The Yiynova MSP 19u Digitizer tablet

Up to the end of last year, my process was pretty traditional - a cycle of penciling, scanning and inking up to the final stage of digital colouring with my Wacom Intuos tablet. Despite having an Intuous, I could never get use to drawing digitally - the process just did not feel natural.

I assumed that a direct on screen digital drawing tool would bridge the gap. However, the pricy Wacom Cintiq was just too expensive to be an option. Enter The Yiynova MSP 19u Digitizer tablet. I read about this tablet on the now discontinued Drawn blog. For a fraction of the price of a Cintiq, the Taiwanese company Yiynova produced drawing tablets that apparently compared well with the Cintiq.

So when a friend of mine went to the States last year, I took the plunge and ordered one. And since the beginning of the year, I am the proud owner of  a  Yiynova MSP 19u digitizer tablet. It was the best  move I could make - I absolutely love this piece of technology. My process is now fully digital and feels fully natural. It took me while to get used to but now I honestly cannot imagine going back to working the way I used to. So here it is:

I mounted the tablet on a monitor arm which improved the ergonomics of my work space drastically. The tablet and pen is accompanied by a funky looking ninja glove that reduces friction between your hand and the screen (and keeps the screen clean). I also switched my primary drawing program from Photoshop to Manga studio 5 but that is a story for another day. Watch this space fro a fuller review of the tablet and Manga studio 5.