Gifts For New Digital Artists: Our Son's Wish List

Digital artists create their masterpieces with the help of technology and software. Using a computer, and most times, a writing tablet, they can sketch, draw and paint by freehand or using various drawing software.

The art can be uploaded to websites, shared on social networks, entered into art contests, printed in posters and more. Just like other artists, they're only limited by their imagination.

For new digital artists, they will need a handful of quality equipment to make quality art.

My teen son is a digital artist. He's been involved in various medias since he was in elementary school. Now in high school, he's transforming his paper/pen art to the computer. We did some research, talked to fellow artists, and found the best equipment. We chose tools that are quality made, with great features, and categorized in the middle price range.

For example, we researched cheaper computer tablets, and we decided on the middle range Wacom Bamboo tablet because of the features, quality and cost. I didn't want to buy something really inexpensive that wouldn't include cool art software or would fall apart if he used it a lot. Wacom Capture tablet, is well made and includes two art software programs.

On the other side of the spectrum, you can also find art tools that cost hundreds (or thousands) of dollars. Our focus wasn't on the high-end tools, especially since my son is at the beginning of his digital art interest.

If you know a budding digital artist, you can help them start their hobby or career with the gifts on this page. We've purchased some of them, and with our research, the other items are on our son's wish list.

Photo courtesy of Christmas graphics-plus.com

Computer Drawing is Fun and Easy with the Right Tools

My teenage son has always been an artist. He started like most, with drawing on pen and paper, then experimented with different mediums, such as painting, photography, sculpture, and metal to name a few. He's always had a good eye and a huge imagination. When he was young, he quickly tired of the coloring books that friends bought for him. They were too 'confining' for his imagination -- he wanted to draw his own designs!

For the last few years, he's been a self-taught stop animation film maker, which has transformed into live action filming.

A few of his friends are really interested in graphic, computer or digital arts, and he returned to his original love of drawing. It's simple when your art tools are paper and pencil (or colored pencils or paint), but he was really interested in creating the drawings online with his computer.

He researched what equipment he'd need to create digital art, and we're on a quest to get everything on his list. That's the foundation of this page -- to share what we've learned and recommend the best digital art tools for your new artist.

Here are the absolute basics -- a computer graphics pen tablet, art software, a computer (desktop or laptop) and a printer.

Our son has a laptop, desk top, drawing tablet, a wireless printer and free art software. We researched what products he'd need to create quality works of art. Here is our list on the best gifts for your digital artist! Enjoy!

Are you new to creating digital art? Are you ready to use these tools to create something for yourself? Or are you looking for the best art tools for someone you love?

The Wacom tablets are known for their quality and ease in creating digital art forms. It allows the artist to create their own work by using a digital tablet, pen and art software. It has a huge bonus in computer art in that the tablet's surface can be "tilted" virtually, so the artist has more control than the perspective in a flat drawing screen.

This Wacom tablet also includes the best art software - Photoshop Elements, AutoDesk Sketchbook Express and Nik Color Filter. It also lets you mark up Word documents and edit photos.

Take your art to the next level and buy a Wacom Capture art tablet.

Check out the reviews on Wacom Bamboo tablets before you decide on exactly what your digital artist needs. The most versatile of the medium-priced drawing tablets are the Wacom Connect, Capture and Create tablets.

Also, you'll see how a digital photo is created using these tablets and art software. Amazing!!

Some of the Wacom tablet (like the Bamboo Capture tablet) includes Photoshop Elements (though an older version) and Autodesk Sketchbok in the tablet. You can also add some art programs to your computer for even greater art abilities.

Here are our choices on the best graphics art software.

One of the best places to find deals is on the auction site, eBay. Check out the deals on Art Software! If you see something you like, hurry and bid! These are updated daily, so don't miss out on the deals!

This is on my son's wish list for his new digital art studio. It has a hard drive, high-speed processor and a nice 20-inch touch-screen monitor.

The HP Touch features:

4GB RAM memory

1TB Hard Drive

SuperMulti DVD Burner

AMD Radeon™ HD 6410D integrated graphics

It also includes exclusive touch screen programs, including HP Smart Touch Video, Photo and Music

Kodak is one of the best in printers, especially in creating a printer that has the lowest cost in replacement ink. That's a huge benefit in our house and for anyone who will be printing their digital art. It automatically senses the weight of the paper, so you can print on regular computer paper, stock paper, photos or other specialty paper.

This one has a flat-bed design, which allows you to print, copy, scan and fax -- all in one! It's wireless, so you can create your art in one room and send it to the printer wirelessly. You can also save your masterpieces to a memory card and insert the card into the printer.

It's easy to set up with a walk-through menu and CD for connecting your computers wirelessly. You can also connect the computer by USB cord, if you want to.

Our family recommends this as the best printer for artists. We love ours, especially all the features, like wireless printing, flat-bed design, which helps us easily print from any of our computers and scan artwork and send to our computers.