2016 Digital Artist Gift Guide
Hard to believe it’s that time again–winter holidays of 2016!
If you’ve got a pixel artist in your life, they’re probably looking for ways to enhance their creativity, work in comfort and style, travel with their tablet. They love traditional art supplies, too. To that end, we bring you our 2016 Tablets for Artists gift guide.
Will be adding to this page, so check back for more!
Apple iPad Pro
Elegant portable drawing solution with highly sensitive, tilt-enabled Apple Pencil (which needs to be purchased separately). Can be used as Cintiq-like input device with a Mac using the Astropad app.
Copic Markers
Sometimes you just need the smell of markers. Copic Markers are great for manga, marker rendering, sketching out logos, and everything else. Copics are alcohol-based, which is less toxic than solvent-based markers, but we like to keep a window open.
Tombow Dual Brush Pens
Tombow markers can be combined with water for beautiful blended effects. Tombows are water-soluble. The dual brush have a marker brush on one end and a marker tip on the other.
MAKING COMICS
by Scott McCloud. Learn to create comics, manga, and graphic novels from a master.
TONED TAN SKETCHBOOK
Drawing on medium-toned paper can make all the difference in your art. The Old Masters did it, and so can you.
Wacom Bamboo Slate
lets you create digital art or take notes, starting on paper. The notebook has its own memory, so you don’t need to snap a photo of your page. You open your pages in a mobile app. Wacom Inkscape lets you save to the Cloud. Comes with EMR digitizing pen. The older Bamboo Spark is similar.
The Moleskine Smart Notebook uploads your paper drawings from this classic artist’s sketcbook to Evernote after you you snap a photo using an iPad app. It then converts it into an SVG. There’s also a version with Adobe Creative Cloud.
SwissGear Travel Gear ScanSmart Backpack
A laptop backpack with extra pockets for a portable tablet that’s ready for airport security is a blessing. Most airports won’t make you take the laptop out, saving you time and hassle. It also has RFID protection from those trying to steal your info electronically.
Wacom graphics tablet
Read this post to figure out which one is best for your artist.
Handmade Leather iPad Pro Case
Beautiful and durable.
Case Logic WMBP-115 15.6-Inch Laptop and Tablet Backpack
Fujifilm INSTAX Mini 8 Instant Camera
Who doesn’t love instant photos? Take pics and have them on paper immediately with the . It has automatic exposure and a high-key setting perfect for portraits.
Aeropress Espresso Maker
Coffee! Without it, modern civilization wouldn’t exist. Whether that’s good or bad, we still need our fix. The Aeropress delivers a pungent cup in one quick blast. Geeks love it.
Computer Arts Magazine
Magazines keep artists on top of the latest developments. Computer Arts is a good one to follow to keep up with constantly changing tech.
Clip Studio Paint
Clip Studio Paint is an inexpensive art software program with a great brush engine.
Books on Creativity, Art, and Careers
BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO CREATING MANGA ART
This fascinating genre requires a lot of study, but it can be learned.
This season will be special with creative gifts. And remember to check back, as I’m scouting for more swag.