Guide to urban sketching with a tablet

In this article, I will try to cover all you need to know about urban sketching with a tablet. In case you don't know, urban sketching is drawing on location and if you want to learn more about this activity, visit the Urban Sketchers blog. Most people I know use traditional media for urban sketching but it is also possible to create digital urban sketches.

This article will look at

• Why draw with a tablet
• What to look out for when buying a tablet
• Drawing apps
• The experience
• Other urban sketchers to check out
• Final note

What will not be covered are the techniques, the actual drawing process, because that is another topic on its own. If you want to learn the techniques, check out my Urban Sketching with Procreate on iPad course on Skillshare or Gumroad, or if you use Windows or Android devices then check out Learn to draw with Concepts app also on Skillshare and Gumroad.

Why draw with a tablet?

As much as I enjoy urban sketching with traditional media, I do sketch with a tablet occasionally just to try something different.

The biggest advantage of sketching with a tablet is convenience. There is no setup time, no need to prepare paint and water for painting, no waiting time for paint to dry, and no cleanup afterwards. That was the main reason why I brought a tablet to Seoul recently for a holiday trip with my wife. I wanted to sketch but didn't want my wife to wait that long while I paint, mix the colours and clean up, find somewhere to throw the water and dirty tissue. With a tablet, you open the app, sketch and you're done (after minutes or hours).

The second advantage is there are fewer tools to pack. All you need is just a tablet and its stylus. Of course if you're just sketching with pen, ink and sketchbook, you won't have to bring much supplies too. However with a tablet, you'll have that huge variety of digital tools and brushes.

Which tablet to get? What's the best tablet for sketching?

If you already have a tablet, you can skip this section.

The most important thing about buying a tablet is to get one with stylus support. Do not buy tablets that are not advertised with stylus support.

Tablets with stylus support usually have pens that support palm rejection, tilt and pressure sensitivity. These three features are essential for a positive drawing experience.

The second most important thing is to get a tablet that has good battery life. When sketching outdoors, the display usually has to be set a higher brightness and that will drain the battery much faster. Apple iPads usually have 8-10 hours battery life with normal use but when sketching outdoors battery life can drop to just 5-6 hours with the display at 100% brightness. To lengthen the battery life, you can get a portable power bank for your tablet but that would mean carrying extra weight.

I have reviewed many drawing tablets over the years and these are my recommendations:

APPLE iPAD
The drawing experience with an iPad and Apple Pencil is fantastic and they have pretty good battery life. You can't go wrong with getting an iPad for urban sketching.

For extreme portability, there's the 8.3-inch iPad mini. If you want a larger display, there's the normal iPad, iPad Air and iPad Pro 11. If you want the largest display, there's the iPad Pro 12.9. Do compare the weight of all these tablets and take into account the weight of the cases too. The iPad Pro 12.9 is tablet that needs a surface to work on, e.g. on a table or lap.

The downside of the iPad is they are more expensive compared to Androd tablets, and the Apple Pencil is sold separately. I recommend getting at least 128GB storage. And if you have to upgrade storage, that will cost extra too.

I personally use an iPad Pro 11 with 256GB for urban sketching.

WINDOWS TABLETS

There are many Windows tablets and folding laptops with pen support in the market.

The main downside for Windows devices is the battery life isn't gonna be as good compared to iPads and Android tablets. While an iPad can last 5-6 hours outdoors, a Windows tablet can probably last half as long. A power bank is likely needed for sketching outdoors.

There are many drawing apps on Windows OS but there is the lack of drawing apps that are designed for use with touch and finger gestures. Many of those desktop drawing apps, e.g. Photoshop, Clip Studio Paint, Corel Painter, require the use of a keyboard in order to be most productive. If you have to bring a keyboard out, that means you will have to draw on a table. There are utility apps that make the touchscreen drawing experience better though.

The third downside is Windows devices are usually more expensive than even the iPads.

What's the selling point of Windows if there are so many downsides? Windows OS is still more versatile and capable compared to tablet OS.

If you're really interested in getting a Windows tablet, the most popular one is probably the Microsoft Surface Pro. The pens are sold separately. I highly recommend you check out my review of the Surface Pro first.

SAMSUNG GALAXY TABLETS

The Samsung tablets to buy are those that come with the S Pen. At the time of writing, the latest model is the Samsung Tab S8 released in early 2022. If you want to save money, you can check out the older Samsung Tab S7 models which are still pretty good even by today's standards.

The drawing experience of Samsung tablets is comparable to iPads. The main advantage iPads have over Samsung tablets is there are more graphic design apps available, more specifically apps that can handle vector, text and layout.

OTHER ANDROID TABLETS

I'm just gonna lump all other Android tablets under this category because the pens from other tablets usually can't match the Samsung S Pen performance.

If you really want to explore other brands of Android tablets, you can research these models:

• Xiaomi Pad 5 and Pad 6
• Huawei MatePad and M-Pencil
• OnePlus Pad and OnePlus Stylo
• The various Lenovo tablets

While you research, I recommend you pay attention to whether the pens are sold separately, how easy it is to get replacement pen tips, and how the pen is charged. Some pens may require separate accessories for charging, e.g. Microsoft Slim Pen.

Do you need a screen protector

I used to use a matte screen protector but I no longer do so.

