XP-Pen Artist 12 Digital Drawing Display Tablet Review!

I realize this is my third blog post today and I *could* schedule them apart, but why not just keep up the flow and be spontaneous!

Without further ado, let's get into the tablet review.

I decided to go with yet another XP-Pen tablet, if only to make sure having multiple brands' drivers on my computer didn't cause conflict. It happens and I was so happy with the 22E Pro anyway that it wasn't a sacrifice. Most complaints come from Wacom users having conflict with their drivers not playing nice...

What does it come with?

• the 11.5" widescreen drawing display tablet
• a screen glove
• a screen cloth
• an assortment of cords for *most* Mac and PC users
• power adapters for overseas use
• instructions for setup
• one no-charge stylus
• extra nibs in a pen case/stand

What it ISN'T: a standalone tablet or touch screen. A good deal of reviewers thought this would be akin to an iPad, have its own graphics software, or work without a stylus. Depending on where you shop, this tablet will run about $225-250, which no such technology would be this inexpensive. It is, however, akin to a Wacom Cintiq, as it is simply an extra display that can communicate with a stylus. Cintiq does have a touchscreen model, but you're looking to pay hundreds more.

THE SCREEN: HD, all the way. It's comparable to my MacBook Pro screen. It also has a screen protector pre-set, which I don't suggest removing. Some people insist it makes their screen blurry. My advice is to set the navigator or preview screen of your graphics program on your primary monitor to view it more clearly. No warranty covers scratches of the screen guard or the original screen, so protect your assets. However, I don't have an trouble seeing the work. Make use of zooming and the hand tool to improve the view for details.

THE HOT KEYS: There are six on this one, as well as a slider bar. The defaults suffice, but I changed the bottom three to Eyedropper and Zoom/In Out and the slider bar to brush size. The first three are brush, eraser, and undo. I may use Undo, but the first two are kind of useless with the default stylus options, which I'll get to. They click quietly when you push them and they're in a good place to not be accidentally hit even when you hold the tablet on that side to draw with the tablet in your lap. The options are easy to set in the driver's folder.

THE STYLUS: Love this even more than the 22E Pro! There is an eraser on top like my Wacom Intuos 4 and the grip is angular like holding a wooden pencil. The buttons are NOT easy to accidentally press as they are recessed into the grip rather than sticking out. It also works without charging. Very lightweight as well.

CALIBRATION/PARALLAX: Very simple, but beginners may have some difficulty getting used to it. It's not necessary to do this if you have the indicator cursor on, showing you where you'll make your marks anyway. Don't overthink this. Unless you're completely stationary, you'll have to calibrate it every time to make it 'perfect.' I've described the concept of parallax in my 22E Pro review, but it's basically the room between where the pen touches the glass and where it shows up. Some people complain about this, but again, it's not something that slows me down. For the money, it's pretty damn great and cuts down plenty of time from my Intuos' issues.

CONNECTIONS/POWER: I haven't had any trouble with the cords causing interruption when the tablet is moved, nor any faulty wiring. I have the MacBook adapter plugged into the HDMI, and the two USBs plugged into the USB ports. I also plugged the port that connects to the tablet with the wires not hanging over the power button. For some reason, I plugged it in the other way and there was some screen jittering. This issue went away when I flipped it. Not sure why you'd want to cover the power button anyway... Sometimes USB port warnings will pop up on laptops when they are using too much power, but I don't have that issue with the tablet (even though charging an ipod has given me that grief before). They do include a power adapter to use if that is an issue. They also include international power adapters so bonus for those using this as a mobile display.

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I only used it for an hour, so I can't speak for long-term heating issues, but I haven't seen complaints with that. The tablet itself only weighs a couple pounds, no more than the Intuos 4, so it's very comfortable using it in my lap. I did a little doodling in my favorite drawing program, Clip Studio Paint:

Me and my cyan lines on grey to draft...

Thoroughly enjoyed just playing with it a bit. Once again, I look forward to what all I can accomplish with this over time.

Oh, and as for SET-UP, the instructions take you to their website to install the drivers. Install discs are defunct in this day and age, so anticipate using the internet just for this. It's a small file size so it downloads quick even with a slow internet connection. I do still have the Wacom driver on my MacBook but it didn't cause issues. My computer automatically set the screens as separate when I powered on the tablet, but some people have to set up whether they want to mirror screens or treat them separately manually. You'll have the options to set buttons on the stylus, hotkeys on the tablet, calibration and screen operations from there.

