September 11, 2013. Copyright 2013, Graphic News. All rights reserved

Sketch books with the power of the pixel

LONDON, September 11, Graphic News:  There are few choices for an artist making the transition from charcoal and paintbrush to pixel-power: the mouse or the tablet.

In 1981 -- three years before the Apple Mac was born -- British-based Quantel launched its Paintbox. Controlled by pen and a desk-sized tablet, artists including David Hockney and Richard Hamilton painted in pixels across its high-definition screen.

It has taken more than three decades for the next development: drawing or painting on screen like pencil or brush on paper. Now, Japan’s Wacom has released two tablets to give artists the freedom to create on-the-go.

Both tablets have full HD display with touch control, and the Wacom Pro Pen with 2,048 levels of pressure sensitivity. The Cintiq Companion runs Windows 8 and offers 8Gb of memory and a choice of 256 or 512Gb of solid-state drive (SSD).

The Cintiq Companion Hybrid offers the usual Cintiq experience when connected to a PC or Mac, but functions as a simple Android device when unplugged. The two-in-one device clearly offers more graphics capabilities than your normal Android tablet, however. It also features the Wacom Creative Canvas, a new software for painting and sketching.

So while the Hybrid is designed primarily for computer-bound creatives, the Cintiq Companion is mobile without compromising on power or performance.
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