Well, maybe not the world dominating bit of the title, but it seemed appropriate given the planning and possible plotting. 😅

Yesterday I ordered the XP-Pen Artist 13.3 Pro after mostly careful consideration. I'll be withdrawing a few hundred HIVE in a few days in order to reimburse myself for this expenditure, hence my current powerdown that will be cancelled once I get the first amount.

I'm planning on spending a lot of time just drawing away, fiddling with the thing, hoping that it works much better than my crappy old Cintiq. Back when I got my piece-of-crap-Cintiq I also bought myself ArtRage 4. And because the Cintiq was a piece of crap -- have I mentioned??? -- I never really got to familiarise myself with the program properly.

So I'm hoping that I'll finally be able to do that now! Well, on Monday or Tuesday when it should get delivered. Its last checkpoint was in Brisbane so that means I should get it on Monday. Hooray!

The whole point of this was because I keep getting the urge to draw my own webcomic. The first time I got this urge was waaaaaay back in 2006 or so and I actually started mouse drawing a thing. It was god awful. I do not recommend drawing with your mouse.

In 2010 I got myself a Bamboo to draw on, but it wasn't quite what I wanted. I loved it and used it for little crappy drawings and sketches, but I felt weird looking at the monitor and not at what my hand was doing and I couldn't get over that weirdness.

So then in 2013 I bought myself a crappy-arse Cintiq. I was so excited! I would be able to draw on a screen and see my work come to life properly! It was what all the professionals were using! It was going to be GREAT!!!!! But the thing was a piece of crap that barely worked, and after investigating I realised that what I was dealing with was a very common problem and the largest complaint involving the 13HD. I could have returned it under warranty and tried a replacement, but I was disheartened and no longer cared.

Now it is 2021! And this urge has come upon me once more.

This time, before giving in to temptation, I have scoured the internet for reviews on graphics displays that were not Wacom branded. The XP-Pen 13.3 comes very highly recommended and the only complaint multiple people seem to have is the fact that it uses a 3-in-1 cable instead of a USB-C.

That is an issue I can very easily live with.

I'm really, really hoping that this one doesn't fail me. There's no reason why it should, apart from some horribly random faulty manufacturing that no-one else seems to have had to contend with, but that old Cintiq really left a horrid taste in my mouth and I'm just paranoid now.

Part of me doesn't want to think too much about my future drawings and possible future webcomic on the off-chance that this piece of machinery fails me and leaves me saddened and disappointed just like in the past.

The other part of me is like, "YEAH, there's going to be actual dropbears! And a post-apocalyptic vibe! And we're going to follow the somewhat quirky lives of a couple of people who are navigating this bizarre-o land! Who are these people going to be!? I need to come up with people, personalities, what they look like! THINK, THINK, THINK!" -- and then the more rational side takes over and is like, "Wait, young padawan. You need a working graphics tablet first. You don't want to be disappointed again, do you? "

So! I'm looking forward to Monday!

May my unwise expenditure be as glorious as all the reviews state and not be a repeat of a certain Cintiq Situation.