well. you should care about the "more space" part
imagine you're drawing sometihng on an 8x11 paper. since it is big it lets you work correctly on any detail you wish since you got alarger space of work and can handle your hand better. its the same on a bigger tabby. i've tried it and it is good!. however. i can only find it well.. only in that part >_> i still posess my 4x5 tablet and i work perfectly on it, my gallery says it all!.

Yes, I realize that drawing on a bigger space is helpful when drawing in real life, but when drawing digitally you can simply zoom in and out. Doing the same stroke while zoomed in can be replicated while zoomed out, but on a larger scale.

Controlling your hands for smooth lines isn't an issue if you zoom in either.

Yeah, I was thinking ^^^ this when considering a tablet. This guy in my art class was showing me his Wacom Bamboo and it honestly looks pretty good, he said it was only about 60$. His advice was pretty much to just make sure I got the right software for the tablet itself :)

i wouldnt know
I just started drawing and im not sure if i will get into it
IF i do i might get a tablet i have no idea what im doing im a complete nub XD Help me morca =P
The cintiq does look cool

Well the Cintiq series displays what you are working on as if you are really drawing it on paper. And the Intuos 4 (this may apply to Intuos 3) has a special ink pen that contains ink cartilages for inking RL drawings while drawing though the tablet. Double duty so to speak. Sometimes it's based more on your application then actual work space.

I have a 6x11, and it's nice, though I did try  dreamous' bamboo while I was visiting, and I have to say, it wasn't bad.. it took a little time adjusting to the fact that I didn't have to move my hand as far, but it was still solid.

Honestly, I almost wish I had that instead.. that's portable at least. :P

My point of view is interesting. Well sorta.

I have one of the largest tablets of its class (the ones that don't have the drawings appear right on the tablet) and I actually, for the longest time, have not been able to use most of it.
Why? I was a moron a month after I got it and bashed my mate over the head with it.

It still worked, but only a small corner did, like about as big as the tablet you have been using is.
I learned to work around that just fine - I actually preferred having a larger size cause it could fit nicely on my lap, despite the smaller working space.
Miraculously, today my tablet kind of 'fixed' itself - I can use pretty much the entire tablet, except for a half-cm strip near the top that I can easily work around.
I like that my hand can run smoothly over the large tablet, letting me feel like I have more 'freedom'
Now, I have only been using my fixed tablet for a day, but so far, I say a larger tablet is just nice on the hands, specially when you're a lazy artist like me who places the tablet on her lap and draws there XD

I recommended my tablet: the Adesso CyberTablet M14
It's huge, very pen-sensitive, and cheap. Like, ALOT cheaper than most tablets these days. It has lots of options on it and even a bunch of programmable quickkeys around the working space (I personally never use them tho)
Only drawback is that it doesn't have a 'eraser' on the end of the pen, but I got used to that pretty fast.

Hope I helped a little :3

I never found the space to be much of a difference for me. I prefer smaller tablets because they're more portable and I like to take it with me places.

There is a huge difference in tactile feel, though. And the sensitivity difference is HUGE. I went from a graphire 3 to an intuos4 and i will never go back XD

I own an Intuos3 6x11 and a Bamboo 4x5. I have to say that the Bamboo gets used much more often because it's more portable, easy to position, and allows me to draw just by moving my wrist and fingers. I don't have to move the whole arm. There definitely is a bit of adjustment when using either tablet. I just find focusing movement to my wrist and fingers easier because I can relax my whole arm.

I've used my Wacom Intuos (JUST an intuos, no #'s after) 4x5 for more than 4 years (since I first moved down to Florida, but even then my uncle had said it was sitting in one of the offices for about a year, too). I've used cintiq's and larger tablets before.

I've found it easier for my arm/wrist to draw w/ larger tablets (not HUMONGOUS, just a bit larger) b/c I work w/ very large canvas sizes and computer resolutions for that matter. I still work the same, it's just less pain on my whole arm and a feeling of more freedom for me when drawing (my fingers do a lot of the drawing when I'm drawing traditionally, and my wrist is the one doing the drawing instead...and I mean A LOT, when I draw w/ my small tablet. w/ larger tablets it varies but it verges on the more 'easier' aspect). Dunno if I'm even making sense here. XD lol

Waow! You do all that work with such little a space? I need large areas to draw myself, especially when doing fine details, though I suppose since I draw on paper, it is completely different, and you should be quite used to drawing in such a small space after doing so for six years.
I'm not sure how a larger tablet would help if you are used to a little one. It also would probably depend greatly on what you set the settings to be for the new tablet. The larger tablet would allow you to bake larger brushstrokes I suppose, or enable you to work with finer details.
Personally, I have no experience with tablets. I DO have one, but never got around to trying to use it. Perhaps I could try installing it on my laptop, since I usually do most of my work away from home, I just don't want to break my tablet, so I need to find a way to safely transport it.