I don't know why I thought this would be a big task. It was set and customized within 15 minutes and it's very intuitive for most artists. As long as you know how to use your graphics program, the tablet doesn't add a huge learning curve to that.

If I can think of anything I overlooked, I'll add it later (asking me in comments will also help me decide what to add). For now, I hope this convinces you to give this tablet a try! As nice as this tablet is, it's hard to believe Wacom could really be worth paying hundreds more for. It really is a joy to work with.

Crazy Rich Asians: Everything I Love about Asian Drama

Movie reviews aren't my shtick. At one point, I would have called myself an anime/manga otaku and I still love a good solid Korean drama (or Taiwanese, Chinese, Japanese... They're rife with heart), but movies are often a rare treat for me.

With this one, there was the PC hype. There was also the low key dissing about how it only covered the glorified rich culture of Singapore and excluded the everything else.

I have to assert that all of it was missing the point I got out of it.

Rachel Chu enters the scene, beautiful, down to earth, smart, knowing nothing about the man she loves, Nick Young, where his family is concerned. But we see her, the economics professor, dishing out a lesson in human psychology that will come to a head later. There will be spoilers...

We then see her meet up with her enamored boyfriend, a man who never gives us the impression that he's hiding much, even by omission. He's not doing it for her own good or even his. He looks at her like she walks on water but we see time and again how they always seem to know how to catch each other. It's mesmerizing to watch without ever seeming sappy or overly perfect. We see a man who takes this woman seriously, yet knows how to enjoy his life with her.

She probably seems like she's walking into his invitation to his cousin's wedding completely blindsided, but even when she realizes things are much bigger than she thought, we are also reminded that she knows people. There's no tearful shouting of being lied to, because she shows a resilience to all that comes her way, both with emotional honesty and critical adaption. She's not made of steel and her eyes become liquid with her feelings but she doesn't wilt.

Before her introduction to the illustrious Young family, she visits her friend Peik Lin where they first drop the bomb on just what she's stepping in. She doesn't panic--she is even game for Peik Lin's risqué new-money fashion closet when Peik Lin calls her simple red dress a good choice for the Little  Mermaid's Sebastian.

I'm not going to analyze scene for scene so I'll skip to some other key points.

Meeting Eleanor's mother gave me the dread that this woman might be like every other Asian drama rich-mama and be a passive aggressive bitch. Michelle Yeoh could definitely pull it off, but she never quite got that dirty. Instead, we see a woman who both wields old traditional beliefs and the heart of a woman who never was quite fully accepted by her husband's mother. She seems as if she might become petty, but she doesn't push, only stands her ground, an element we also see in Rachel. Rachel never makes the mistake of trying to meet this woman on her level. Instead, she takes a cue from Peik Lin and finds her own way to the front. It isn't malicious or petty either. She leaves the cold spots and stokes the warmth instead.

Astrid is one of my favorites of the bunch. Despite the snooty careful way she carries herself, she immediately shows a sort of adaptable kindness too. Her husband Michael seems like a lucky man, but instead, we see his insecurities try to push Astrid into believing he cheated on her because she is too perfect. She doesn't take the bait. She not only shows she is a real human being, but she tells him that he is a coward and she can not make him into a man. She tells him their home is his, but as far as their child goes, the child will be the one to decide how much his father is a part of his life. She does not leave broken, even though we know she loves him no less. She takes out a pair of the earrings she hid to conceal her wealth for his sake and puts them on calmly, a light of self-possession in her eyes.

There are no heroes or villains, even though it is ultimately a love story, we see real people. Beyond all claims of destitution or wealth, we see people who navigate through it, some tempted and shallow, some oblivious and wise, but the strengths and weaknesses we see only make it more obvious that we would be foolish to judge anyone. These people grow and change, for better and worse.

It is the mahjong scene after Rachel makes up her mind to leave that brought on the waterworks, because here we can sense that Rachel is about to show his mother Eleanor her full bloom. It is an honest scene where Rachel is both teaching and learning, a way to show both the honesty of her character and the reason why she has every right to gift the world with the profession that makes her happy. I wouldn't say she plays Eleanor like a fiddle at all. No, this is where she reaches in to understand Eleanor even as she gives her softness. She needs no walls because all is left on the table. As she shows, there is no winning when it hurts the one you love.

