Do you really need an artists graphics tablet glove?
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After road testing artist graphics tablet gloves on a variety of drawing tablets the answer is a resounding yes and here’s why
If you want to get more friction from the stylus nib of your pen than your hand on the screen then you need to either grow a spandex second skin or invest in an artists graphics tablet glove.
User experience – road tested
I always thought artist gloves were just gimmicks to prize another fistful of dollars from my wallet until I tried them out. I road tested a pair of Yiynova Artists Gloves on three differed brands of graphics tablets. The result was amazing and the glove allowed my hand to literally glide across the tablet screens. It is particularly helpful on the Wacom Cintiq where a sweaty hand can cause unnecessary and unwelcome friction between skin and plastic. This can be a real problem particularly when a steady hand is needed on the stylus. Any graphics pen ‘drag’ can cause a variation of the intended line and temporarily ruin a drawing. With any artist it’s essential to get it right every time and a ‘technical drawing hitch’ like this can be extremely costly not just in time but because inspiration sometimes doesn’t guide your hand across the tablet so well a second time around.
I also worked with the glove on my older Motion LE16 tablet. I should say ancient tablet as I have had it for about 8 years, it was second hand when I bought it and it has Windows XP (positively Jurassic!). The drawing experience was as good. I have also used the glove on another cartoonists Huion tablet with the same positive result.
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The other main advantage of the glove is to prevent sweat and dirt build up on the screen. It keeps the screen surface clean and clear which is another essential requirement for the artist who needs to see the work in progress in the best possible clarity.
Apart from being its use as a drawing tablet glove it also minimizes smudges on conventional artwork such as pencil sketching and keeps your hand from getting covered in pen, pencil or whatever medium you are using.
The gloves are flexible, durable, washable and most important – comfortable on the hand. My initial thought of a tablet drawing glove was to liken it to wearing boxing gloves to change a light bulb! Wrong again as the drawing fingers are completely free. Only the small finger, touching the tablets screen surface and thumb are in the glove and excuse the pun ‘it fits like a glove’ – in fact it feels like its part of my hand – a second skin.
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There are none as far as I am concerned – I couldn’t fault the gloves. However they come in one size fits all and some artists with extremely large hands may have a problem.
How Much do they cost?
The gloves can either be purchased as a single glove that fits either hand priced at around $15. This seems the most sensible option as you are only drawing with one hand. however I prefer a pair so that both hands are protected, there are no smudges created by the second non-drawing hand and it gives my hands a balanced feel while drawing. This is totally down to your own personal artistic preference.
You can purchase a pair of gloves that are reasonably priced at around the $25 ticket. I don’t understand why artists gloves are not supplied as part of any digital drawing tablet package as it would make perfect sense to do that (and lets be fair its not a huge bite out of the mark up on a tablet – surely?)
In conclusion
I highly recommend an artists drawing tablet glove as a must buy. If you have not used one for conventional or tablet screen drawing you don’t know what you are missing. Last but not least when you pull the glove on it gives you the psychological edge to draw – you feel like a professional with this on your drawing hand and it really lifts your drawing experience. Check out the latest price and further details for the Yiynova Artists Gloves…
