Art tablets to recommend?

I use the Wacom Intuos, myself. Your artist friend may have to try a few. Might need a large tablet (my intuos is smallish).

Definitely get one with a built-in screen. Especially for people coming from a traditional art background, being able to actually see the pen and the picture at the same time is a huge advantage.

Built-in screen? Very cool, didn't know that was an option. Reminds me that I've seen Korean students use a tablet computer (iPad or Android, for instance) for creating art. No wires connecting to a desktop or laptop, so you can rotate the whole tablet for ease of drawing curves and such, then send/email the completed image to whoever needs it next.

Without screen, the Wacom Intuos is good to start with, even if small.

The Wacom One is a good start point with built-in screen. Students in art can do impressive stuff with it.

For more professional uses, the Wacom Cintiq is good.

I know, it's all Wacom 🙂

Wacom has been industry standard for many years, for very good reasons. They're the best.

The Wacom Intuos line is what you'll find across almost all studios, not just game studios but any professional office with an art focus. You'll find a mix of Intuos Pros and older Intuos 5 and sometimes 4's. Some pay for the Cintiq but many artists dislike them. Same with the latest Wacom One. Merging the screen onto the tablet works for some, but to many feels like a gimmick, not quite right, especially the ergonomics of looking down that can hurt your neck or lifting your arms up to a display. The newest models have no hotkeys and no touch ring, that's an issue if you've constantly got your pen in hand.

If you're confident enough in getting old drivers, an old model like an Intuos 4 or a 2013-era Pro would work just fine and they are generally quite cheap if you shop around or hunt for bargains. They're especially cheap and plentiful from bankruptcy sales, liquidation shops, or surplus stores if you can find them and your timing is right, often just a couple bucks for a set of 4 or 5. Be careful to get the matching pen, since the hardware needs to match.

frob said:
Be careful to get the matching pen, since the hardware needs to match.

🙂 I threw away my previous drawing tablet because it stopped working. Later, I found the pen for it and found that it contained a dead leaky battery. Hadn't realized until then that it wasn't just a stylus. :p

I was playing Quake Live with a Wacom. I did not win, but i was the coolest guy of the match.

Never learned to use it for drawing. A screen would have fixed this problem.