​

​

Still Got Questions?

Let us know in the comment section below.

Are you unsure about buying budget drawing tablets? While it’s nice to pay less, the fear is you will have to sacrifice a lot of quality for the price. Many cheaper tablets can be smaller, slower, and quite buggy.

The Huion h610 pro is a different story.

It’s a real drawing tablet at a budget-friendly price. This Huion h610 pro review will confirm that you don’t need to be rich to get a decent pen tablet.

Cheap drawing tablets owe their low prices to a cheaper overall design. This sometimes means that they don’t perform well or lack features you may take for granted if you’re used to high-end brands like Wacom.

With the Huion h610, the only major things lacking are touch functionality and wireless compatibility. The latter doesn’t really matter on a graphics tablet. Unlike a pen display, a graphics tablet is best for sitting right by your computer anyway.

If you’re used to Wacom, the pen may feel a little bit limiting. Otherwise, there’s nothing to really complain about. On their own, Huion tablets are solid options and their best-selling products work really well.

It’s always little things like these that you should look out for before buying a Huion or other cheap drawing tablet.

Weighing these factors against the great price is how you determine whether a budget graphics tablet is worth your money. And in this case, I’d say it is.

• Active Area: 10" x 6.25"
• Resolution: 5080 LPI (Lines Per Inch)
• Report Rate Speed: 233 PPS
• Keys: 8 express keys, 16 soft function keys
• Pen Type: Rechargeable with two buttons
• Pressure Sensitivity: 2048 levels
• Cables: 1.5 m mini USB

• Huion h610 pro tablet
• Rechargeable Pen
• Mini USB Cable
• Pen Charging Cable
• Pen Holder with 4 spare nibs
• Installation CD
• User Manual

At this price point, there’s not much real competition.

The Huion h610 pro offers a surprisingly good value. It has all the important features you could expect of a graphics tablet, it handles well and it doesn’t lag. 

It seems to be modeled after the Wacom Intuos Pro, which is a lot more expensive. Even the “cheaper” Wacom Pen & Touch costs more than the Huion. And if you prefer a smoother drawing surface, the Huion could even come out on top.

What makes it Pro compared to the original version? There’s a bigger drawing area and a micro-USB port, the resolution is higher and so is the report rate.

To put it simply, I think the Huion h610 is an amazing option for beginners and hobbyists because it’s both affordable and easy to use.

Click here to check out its price on Amazon.

The Huion h610 has a surprisingly solid build. Nice and sturdy for a budget drawing tablet. It’s kind of like a slightly smaller and lighter Intuos Pro Medium, which seems to be what it aims for.

The Wacom Intuos has a significant quality advantage, but the price difference makes the Huion h610 a worthy contender. Price-wise, it’s closer to a Wacom Bamboo, and that would be one of a smaller size.

The frame surrounding the active area may feel a little thin if you like to rest your hand on it when you draw. But you could just place a thin book next to it if necessary, or do what I usually do and work on your lap where there’s plenty of malleable padding.

Since the Huion h610 pro doesn’t come with a stand, creative solutions like a book or lap will be useful. Thanks to the solid build, you can prop it up without having to worry about damaging it if something slips.

The light weight makes it easy to set up and use anywhere, and really easy to bring with you even in a regular backpack or brief case.

The coating of the drawing surface is a very important feature that not every manufacturer gets right. It can make a really big difference in how well you can use the tablet, especially during long sessions.

Huion h610 pro nails it with its smooth, semi-matte finish. You’ll find it easy to work fast and make long, smooth strokes. It doesn’t seem to catch or squeak, but it does make a fair amount of noise.

However, if you’re used to the paper-like coating of Wacom tablets (or actual paper), it might feel a bit too slippery. This comes down to preference and experience. It should be a nice middle ground for most digital artists.

If it wasn’t for the lack of touch, I’d consider this an ideal drawing surface. Without shortcut gestures and fingerpainting capabilities, it’s not as versatile as a Wacom Intuos Pro. But you can’t really expect that at this price anyway.

With an active area of 10 x 5.25 inches, drawing feels natural and unrestrained. That’s a little bigger than an A5 paper. You’ll find it easy to use with monitors up to about 20 inches.

Beyond that, the size difference becomes a bit annoying. However, it’s still a pretty generous drawing area for this price point.

You get 8 express keys on the side. They’re similar to those of a typical Wacom tablet, but there’s no ring or touch scroll. It’s still nice to be able to zoom, undo, and change brush sizes with a quick press.

