Choosing a Graphic Tablet With or Without A Screen?

Hi guys!

So I was wondering if any of you who had a regular tablet and then switched to a Pen Display Graphic Tablet found that your workflow improved including your digital painting skills?

I'm asking because I've been an user of a XP-Pen DECO 01 for almost 6 months now but I was never able to get rid of that eye-hand coordination issue and I would end up frustrated whenever I would draw on my computer. I would never draw as good as on paper. So 2 weeks ago I've purchased a XP-Pen Artist 12 （ from their offical site https://www.xp-pen.com/goods/show/id/380.html ） and I've never been so happy! My workflow was much better and I didn't have to think about all the technicalities, spend my time erasing my lines or find tricks to get the final shape that I wanted. I didn't have the eye hand coordination issue anymore. Damn, it was hard to make a beautiful lineart and it was hard to blend and get the right shading.

A week ago I did a photo study and It was easier to get the accurate shape right from the beginning so I didn't have to use the liquify tool and lassotransform tool as much. It felt more natural to draw with the Artist 12 than the DECO 01. I was more precised with my brush strokes, they were applied exactly where I wanted them to go. I'm not saying that a Artist 12 is better than an DECO01 in this case, what I'm saying is that a Artist 12 works better for me. I've practiced enough to improve quickly so I've felt that it was the right time to upgrade to a new tool .
Basically I just wanted to share my experience from this huge upgrade and it would be cool to hear about your experiences for those who had an opportunity to try a graphic tablet and a pen display monitor tablet , which tool ended up being better for you?

Absolutely agree, though I wouldn't say it improved my skills. It rather helped me to transfer my traditional skills to my digital artworks because I'm in touch with them now. For years I've struggled with a Wacom drawing tablet, so unnatural and I never really in touch with my art. I can't afford a Wacom pen display, neither do I want to pay the kind of money the ask. The competiton wasn't good enough, but last year they finally started catching up. Due to a nice tax return and an Amazon lightning deal, I was able to purchase the Huion Kamvas GT-191. Love it, so natural, so much better, my art improved so much because I can work with this pen display, no struggles at all. https://www.huiontablet.com/kamvas-gt-191.html

I do miss the express keys though, but otherwise I'm very pleased with it. The large display is great to have, though not as portable as your XP-Pen Artist 12. A friend bought the XP-Pen Artist 12 and seems like a great device for sure. Working directily on a screen is just so much better and more enjoyable. I don't see why anyone would still buy an expensive medium or large sized Intuos Pro if you can get something like your XP-Pen Artist 12 or my Huion Kamvas GT-191 for the same price or way less.

Got one question for you, does your pen support tilt? Mine doesn't and it's not an issue for me, but I'm curious to know if your much newer device does support it.

I agree as well.  I tried using a Wacom Intuos and found it difficult because of the hand/eye coordination as well as the fact that the amount that you moved your hand didn't match with how long a line was produced on the screen.  I have since upgraded to a Gaomon PD-1560, which I have found to be a vast improvement, but I am considering upgrading to a Wacom Cintiq Pro 24 (if it is ever back in stock!) due to the larger size, laminated screen (no parallax) and 4K display as well as tilt support.  The only display I know of, other than the Wacoms, to support tilt is the just released Huion Kamvas Pro 13 (https://www.huiontablet.com/kamvas-pro-13.html).  If they had a 16" or larger I would seriously look at it.

Ward, I guess it's just a matter of time before the Wacom affordable alternatives catch up. XP-Pen and Huion have indeed just released their first laminated pen displays with pens that tilt support and are battery free. They often seem to start introducing new features in the smaller models before adding them to the bigger models. My guess is that next year's line up will introduce these features to all the pen displays.

I've been using drawing tablets for around a year now, starting out with a non screen tablet and then recently upgrading to a XP-Pen tablet - Artist 16 (2nd Gen).

I would say for me they are both extremely viable options with both coming with there pros. Non screen you have cheaper tablets with the same lever of pressure sensitivity with the hand eye coordination only being a problem (for me anyway) in the first few days of use.

The tablets with the screen the only pro I have found is with it would be that it is easier as it is the most like drawing on paper and you are able to look at your hand whilst drawing.

I hope this helps, I don't have an extensive knowledge of drawing tablets but this is what I have drawn from my experiences with using both of them.

A good comment is "being in touch" with your art. I noticed it too. 

It makes drawing more rewarding to me at least. 

Though I'm still sticking to wacom without a display cause I wanna save up for complete portable Wacom mobile studio. I'm not sure if there are any completely portable computer-tablets our there, If anyone knows such - I'd be glad to listen to any suggestions of alternatives. 

I am enjoying my XP Pen artist 12, but do still make use of a my Wacom Intuos 4 for a few reasons, and not so much for hand eye coordination. The Intuos is the only affordable tablet that can make use of the Art Pen which features barrel rotation. My current tablet is actually smaller than the intuos 3 (which was my first). Seeing that Wacom would rather increase the size of the price rather than the tablets, and with further insult, not make an updated Art Pen along with their newer gear, I really had no choice but to abandon Wacom on my journey into graphics tablets. 

That said, there are a couple of circumstances where the XP Pen Artist 12 pen display and Wacom doesn't jive well. 

When screen mirroring, I can only get 1080 HD resolution max, which does not make good use of my existing 4k display. At least, not until I figure out if I can mirror a portion of my display. 

Second, the proportion of the wacom gets stretched very wide and short when encountering two displays, and I just haven't yet figured out how to tell it to simply look at one display. 

I may simply ditch both and go for the 16 inch XP Pen display featuring touch and 4k resolution. Wacom charges 5 times more for the same but I seriously doubt the support for rotation would be there anyway. 

Hi guys;

Does anyone have any experience with the new XP Pen MAgic Drawing Pad. I asked escapemotions support team and their reply was:

"Rebelle is only compatible with Windows and macOS and not Android"....

I read your post and you seem to be using XP tablets. Are these compatible or not with Rebelle??

Thanks.