Thursday Review: Wacom Bamboo Pen Graphics Tablet

    Hi everyone! I have a very special guest today! She is an amazing, talented artist, writer, musician and all around awesome person. Sure, I may be a bit biased... she is my daughter, after all. But seriously, check out her new blog for a small sample of her work.

  The Merry Lurker's Workshop 

    Today, she is going to tell us about the graphics tablet that she uses for some of her art. Enjoy!

Wacom Bamboo Pen Graphics Tablet

 Hello. I'm the Merry Lurker, and I'm here to talk about the Wacom Bamboo Pen graphics tablet.

   When I decided to cross over to digital art, I wanted something that was affordable, user friendly, and reliable. Wacom is the leading brand in the graphics tablet world, and they've been making them for years, so naturally I turned to their affordable Bamboo line. I picked up my Bamboo Pen for $69.99. So far it's been a nice, functional little tablet; and worth every penny.

Drawn in Corel Painter Essentials 4 with the Wacom Bamboo Pen tablet.

    The tablet requires no software to install, and plugs directly into the USB port like a mouse. To operate it, you hover the pen above the tablet to move the cursor. To left-click, you touch the pen to the drawing surface, and to drag you drag it along the drawing surface. The upper part of the button on the pen lets you right-click, and the lower part lets you middle click. The basic operation of it takes minutes to master.    The Wacom Bamboo Pen comes bundled with a trial of Corel Painter Essentials 4. It's basically a drawing program with a big toolbox of simulated art tools like paint-brushes, pens, and pencils. Be warned- it's easy to spend hours on end just playing with all the different effects!

   Of course, you don't need Corel to draw with your tablet. The Wacom Bamboo Pen works in any program, and will work anywhere a mouse works. That includes web browsing, video games, other drawing programs, and anything else you use a mouse for. I even used it to get a wicked high score at Mahjong Dimensions. (Shh. That's a secret.) Long story short, it's a mouse...  in epic pen form. ^_^

      So far, the Bamboo Pen has worked out just how I hoped it would. I've had it for almost a year now, and it still looks practically new, and works as well as the day I bought it. I use it all the time, and would recommend it to anyone looking to go digital.

Overall Rating: ¢¢¢¢¢