The buttons are very smooth, each one having an embossed logo. They’re responsive and easy to use, you won’t press them by accident, although they have a cheaper feel compared to more high-end drawing tablets.

You can specify your own preferred functions for each key in the driver settings if you don’t like the stock settings.

The 16 soft keys let you assign your favorite keyboard shortcuts and custom macros for a really fast workflow.

Especially if you need a somewhat portable drawing solution. Sure beats the “Wacom Bamboo and a laptop keyboard” combo I used to deal with. And if you don’t like soft keys on your drawing area at all, you can just disable them.

Now for the pen itself. It’s a solid pen with a nice shape and weight, 2048 pressure levels, and 2 shortcut buttons. The nib can move a little bit to help make smooth tapered lines.

Compared to a Wacom pen, it’s not quite as good. It’s thinner and lighter with less padding. This is more about preference, you may even like it better this way. There’s no eraser end though, instead there’s a charging port where it would be.

Unlike what many of the faulty manuals and online electronics dealers claim, it uses an internal battery, so you don’t need AAA batteries for this pen.

There are some other downsides to this pen. The first is the lack of nib choices. If you like to work with a range of different nibs, or if you like to use a really soft or hard one, you may be a bit disappointed.

Then there’s the battery operation. Like most non-Wacom tablet pens, it runs on a rechargeable battery. The good news is that you can work while charging the pen, and it holds a charge well, but it’s still not as convenient as a battery-free stylus.

It also comes with a simple, cylindrical pen holder. There’s a holder for the spare nibs and nib removal ring inside. The holder is nothing fancy, but it has a firm hold and screws shut tight.

There’s no software included, other than the drivers.

Installing the drivers is quick and easy. So is customizing the shortcuts, sensitivity, and usable surface area.

If you like to use a lot of different software with your drawing tablet, you’ll be happy to know that the Huion h610 pro is compatible with most popular graphics software. Examples include the Adobe suite, Corel Painter, Manga Studio and Zbrush.

You can adjust the active area to better fit the size and shape of your screen. Adjusting the pen sensitivity curve is also easy. It grants a smooth and responsive drawing experience overall, with no notable lag or jitter.

Driver problems are quite common, as tends to be the case with a lot of drawing tablets. Your computer may not recognize the tablet, or the pen may be unresponsive, for example.

Make sure to follow the instructions given in the manual, uninstall any potential clashing drivers, and update your Huion driver to the latest one after the installation.

I gathered some input by other artists to paint a more complete picture of what this pen tablet is like. Here’s what they have to say:

No graphics tablet is perfect for everyone. If you’re not sure that the Huion h610 is right for you, take a look at these alternatives.

The graphics tablet that most other graphics tablets are trying to be.

It’s got higher overall quality than the Huion, you won’t have any problems with nibs or USB cords falling out from vigorous use. A more advanced pen makes drawing more natural and effective. 

The touch functionality is another big plus, giving you many workflow-improving shortcuts.

If you’re a serious artist who craves superb quality and can afford to pay about three times as much as you would for the h610, the Intuos Pro is a great option.

If the Intuos Pro seems better to you, check it out here.

This is, in essence, the sequel to the h610 Pro. They’ve improved the general design and added a convenient pen sleeve to the side for easier portability.

It has four additional express keys and an SD card slot so you can bring your work without having to bring your computer or HDD.

The pen has twice as many pressure levels, which is ideal if you like perfect controlled strokes. It’s not as budget-friendly as the h610 pro, though.

If you’re interested in this newer version, take a closer look here.

Ugee is another budget drawing tablet brand. Their M708 is very similar to the Huion in most ways. It’s a bit cheaper, but it’s also smaller and the quality isn’t as good.

There are no soft keys and the overall experience may feel a little crude in comparison. But if you’re on a tight budget, this is a great graphics tablet.

You can take a closer look here if the Ugee M708 sounds like what you want.

If you thought you’d be unable to find a good drawing tablet because of a limited budget, consider yourself proven wrong.

The Huion h610 pro has a lot of features that aren’t common on affordable tablets, at least not with this level of functionality. With its amazing price-to-value ratio, this drawing tablet is a great option for both beginners and experienced artists with a smaller budget.

If this sounds like the drawing tablet for you, check it out here.

Do you have a soft spot for Sci Fi? If the thought of exotic looking futuristic fighter jets, mammoth battleships the size of cities, and huge space stations gets you excited, grab your Wookie wing man and strap yourselves in.

You've come to the right place.

Below you will find some of the coolest spaceship concept art by some of the internet's most talented artists.

