Looking for the best budget tablet for drawing, many pay attention to the Samsung tablet, because the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 model with a multifunction stylus looks like a good option for the first digital tablet. I have a Samsung Note for a long time, probably about 5-6 years old, and recently I exclusively draw on it. Is such a tablet suitable for a professional artist? How convenient is a stylus for drawing? Is there enough tablet power for full-fledged art work? Can Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 be considered a full-fledged graphics tablet? Let’s go through all these issues.

Main technical characteristics of Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1:

• 4 processor cores;
• 2 GB of RAM;
• S-Pen stylus included;
• screen size A5.

Can I use the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 in professional art work?

Of course, most professionals use Wacom tablets with Photoshop, but there are some digital artists and digital illustrators who use universal tablets in their work – iPad, Samsung and others. It seems to me that the iPad is a more popular choice for artists than Android tablets, since iOS has excellent drawing applications that are as close as possible to Photoshop in functionality. Nevertheless, the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet can well be used as a graphic one, this is confirmed by the work done with its help, which can be easily seen on the Internet.

The small size of the tablet allows you to carry it with you, make drawings and sketches anywhere. On the other hand, creating a large-scale picture on a Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet will be difficult, yet the screen is not enough for this. For myself, I found the optimal canvas size, which is convenient for me to draw on, it is usually 1920×1080. I make small drawings and illustrations without undue versatility so as not to move the canvas back and forth across the screen all the time. I really like to draw on the tablet, the sensations are pleasant, the pen walks easily, the degree of depression and inclination are taken into account. I see on Samsung’s tablet a great tool for both an amateur and a professional artist.

The most important thing to turn your Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 device into a powerful graphics tablet is the choice of drawing apps. Unfortunately, for Android there is no one universal “ideal” application, everyone chooses an app for their own tasks and taste. In my case, it was important not only to draw, but also to record a video of the screen during drawing. For these purposes, Autodesk Sketchbook and ArtFlow were best for me, but Sketchbook still fell in love with it the most. Many different brushes, settings and chips allow you to joyfully immerse yourself in the process of artistic creation. To prevent applications from slowing down, I close all other programs while drawing and turn off all networks. The more free space and memory on the tablet, the faster and smoother everything works.

The best drawing apps on your Android tablet

Is it convenient to draw with an S-Pen?

At first, you will most likely be delighted with surprise and surprise if you have never painted on tablets before. The pen glides very softly, the brushes imitate natural materials and textures, and the drawing process is very pleasant. Gradually, I began to notice some features of the S-Pen, which I did not really like in my work:

• the stylus is rather thin and short;
• a button is located on it right under the index finger;
• the end of the pen is a bit thick, if you draw thin lines, it is distracting;
• the tip erases over time.

I would rate the convenience of drawing with the S-Pen on the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet as “quite normal.” Anyway, it’s more convenient for me to draw with a normal pen or brush, more accurate movements are obtained, the control is much higher. The digital S-Pen creates a strange feeling that you draw with gloves that are a little big for you. That is, you seem to control lines and movements, but not as accurately as with traditional materials. Perhaps this is a matter of habit.

Should an artist even draw on a digital tablet?

There is a very popular opinion that … “real artists paint only with real materials.” And is it true why an artist might want to draw on a tablet if he has canvas and paints at hand, or at least a pencil and paper? Someone thinks that digital pictures are digital garbage that cannot even be touched in real life until you print it on a printer, and the results of drawing on a tablet themselves are poor-quality imitation of real work. Some artists associate art only with the physical perceived reality, where the material and the real trace of the author are visible. If the picture is created on a tablet, then it seems as if there is no uniqueness, anyone can copy it, and the work itself is “locked in a digital cell.”

I believe that digital art is just another form of creativity, no better and no worse than any other. You can draw with pencils, paints, on a tablet. I do not see any fundamental difference, if an artist enjoys creativity, then the choice of a medium for drawing and materials is his full right. I also see a big advantage in digital drawings – they can be scaled to infinity, especially if you make a vector. As a result, you draw on the A5 tablet what you can then see on the billboard the size of the whole house. Not all artists will be interested in digital, just as not all digital artists will paint in oil. It’s a matter of taste.

Conclusions on the use of the tablet Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 for the artist:

• good model for small art projects;
• the battery holds ~ two drawing sessions for an hour and a half with video recording;
• the stylus takes into account different degrees of depression and is normally suitable for drawing;
• quite suitable for a professional illustrator or logo designer.