Heyo! Well having gone from traditional style of drawing and then moving onto digital style art, ironically starting with the bamboo then moving to the intuous3, I can honestly say that moving to a higher quality form of tablet was a major part of the massive change/improvement in my style. While it's true, at first the thought of space doesn't seem important, once you actually adjust to it, it's actually far more comfortable having the luxury of extra space to work with for your artwork. But again the size really is something that you need to really decide if it matters.

As for the buttons and functions the tablets allow for, it can severely reduce the number of clicks/button mashing rage fits you can suffer otherwise. For instance on the intuous3 and 4 they have sliders that allow you to zoom in and out with just a flick of the wrist, not to mention that you get a total of 8 programmable macro keys (Control+Z is my freaking sanity saving button x3 )

As for how to draw using a tablet there isn't any super special way for it. But to reduce on getting grime on the tablet surface you can buy a glove cutting off the thumb, first and middle finger. So that your hand can glide across the surface, without having to grasp the pen through a glove and get that weird feeling from normally drawing with a glove covering every part of your hand.

Granted I doubt I did much in helping you answer your questions, but if you have more feel free to pm me :3

I'm still using the graphire2 XD its nice, cheap and good to use. but the stuff i see from expert artists who use these big smancy tablets with bigger areas do make me wonder if the area does affect control and detail. pretty happy with the pen sensitivity, and the fact that its a batteryless tablet, which is a must.

I have a medium sized Bamboo Fun, and one of my friends back home has a small sized Bamboo. Call me completely ridiculous, but I get very uncomfortable drawing on the smaller sized tablet, because I run out of space to rest my hand on. For example, when I'm drawing on the extreme right edge of the tablet, my hand has to lay on the desk, which isn't as level as if it were laying on the tablet, so I wind up feeling really uncomfortable about the unevenness. :S

On my medium sized tablet, I usually have a better time drawing, but I have a laptop, so I don't have any room on the desk to have my tablet sitting, so I usually have to adjust my seating posture and have the tablet in my lap. That's where hand-laying surface has an even bigger role. :P

As far as the different varieties of the tablets: oooh, aaah, oh my god, one's a screen and the other isn't, whoaaaaa dude, that's so off the wall cuhrayzeeeeee!

So in other words, I'm fine with my bamboo, just as long as I have spare nibs and as long as it keeps working without a hitch.

lol XD

I bought a Wacom Bamboo (large I think, screen is size of A4 paper) for about $200 which wasn't too bad. Still trying to adapt to using it

For the longest time I've used a intuos3, the 4x5 small tablet. Personally I don't mind it, its a good tablet and I liked being able to cover long strokes with minimal distance. For me one issue I've suffered with was stroke quality. My 4x5 tablet spans across 3 monitors so my actual sculpting area is like an inch so it was very easy to overshoot areas and not be as precise as I wanted to be. I recently purchased a cintiq and I have instantly fallen in love with it. Being able to sculpt directly on the exact area is amazing. I would definitely suggest a cintig. Now if moneys tight I would look into the 15x model. It's older but you can snag one for about $250, same price as a intuos 4 or so. If you have any questions feel free to ask : )

I own a Graphire 4 and a Intuos 3 6x8 and you would be surprised the difference, more space just simply allows you for more freedom of movement ESPECIALLY when your G4 is trying to map to an entire screen or what ever space you designate, having a larger tablet to map that space with just helps any jittery movements one might make (like me since I am not a perfect steady hand) the enhanced pressure sensitivity levels also do wonders, there is more of a transition between soft strokes and hard ones.

DON'T TOUCH BAMBOO!

I had a medium bamboo fun when they first came out, if you like the fake feel of "paper" with a tablet then maybe but I swear that shit runs pen tips down horribly, that and they feel cheap compared to the standard Intuos series, I just never liked the one I had, returned it and got me a Intuos 3 6x8 and its been like sweet buttery sex ever since.

i´m not exactly an very good artist yet, but i tell you that i have see people do some incredible works even with the cheapest version of the tablet. the "genius". wich tends to get silly some times and have a some what short life spam. i don´t think you would want to get the cintique one, is the best one obvious but its considered "millonairs only" lol

More space is nice to flail the pen around like a madman. The fancier tablets also sense pen tilt and rotation, so you can control the brushes more.

Well, once my monitor went above a certain size, I definitely found the larger tablets to feel more natural. I mean, you can use a 4x5 with whatever monitor, but at some point it comes down to comfort.

Well it really depends on the artists' stroke. Some people are comfortable with small strokes.. some prefer to make larger strokes. I mean the graphire is a decent tablet but upgrading to something like an Intous or even bamboo would be beneficial because of the drawing surface it provides. Gives it a bit more of a natural feeling. also more pressure sensitivity which eh... may or may not matter to you. I used a graphire 3 size like yours.. it was alright but drawing on slick plastic..nah. Got my Intous 3 and... muuuuch better. I found the 6x11 to be a more comfortable size for my stroke style as well.