Wondering where to start with your spacecraft designs? I have also included some tips and videos for creating your own spaceships and developing your ideas.

Space Cruiser Concept Art

Cruisers are larger military space craft that often play a similar role to our modern warships. They are well armed and have reasonable defenses.

Cruisers tend to specialize in certain roles. This would likely be the case for science fiction. Is your cruiser designed to take out planetary ground defenses? Or does it specialize in clearing space-mines? What would it look like if it was designed to take out enemy fighters?

Check out these impressive concepts.

Spaceship Freighters

In a futuristic setting cargo ships would often be the lifeline of many human colonies. These vessels carry goods from one planet to another.

Currently, there are thousands of freighters traversing the sea. You can imagine it would be the same in a futuristic space setting.

Freighters would be designed specifically for the task of carrying a large payload over long distances. They would come well equipped and unload their cargo.

Often they are large ships, for the sole purpose of moving things in bulk. They can often dwarf many of the largest warships.​

Cool Spaceship Frigates

These warships are built to be quick and manoeuvrable. Often they are escorts for larger ships and convoys.

Frigates are a little bit larger than corvettes and often have more firepower. They are often good for getting into combat, getting their hands dirty, and getting out victories.

They are often used in patrols, or as protection for a capital ship. They often have strength in numbers.​

Space Destroyer Concepts

​Destroyers are smaller than cruisers and, in most cases, are larger than frigates.

However, you will find that these bad-boys are armed to the teeth with a multitude of weapons.

Their purpose is to seek and destroy. These boats act as escorts for larger fleets and hunt out any threat.

Sci Fi Battleship Designs

​Battleships are the epitome of strength. They can take a lot of punishment and dish out punishment in return.

Battleships are characterized by their heavy armor and massive guns, making them key capital ships. These guys will have multiple different defenses, and guns that could destroy most ships in a single go. They represent the might and power of a fleet.

The simple existence of a battleship can leave opposition quivering in their boots. However, despite their strength, they can be susceptible to smaller aircraft that could out manoeuvre them.

How To Draw Convincing Spaceship Designs

​There is so much rich detail in these spacecraft! So what can you focus on to improve your spaceship drawing skills?

​Practice Perspective

Perspective is important in any artform, however, with mechanical objects such as spacecraft, perspective is key to creating believable illustrations.

If you are completely new to perspective, Draw A Box has an excellent guide to understanding and mastering perspective drawing.

If you are looking for something a little more advanced, 'How To Draw' By Scott Robertson is my 'go-to' book. When it comes to illustration, design, and mechanical objects, Scott is a master.

His book is well laid out and well explained. He also has some great Youtube videos that takes you through design concepts and gives you a feel for how he creates his pieces.​

Cyberpunk is so full of depth and complex characters. The contrast of futuristic tech with the grungy underbelly of society, common in Cyberpunk artwork, is visually spectacular.

It's no wonder it is becoming more and more popular. 

Are you wondering how you can create a believable and exciting character?  

Below we have listed our favorite cyberpunk character concepts.

From hackers to assassins, detectives and gang members, each artist has created their cyberpunk character with a unique flair and personality.

I've also broken down common patterns in the cyberpunk genre, and what you can practice to improve your character design skills.

What Is Cyberpunk?

Cyberpunk is a sub-genre of science fiction. It focuses on the people living on the edge of a futuristic society.

Cyberpunk isn’t about your clean-cut space operas; it is about the people who live on the outskirts of a futuristic society.

Often Cyberpunk is set in a future dystopian society. Many of the themes are grungy and often show the breakdown of modern society, corruption, and social upheaval.

Each of the characters shown below has a unique attitude and style. Cyberpunk characters are often anti-authoritarian, highly technical, occasional hackers, just doing their own thing.

Blade Runner is a good example of Cyberpunk in popular media.

Set in Los Angeles in the future, it juxtaposes the futuristic neo-lit city, with the dirt and grime of the back alleyways. It explores how the people of this underworld, live and survive while living on the edge of society.

Often the themes of Cyberpunk are about the people, their relationships and the things they are dealing with, rather that the vast space operas associated with Sci-Fi.

Classic Cyberpunk characters are often alien loners who lived on the edge of society in a moment of technological change. It is common for them to have radical body modifications such as robotic arms or legs and other cyber enhancements.

Without further ado, check out these great artworks below.

Awesome Male Cyberpunk Character Concept Art

How Do You Draw A Cyberpunk Character?

Looking at these images, it can be intimidating, particularly if you have never drawn one of these characters before.