I won't give up my thoughts on the ending. It all culminates into the big finish and I wanted to stand and clap through the veil of happy tears. While many critics will pick at the cultural aspects or revere them, I've never pretended to know enough about Asian culture to go that route. I've simply been enamored by the cultivation, the spectrum, of humanity through entertainment. I adore and loathe some aspects as an outsider who can quite easily and honestly say that I am never opposed to the interpretations of lives I haven't lived. I could never speak for white people, women, asexuals, etc. though I'll borrow the labels from time to time when I think they might shed understanding, avoiding them otherwise. I don't need to be Asian to appreciate the beauty of this movies, both in the story and the wonderful cast that brings it home.

Crazy Rich Asians is a must-see. If you want funny, emotional, interesting, smart and never a dull moment, it's all here. No movie, no matter how it tries, will ever be able to encompass every cultural aspect. This is, on the surface, a Cinderella story. Beneath it is a tapestry of humanity. People with the requisite personalities that are ever subject to the growth and change of life.

See it.

Added Review for XP-Pen Artist 22E Pro

Even though I scoured reviews prior to purchasing, like anyone about to drop a few hundred precious dollars on electronics, I realized that some of the points that people brought up were likely for previous models. 

For one, there was a complaint that the ports stick out directly from the back. However, on mine, they are parallel to the back and come out sideways. It's not a light piece of equipment so it's entirely possible to sit it on your lap but for any kind of marathon session, I'd say you're better off investing in a sturdy breakfast-in-bed kind of table. 

Another gripe was definitely fixed from older models, namely the addition of a textured screen protector that previous users had to apply themselves. Mine came with the anti-glare textured protector already applied and it is removable. I can see why some people might not like the very slight fuzziness that it causes but since I use my higher res computer display to preview it as I go, I don't find it to be the sort of hindrance that causes eye strain or irritation. Without it, the pen would slide on the glass and I do like the more paper-like resistance of a textured screen. It's worth nothing that the company also adds that their pen nibs will not cause any damage to the unprotected glass but I like to err on the side of caution and not run the risk that something dropped or accidental will occur to blemish what would be a lot more expensive to replace. Even a decent warranty doesn't cover cosmetic damage unless it damages functionality.

Another minor complaint I've heard concerns parallax. In case this term is unfamiliar, it is basically the gap between the glass and where the pixels actually appear. It may take working with the calibration and need to be changed if you're working from dynamic angles, but I haven't found this to be a frustrating issue. Insofar, I've kept it at the same angle I've calibrated it from and I don't do enough moving around to have a need to reset it. In CSP, and any other program for that matter, you can use onscreen icons to see where strokes will appear. If you're not used to pen sensitivity, that is a learning curve regardless. Just like you can turn off the marching ants effect of a selection tool to test how well bucket fills in a selected area are covering, indicators are no different.

The last concern is a supposed rainbow effect of the display screen, which often occurs under certain lighting conditions. Just like with a TV, light placement is often a consideration for optimal viewing. Keep any bright or hard lighting to the sides or back rather than behind you. Some people like working in the dark but I don't recommend that ever. The blue light of backlit screens is terrible for eye health and often soft but adequate back lighting is a great way to counter it. You can end up with eye spasms, focusing issues, headaches and insomnia if you work with poor lighting conditions. As an artist of any level, eye health is not something you can afford to disregard. For that matter, I hope you're taking adequate breaks to care for your wrists and other health needs to best enjoy your talents for many years to come.

I might keep adding more reviews over time. A company that cares about its products and consumers deserves recognition and I have no doubt that XP-Pen is a company that makes quality products at affordable prices, cutting cost corners at all the right places to make the technology accessible to more people. Indeed, my own search came from a budget and XP-Pen not only met my price point, but they have delivered a product I am happy with so far.

Though I've seen some gripes about customer service concerning product issues, I can't speak for that yet. I hope that they are able to improve this, but I believe they are a company not even two decades old and do show initiative for improvement and clearly have listened to customers concerning screen and port issues, so I'm willing to go into dealing with them openmindedly if an issue does crop up. 