Alright, here's my take on it, having owned a Graphire 3, Bamboo, and now Intuos 4
I'd say Medium is just the right size for most everything simply because it gives you more flexibility in how you draw.
Not only that but it tends to be less jittery on your strokes while attempting a longer stroke or moving slowly.
If you experiment with something new, (which is a great way to expand your skills,) you can make larger strokes with things such as paints (Painter).

Also, if you're curious on trying new methods, the Intuos line includes the ability to tilt (all tablets include this pen) or even rotate (I think that's the art pen only)
The buttons are godsend at times as well. You can program anything to them and even go as far as use the wheel to replace certain buttons.
If you spend the time on it, you could work your entire program with only the hotkeys and wheel. The intuos software includes the ability to have radial menus that are specific to programs.
That could be used to, say, bring up the brush windows, switch tools, perform an action, etc etc etc.
One idea could be to use the wheel to do undo/redo depending on what direction you swipe (and you can lower/raise sensitivity to make it a smaller/larger swipe)

Both the Bamboo and Intuos 4 do have the textured surface as well which gives a nice feedback, however it wears on the nibs. This doesn't matter too much with the intuos 4 however
You're given 10 nibs to experiment with by default and a nib remover for convenience (it's all hidden in the pen stand)
Another great thing is that the intuos 4 line has more than one pen to work with, should you want to expand on that.

Also the intuos 4 line now has a wireless equivalent (medium size only) which would be great if you have a nice monitor and just want to relax back in your chair as you draw without a long cord trailing.

If you don't want to go THAT far, the bamboo is still a solid upgrade. The new models include touch as well which can be quite useful (or a curse). It has just a pen version too, however.
They're nice in that they're much cheaper as well, but be careful of the nib wear still.

I actually went to lengths to study this very question. I even went so far as to obtain tablets of various sizes to spend time trying them out for art creation. So I've tried 4x5, 6x8, and 9x12.

My conclusion? I found even the small 4x5 to be quite usable. But 6x8 was better. And the 9x12 was much better still.

Why? A few reasons.

First, the closer the tablet is to the size of your screen, the better. The human brain readily handles the idea that your hand and the image you're drawing on are in different places. No problem. However, reconciling differences in scale between hand and eye is a problem. I found that my sketches were substantially better on the 9x12... mostly for this reason.

Zooming the image in and out, btw, has no effect on that equation. Relative cursor movements on the screen (as opposed to the virtual canvas) versus the tablet surface are the issue.

Second, the larger tablets allow for finer detail in a piece. Traditionally, artists are taught to draw big. It helps. It really does. Now this issue can be minimized through zooming in and out (as you've mentioned). But still, the effect is there. It helps when you don't have to zoom in so much and so often and keep panning around because you can only work on a tiny section at a time.

Using a physically larger canvas also brings more and different muscles into play. And that makes a difference, too.

You mentioned that you thought that having the buttons may be of value over your current tablet. They very much are a big deal. They allow you to leave the keyboard behind and use the tablet alone most of the time. And also, they have touch pads that you can use to zoom in and out smoothly which is _VERY_ useful.

I know I probably sound like I'm preaching here. But basically, I did the same thing you are doing. I started with the little one. I tried to convince myself I didn't need the big one, and it was just a waste. But when I finally got it, it took my art up a solid notch or three. I only realized after owning the big one for a while how much the little one was limiting me.

Anyway, hope that helps.

Quite helpful, thankyou :)

For the price, the Cintiq isn't worth it. All that one really does is displays the screen on the tablet.
I'm not sure about the Intuos.

say goodbye to those hand cramps,... i know ya get em on yur small fucking space,.. i do

I'm working on an Intuos3 12x9 tablet. I guess the main difference is that for drawing I will use my entire arm rather than my hand - that stays locked in place for the most part. The arm can give you more control over smooth long lines than your hand could do, so you do not need to zoom in to insane levels to get it done right :V It is rather exhausting in the first weeks and makes your damn muscles ache, but they get used to it ;) And yes I hold my hand and entire arm over the tablet without touching it (this is responsible for the strained muscles), but I might gently rest some weight on the pinky for support at times.

The only kind of tablet I can imagine which would have noticeable benefits in extra size to someone who has gotten used to a small tablet is a big tablet with a screen built into it. I've seen some of those being used and they look awesome, thing is, they're really expensive.

I'd say just use what get's the job done really. I prefer reliability and durability, and don't really care about too much else.

Personally I use the intuos3 6x5 (or whatever it is). The drivers are simple and easy to get and install, it's durable and fits easily in a backpack (needed to travel a TON too and from school so the gigantamassive 12x9 would suck), and most importantly it works. A lot of cheaper tablets I've seen simply don't work for whatever reason, be it pen sensitivity, matching aspect ratio, drivers wont install, or whatever.

Long story short just use something that works and don't waste your money. I personally would never get a cintiq, as fun as they look. And working on a massive 15x12 tablet would just feel awkward, not to mention not fit anywhere on my desk!