Speaking of what’s new and hot on the old hardware, I noticed a Wacom Fineline 2 on eBay for $25 shipped, compatible with my old-and-not-the-hotniss iPad 3.

I have used a Wacom Creative with good results (especially in Procreate, obtuse UI left undiscussed here) for years but the broad, spongy tip always left something to be desired, so seeing a small-nib pressure stylus for this elderly device at such a low price was a sure buy.

The jury’s still out. It’s no Wacom tablet-and-stylus combo, but that’s cool, I can always move a given piece over to the fancy monitor tablet I have. The advantage of working on the iPad is it’s always in my hand, whereas I have to go to the machine with the tablet attached for finish work.

Anyway, the pressure sensitivity is nice. There are some issues with nib alignment that are puzzlingly arbitrary. It seems as if the stylus is still limited to either a broader or a darker stroke when more pressure is exerted rather than interactively blending the two output variables, which remains a limitation rendering the input device inferior to the dipped-nib ink pen or brush.

But whatever, I have to go to my drawing table and set up my pens and find the right paper and where is my blue pencil and what the fuck did the cat totally chew off the end of this superfine sumi brush and so the superiority of availability remians apparent, even if my output is somewhat subpar.