So what can we take on to create a dynamic character that is believable and oozes personality?

Here are a couple of things I can see that would help. If you have any more tips, feel free to share them in the comments section below.

Practice Your Figure Drawing & Anatomy​

With any character design, having a solid understanding of the human figure and anatomy is essential to creating a convincing character.

Practice drawing dynamic poses and gestures. This will give you the opportunity to create a character that displays their own personality through the way they hold themselves, and the movement that is captured at that moment.

Part of that is understanding weight and form.

For example, if you have a guy with a massive cybernetic enhancement that replaces his right arm, that's going to have some weight to it.

Instead of his weight being centered, it will be more towards his right side. This would impact the way he holds himself and moves.

Practicing the human form, weight and anatomy will help you create a believable character, no matter what the genre.

Proko has some awesome courses to help you improve your figure drawing and anatomy.

Study And Draw Machinery And Technology

Understanding the human form is a essential with any character concept.

However, in cyberpunk, it is about the integration of technology and how technology looks.

Look around your house and see what technology you can draw. It could be your mobile phone, your computer, or your drawing tablet.

Draw these devices and develop your understanding of how mechanical devices look. Now, use your imaginations and think how these devices might look in 10, 50 or 100 years time. Explore and draw how you think that might look.

Then bring it together with your understanding of the human figure. What would those items look like when integrated with people? What would be different in the way people interact with them?

Play with those ideas.

Regarding robotic limbs, once you have that understanding of anatomy, you can play around and consider what that limb might look like if it was made of metal or plastic. Ask yourself 'What part of the body moves and how would a mechanic limb function in order to be a believable substitute?'

Look At Modern Day Subcultures To Create Your Own Cyberpunk Style

It's no secret that cyberpunk characters have a distinct style. 

These individuals are often on the edge of society in a sci-fi universe. To gain inspiration, look at the subcultures on the edges of our society today.

It could be the punk scene, trance scene, goths; these people subcultures in our larger cultures. They could be rebelling against something, or have their unique forms of self-expression.

Use these styles as inspiration when exploring your characters look.

• How do they hold themselves?
• What does their hair look like?
• What is the clothing that they wear?

Adapt these styles to what they might look like in 100 years time.

Alternatively, look back in time. Fashion works in cycles. What would fashion from the 1800s or 1920s look like if it was set 100 years in the future? What would they look like if they were set in a science fiction universe?

Then the trick is to bring it all together.

​Avoid Making It Too Complex

Once you have played with the above ideas, you can bring it together and create a cool cyberpunk guy or cool.

The trick is to avoid any over elaborate imagery.

Cyberpunk is a pretty crazy type of genre. You have complex human characters, combined with futuristic tech, intricate interfaces and all set in a backdrop of a gritty dystopian world.

Striking a balance between creating a compelling scene and character is key (easier said than done). It's about creating a balance between all this complexity and keeping it simple enough not to be overwhelming.

Composing any character takes practice (I’m  still learning myself). But taking the above images as inspiration and play with the different ideas mentioned, you are going to have a lot of fun creating a character.

If you have any further inspiration, ideas or images that would be cool to share, put it in the comment section below.​

Looking for inspiration and ideas? Maybe you want to try something new?

Aliens are always fun to draw. There is no shortage of crazy stuff out there. But, sometimes it's always fun to play with something a little more 'human.'

So, grab your pencil​. Pull out a fresh piece of paper. 

Let's explore how can we take the human form and transform it in a way to make it look believable yet completely alien to us.

And that's what some of these humanoid alien concept artists have created with these works. Each artwork has it's own character and flavor. Many are cool, fun and some are downright creepy.

(Personally, I love the alien characters that could pass as everyday 'people' from a completely different alien race.)

Check out each awesome humanoid alien concept art below.

I love figure drawing, but I’m sure you will agree with me when I say

Figure drawing is arguably one of the most difficult subjects you can take on as an artist.

However, the skills you gain from drawing the human body can be applied throughout many other forms of art.

Below, I have put together a collection of amazing figure drawings from both well-known masters and undiscovered talent around the internet.

At the end of the article, I've also included some great tools, tips, and resources to help you improve your skills at drawing the human figure.

What Is Figure Drawing?

​In essence, figure drawing is capturing the human form. It’s observing and drawing the shapes, posture and anatomy of the human body.

To be blunt, you are sitting down and drawing people.

Sounds easy, right? Not so.

It is about refining your attention to detail and training your hand to draw what your brain sees.

