If you must do your own book covers then it helps to have the proper tools.
I’m not totally sure that I absolutely needed this, but I’ve certainly enjoyed using it.
***** I don’t receive any endorsements for plugging this artist’s tablet. Nor am I an affiliate of Amazon at this point in time (If this changes I’ll let you know).******
Here’s what I said on Facebook at the time (shortly after purchase):
Unfinished rough sketch of an illustration for a children’s book. If I was serious about the drawing I would tighten up lines and paint it rather than using the pencil set. Used Art Rage 2.5 plus (software). Used a Huion Kamvas Pro 16 digital tablet.
If anyone is looking for the perfect gift for a child, grandchild, or adult this tablet is AWESOME. I’m saying bye bye to Wacom. This is a true professional artist’s tablet (at least to my mind, and not that I am a professional artist – far from it!). The same quality in a Wacom would be $1,000 – $2,000. I had looked at the Wacom Cintiq 16 (not even the pro) and it was $500 + (It had been $600 to $700 but they dropped the price).
THIS BABY WAS ONLY $399. It is sleek and stylish. Very lightweight. It comes with a battery-less stylus (don’t need them), 10 extra nibs, a glove, and a stand. Wacom charges an extra $70 to $100 for a stand. Can’t wait to see what the price drops to on Black Friday. Might take a look at the 20 in. to see what it drops to. Just kidding. 16 is plenty of room to draw on. Love the slider on side for zooming in and out without interrupting workflow. I’m serious. You bought the laptop last year, now get the tablet to use with it. Oh, just a note: Most people looking for a digital tablet already know this and have the software, but in case anyone doesn’t know. You will need a computer to attach it to and drawing or painting software. There is plenty of free software out there Gimp, Krita (I think that’s the name). Or, you can buy Corel painter essentials, etc. The colors are Vibrant, and drawing on it is sooo natural. Parallax is a touch iffy around edges of tablet. No problem. Just slide the canvas till the area you are working on is in center of tablet. 16 inches is plenty of real estate. I LOVE IT.
The free drawing software (which doesn’t come with the tablet–it is just free online) was Krita, medibang, and Firealpaca. I haven’t tried any of these though.
And here’s some of my book cover work:
Leonardo actually did the work on this one–I just turned the sketch blue and touched up the photo for the cover of the book.
None of these photos do the Kamvas tablet justice.
Some important things to know and remember before purchase:
- You will need a computer to plug this tablet into! It is not a stand alone device.
- You will need photo editing or drawing software (most anyone working with tablets will know this already).
I mainly use Adobe Photoshop for the book covers. And I’ve got a very old version of Photoshop (PS 6.0). My skills are limited and I just do very basic stuff with my covers. Maybe one day I’ll invest more time and learn to really go after it.
There are a couple minor issues: The parallax will get off a little on occasion. That is the point between where you are touching the screen and the place where the actual cursor is on the screen. I’ve found that I can live with that. I simply try and adjust this as best I can. And perhaps the company has this issue resolved in the newer version of the tablet’s software. I’ve had the tablet freeze up or stop working maybe twice in the couple of years that I’ve had it–at which point I’ve had to unplug it and restart, or reinstall the software (only a couple of times). Overall, these are minor issues. For the price and the wonderful feel and beautiful, sleek look, the light weight; not to mention the simplicity of using this thing . . . I just, well, I’m speechless except to say that this tablet is simply Awesome!
