Years ago, when I first started using drawing tablets, using a special glove to draw wasn’t really a thing.
Nobody used them! To be completely honest, I don’t even remember seeing them for sale.
As time went by and drawing tablet companies started becoming more technical and professional, they started coming up with add-ons. From that moment on, simply owning a graphics tablet was not enough, you also needed to get an extra pen (that they wisely started selling separately), extra nibs and, of course, the mighty drawing glove.
At that point I had already been working as a designer for years and I was used to drawing with my bare hands. I knew that drawing for hours on summer meant that my hands would get sweaty and that it would cause friction between my skin and the drawing board.
That didn’t bother me too much, it was just part of the artist’s life, part of the “drawing experience”.
Over the years I started seeing more and more artists using those gloves and I thought it was silly and unnecessary. I was pretty much set on my ways and unwilling to even give it a try.
Until one day I happened to get a drawing tablet for Christmas and guess what, among the stylus, the nibs, the cables and everything else, there was a one of those gloves that I had been avoiding for years.
Since it was part of a gift, I decided to give it a try.
Long story short, I’ve been drawing with a glove since then.
Are gloves for drawing tablets a good idea?
I think you should do absolutely everything you can to improve your workflow. If a glove can improve my speed by even 1%, I already consider it a good investment.
That doesn’t mean that I always wear a glove to draw.
I just keep a couple of them around and depending on how I’m feeling that day I will use one of them.
I think it’s pretty much like wearing socks at home, sometimes you feel like wearing them and sometimes they get a little annoying.
The reason why I keep gloves around is that when I have to draw for many consecutive hours, my hand gets a little sweaty and the glove helps it slide through the drawing board much more easily.
Since these gloves are cheaper than a burger, I believe that you must buy one to at least give it before deciding whether they’re a good addition to your workflow or not.
I do feel that when I have to work on big projects the glove helps me to draw faster and gives me a feeling that I’m actually working instead of simply drawing for fun.
I think it’s the same effect that people who work from home have when they put on work clothes even though going to the “office” simply means walking to the other bedroom.
Are there drawing tablets that come with a glove?
Many sellers on Amazon offer free drawing gloves with the drawing tablet they’re selling because they want to differentiate from others who are selling the exact same product.
I’m sure that if you make a quick search on Amazon it’s possible to find dozens of tablets that come with a glove.
That being said, I know that there’s a specific graphics tablet from XP-PEN that comes with a glove, not as a gift, but as part of the product itself. That means if you buy the tablet, you’re guaranteed to get the glove. It’s called XP-PEN Deco Pro.
Since I own this drawing tablet, I can say that it’s a pretty solid choice for most artists out there.
(Click here to read reviews on Amazon)
Can I buy drawing gloves separately?
Yes. There are quite a few sellers on Amazon selling drawing gloves.
If you already have a drawing tablet and would like to buy just the glove, go ahead and do it.
If they offer you free shipping, get only one, but if you have to pay for shipping, I highly recommend that you buy at least 2 gloves at once, they’re cheap and you’ll only have to pay the transportation costs once.
What should I look for when buying a drawing glove?
Buying a drawing glove is not as complex as choosing a drawing tablet.
These gloves are extremely simple, most of them are made with exactly the same material and the only real difference is the company logo printed on them.
You will notice that most of them are totally black and there’s a reason for that. Since the gloves purpose is to slide on the drawing board as you draw, it pretty much wipes the board over and over again, which obviously accumulates dirt.
If for some reason you see a white or light-colored drawing glove for sale, don’t buy otherwise it will look horrendous after the first drawing session. Stick to the black ones. They will get just as dirty as the white ones, but at least it won’t be visible.
Conclusion
Drawing gloves are not a necessary work tool, but they can help artists, especially those who are professionals and need to work for hours on end.
If we were talking about an expensive add-on or a purchase that could generate any kind of regret I would ask you to careful think about buying it, but since these gloves are unbelievable cheap, simply get one and decide for yourself if you want to use them on a daily basis.
As with other things in life, I would urge you to test it before making any assumptions. It took me years to try a drawing glove and I really wish that I had done it earlier.
Not only will it be a new experience for you, but it will help you to know more about another tool that is so commonly used by people who work in the same industry as you.
If you have any questions, leave a message below.
Keep on creating,
Bruno Santos