Reviews concerning customer service often leave out the temperament of the frustrated customer and, in my own many experiences dealing with tech support, my own patience and experience goes a long way in getting effective results. If their support lines aren't effective, engage them on social media or other means. Companies often go out of their way to convince people to remove negative reviews so this is always a last-resort option. While, yes, we are entitled to a quality product, we can't forget that we are sometimes dealing with a new or outsourced worker and may need to speak to someone more skilled. Maybe because I've been the new girl many times over, I try to be the person that encourages support to improve rather than bully them and only hurt the process. It's worthwhile to increase your own value with patience and persistence. In some rare cases, I've even been asked to test products for free because my input is trusted and valued. While I don't have the reach of an influencer, I make good on my word to back companies with my honest and thorough assessments.

My humble claim to fame was a review for the 2009 iMac that was republished across many major retailers. Of course, a tech review tends to have a short shelf life but it does feel good that independent retailers used my honest review across platforms. I'm more than happy to do this whenever a product truly deserves it.

XP-Pen Artist 22E Pro Mini-Review

I just got it and set it up so this won't be terribly comprehensive for the time being...

I set this up on my 2010 MacBook Pro and also on my 2009 iMac. First off, it does have the HDMI adapter for the MacBook Pro but I had to rob the HDMI adapter I use for my TV to hook it up to the iMac. This may not be an issue at all if you have a newer iMac but heads up for the older iMacs. Reviews recommend removing all Wacom drivers driver's prior to installing XP-Pen, which I did, so there wasn't an issue. You'll need to hook up both the top connecting port to USB as well as the HDMI cable for everything to work. Both pens charge by USB. For the MacBook, a USB hub is the best option if you're plugging it all in at once.

Unfortunately, my MacBook Pro charger decided to crap out today so I didn't get to finish testing it. The connections work but I'll have to come back to this once I get another charger. No biggie, just a minor setback.

I got it up and running just fine on the iMac though. I shut off mirror displaying in the display options and set the menu bar on the iMac but made the XP-Pen the main display so programs open on it by default. I opened the pen tablet display options and added Clip Studio Paint then wrote down the sixteen default hotkeys, which I like as is for now, then opened a Stickie and typed out the hotkeys on that, dragging it to the iMac screen for reference. I also dragged the navigator display from the side menu of CSP to the iMac screen and blew it up. This will make it easier to view the overall size while zooming on the drawing canvas in the program. I calibrated the pen, which may take a few tries, but it's all good to go.

The screen is definitely grainer if you're used to retina displays but I truly don't see this as a deal breaker for the price. The pressure sensitivity is very smooth and useful but it can be turned off if you want uniform lines that conform to the brush size. I don't have any issue with the pen buttons and I like the defaults where the top toggles between pen and eraser and the bottom is a right click. I haven't had issues with hitting the buttons when I didn't want to, but I am a pen turner so prolonged use may mean I end up turning off the bottom click setting at least. I did a bit of doodling and enjoy the feel and size of the pen as well as the stand and angles. Everything feels well built and, even after using the Wacom Intuos 4, I didn't find this to be inferior.

I've only played with it for a couple hours but so far, I'm pleased with it. I'm looking forward to using it for digital comics and book covers.

As for what it comes with, you get a bunch of cables, two pens (one comes in the case with the extra nibs and it's stored in a drawstring pouch), a drawing glove and a cleaning cloth. The pens charge with a cable but I've read that they charge quickly. I don't find them uncomfortable to use even when attached and charging though. Even as a third finger drawer, the third finger being covered is not obtrusive. The glove is very lightweight and comfortable. It's handy to reduce the cleaning of smudge marks caused by the oils on your hands.

The stand is very easy to adjust. You pull up on the little tab that hangs out and then move the stand bar. It's firmly held in place when you drop the tab back in place. It's nonskid so it won't be sliding all over your desk when you're using it. Despite my reservations about drawing being awkward at a desk, I quickly realized it's much more comfortable than I thought. The only thing that might get old is reaching up for the hotkeys so I may invest in the remote for it.

All in all, I'm pretty satisfied with what I'm seeing. I'll wait until I've had time to run it on the MacBook to go into more details, but so far, I'm excited to reconnect with drawings appearing under my hand. It's already a lot less awkward in that respect. I have a lot of experience with vector drawing and screenless tablets but it never quite felt right. I'd turn the tablet like I would paper and my strokes were going all over the place. I really see this cutting down on the time it takes to draw and paint and I'm eager to assess this again once I've put some quality time into using it.