to it than Wacom or the Apple pencil. Whether that’s due to it being a demo model I don’t know.
Thanks Onesimus! Guess that makes the Surface less of a choice. Did you pick up an Ipad Pro and Pencil by any chance?
Yeah I picked them up on sale earlier this year. Procreate and Autodesk Sketchbook are my 2 favorite apps on it. Both have very customizable brushes, layers with blending modes, adjustment layers, and can export PSDs.
The Photoshop app is also cool since you can import Photoshop brushes if you have a creative cloud subscription.
Awesome….well it sounds like my decision has been made for me! Thanks man!!