When sketching outdoors, the anti-glare can diffuse the reflections to the extent that the whole drawing surface is bright and glaring and uncomfortable for my eyes. While I love the tactile drawing experience provided by a textured surface, I love my eyes more.

When working indoors, the anti-glare isn't really an issue because the light source is usually localised such as from a window. When you're outdoors, light and bounced light is coming from everywhere so the anti-glare will always be glaring to a certain degree.

A matte textured screen protector will also affect the display's image quality, more specifically the contrast, sharpness and vibrancy of the colours. If you really want a matte screen protector, I recommend the brand SuperShieldz which is cheap and good. There's no need to spend more than US $10 for a single piece of screen protector.

Or just go without a screen protector and get a flip case instead.

Depending on the tablet and pen you use, you may be able to find rubberised pen tips that can give you more friction and control while drawing. If you have the Apple Pencil, these are the $2 silicone Apple Pencil tips I highly recommend. If you're using the Samsung S Pen, just read the product description to look for mentioned of soft or rubberised tips.

With the rubberised pen tips, a matte screen protector isn't really necessary.

If you're worried about the glass display scratching, just note that glass is is considered a ceramic and is harder than metal. Even metal pen tips cannot scratch glass, but they may scratch the anti-reflective coating coating on the glass.

Drawing apps

Regardless of whether you're using iPad, Android or Windows tablets, there are many capable drawing apps on these three platforms.

Some of the drawing apps available on the iPad are:

• Procreate
• Medibang Paint Pro
• Clip Studio Paint
• Sketchbook Pro
• Tayasui Sketches Pro
• Concepts
• PaintStorm
• Infinite Painter
• Affinity Photo
• Adobe Photoshop
• Adobe Fresco
• ArtStudio Pro

And some of the drawing apps available on Android are:

• Artflow
• Clip Studio Paint
• Concepts
• Infinite Painter
• Krita
• Medibang Paint Pro
• Sketchbook
• Tayasui Sketches

Overall drawing experience is better on the iPad and Android tablets because the drawing apps are designed with touch interface in mind, e.g. big buttons, minimal UI and streamlined workflow. There are fewer touch workflow optimised drawing apps on Windows. So the main reason to get Windows tablets is really for Windows OS, and drawing is just something you can also do on Windows tablets.

Some of the touch-interface-friendly drawing apps on Windows are:

• Concepts
• Sketchbook Pro
• Leonardo
• Sketchable Plus
• Adobe Fresco
• Maybe Medibang Paint Pro

It's common to see comments mention Procreate app as the main reason to get an iPad over other tablets. The thing is there are plenty of wonderful drawing apps on Android tablets too from the Google Play Store. If you cannot draw because there's no Procreate on Android, it's a mental limitation that has nothing to do with the lack of apps.

What's it like urban sketching on the iPad

Sketched on the train in South Korea

Sketching digitally on a tablet is so convenient. What I really like is I don't have to clean up my watercolour box and find somewhere to throw the water and dirty tissue.

Creating art with traditional media is mostly an additive process where you add the lines then colours. WIth digital art there are more things you can do. In addition to drawing and colouring, you can undo, erase, mask, select, transform, move things around, using layers and more. Since there are more things you can do digital, it opens up lots of possibilities.

My workflow with digital urban sketching is quite similar to using traditional tools. I still draw with lines, add colours, then textures. I try not to use undo as much as possible because it means you have to spend the time to draw the same thing again, and by not using undo actually trains you to be more careful.

If you want to, you can really learn the ins and outs of the drawing app you use, such exploring the huge collection of brushes available, diving in the settings, and really experiment with what the drawing app can do.

I don't think one should too obsess with creating the traditional look with digital tools. You should instead focus on your subject and the story you want to tell.

With digital art, it is easy to test different styles and composition.

Some urban sketchers to check out

Rob Sketcherman is an artist and urban sketcher based in Hong Kong. He's the first person I think of when I think of iPad artist. He has been sketching with the iPad and Apple Pencil ever since they existed.

Uma Kelkar is a painter who works with traditional and digital medium. She is also the author of The Urban Sketching Handbook: Drawing with a Tablet.

Don Low is so good at sketching that it doesn't really matter what tools he uses.

Final note

iPad Pro 12.9 vs 11

Currently in the market, common tablet sizes are 8, 10, 11 and those larger than 12-inches. When it comes to urban sketching with a tablet, I do feel the weight of the tablet and case is very important. To me, an 11-inch tablet is way more portable compared to larger tablets. Larger tablets will use larger cases which are also heavier. Any tablet larger than 12-inches is likely to need a surface to work on.

An 11-inch tablet is still considered big and still provides a good drawing experience unless you're using apps that have very cluttered UI design, e.g. Clip Studio Paint. I switched from an iPad Pro 12.9 to 11 simply because I wanted the option to be able to stand and sketch, and I really enjoy the weight savings.

A tablet is not cheap and it represents an investment. With digital art, you no longer need to buy paint and paper so you do save money in other ways. When you buy digital brushes, those brushes last forever.

I certainly won't be ditching my traditional media anytime soon. Right now I enjoy using the iPad just to try something different creatively. It's a great tool for urban sketching, but it's just another tool which has to depend on you to unleash its potential.