You are looking at a figure, and capturing their gesture, the light, and shadows on the body. You are searching for the details that give an expression or convey an emotion.

You can spend hours on a single figure drawing, or you can do a series of quick sketches to capture an imprint of the person’s gesture.

A drawing can be highly detailed and anatomically correct (Figure Study), or a series of quick, loosely drawn images that capture an expression, and the flow of the body (Gesture Drawings).

Continue below to see some excellent examples of figure drawing.​

​What Is Life Drawing?

​Life drawing is when you draw from observation from a live model.

The model can either be clothed or not clothed. Many people prefer minimal clothing to study and draw the human anatomy.

The benefit of life drawing over a picture, is you don’t have the distortion of the camera impacting what you see.

In real life, a model is right there allowing you to develop the skillset to draw an object without relying on a still image.

A life drawing can be a complete work of art, or it can be a study of the human body.

If you have the opportunity, seek out your local life drawing class. Regularly drawing from life is an excellent practice to take on.

What Is Gesture Drawing?

​Gesture drawing is a type of figure drawing aimed at quickly capturing the gesture of the human body (Hence the name).

A gesture drawing is often quick sketches laying out the form, actions, and pose of a model. This can be done with a photo reference or with a live model.

The time spent on each pose can range from 1 minute, 2 minutes, 5 minutes, to 20 minutes. The aim is to capture what you can in that time.

For shorter periods, it can often be a series of lines to capture the flow of the model. Typically, it involves and artists drawing a series of poses in a short amount of time.

Gesture drawing can often be used as a warm up before a longer life drawing session. It is unquestionably a skill to cultivate.

What I love about quick sketching, is you don't even have to go to a studio or have an image in front of you. It's something you can do anywhere.

Sitting at a café, waiting for your bus. You can use these opportunities to quick sketch actions and gestures people present to you at that moment.

Whenever there is a moment in time that enables to capture a person's expression, it's an awesome opportunity to practice your gesture drawing skills.

Get out of the house, get away from the screen and get out into reality.

It can be a pleasant exercise to do with friends. Go out have a cup of coffee and draw the people and world around you.

The primary purpose of figure drawing is to facilitate the study of the human form in motion. People should be able to look at it and articulate what the figure is trying to do.

Can you see whether the model is running, twisting, grab something up higher, or swinging a bat?  

Gesture drawing not only helps capture a motion in time but also the expression of emotion. Does the pose you have drawn capture the emotion present?

This quick sketch of someone's gesture is an excellent method of training your hand to capture what the brain already see. It is different to figure study which is done over a longer period.

What Is A Figure Study​?

​A figure study is a drawing or painting, of a human body, made usually over a longer period of time for the purpose of studying the human form.

This could be capturing the anatomy of the entire body or a part of the body.

It can be an exploration of how light reflects of particular muscle groups. Or it could be how the body looks when it is held in a particular form. What you choose to study is up to you.

Figure studies are often made in preparation for a more composed and completed work.

By preference, figure studies are usually done with a live model. However, you can also use images a reference. If you want a challenge you can go off your imagination and memory.

Reference models can be clothed; however, many artists prefer nude models so they can accurately capture the anatomy of the figure.

Nude is preferred as it allows the student to see the muscle groups. They aren’t hindered by clothing or fabric.

​Awesome Tools, Resources & References

It's no secret; practice is the key to drawing figures.

You aren’t going to create a masterpiece in you first, second or even third sitting.

I highly recommend going and trying it your local life drawing class.

Every life drawing class I’ve been to has been super friendly and welcoming. All you need is your sketchbook and pencil.

If you don’t want to go to a life drawing class, or there is not one available in your town, then there are plenty of websites that provide high-quality images to use as a reference. Many come with some great tools to help you practice.

Two free resources are Line Of Action and Quick Pose. These guys have a pulled together some of the best reference photos found on the internet.

They also have free to use drawing tools, that allows you to set a timer. Perfect for quick sketching and gesture drawing.

If you want to take it a step further, New Masters Academy has over 10,000+ high-quality images with thousands of different poses and models.

It also has a fantastic 3D content program that allows you to pick a 3D model, rotate it, and adjust the lighting to where you want it. It's excellent if you want to practice figure drawing with a light source coming in from a particular angle.

It is a paid resource; however, it is awesome if you need a reference for a specific pose with a specific light source.

If you are drawing a scene, and your character is in a particular pose, you will likely be able to find that pose in their library, and then move the lighting to where you need it. You will then have a great high-quality reference to go from when you are completing your piece.

My attempt at figure drawing