Apple Pencil Review

Drawing on the iPad pro is simply the best drawing experience ever. But what about digital painting? What about professional commissioned art?

Well, how is this?

Or this?

I am 3/4 of the way through making a children's book ENTIRELY on the iPad Pro. Here is a sneak peak of the front cover without the words:

I am certainly not the best artist out there, but what I am trying to say is that the only limits to what this Pencil can do is your own capabilities.

The iPad Pro screen is not as toothy as a Cintiq, but I don't see that as a problem, especially after I put a matte screen protector on to add some extra texture. I have complete control over where the Pencil is going to draw.

Since I've started making all of my art with the Apple Pencil, I've not gotten a single case of artists' cramp, even though I have recently been drawing for hours straight on that children's book. I think this is because the weight of the Apple Pencil is perfectly balanced. Great design! I never knew how much that mattered until I started to use it.

There are only two qualms to the Apple pencil.

First, it is as easily lost as a regular pencil. Supposedly the regular Smart Cover has magnets for it to cling to, but I own the Smart Keyboard Cover because I also use my Pro to write. I assumed that the Keyboard would be the same as the regular cover but the magnets it has aren't strong enough to hold the pencil. I have lost the Apple Pencil more times than I can count, and I don't even go out that much. Once, after it snowed, I miraculously found my Pencil buried in a frozen puddle that had tire marks over it the day after I lost it. After some digging, the Pencil proved to have survived, other than me having to replace the nib.

Speaking of nibs, I want to make it clear that the Apple Pencil was designed specifically for sketching and writing. People were making fun of it's name when it first came out, but it holds more meaning than just being a code word for stylus. The nib of the Pencil is made of a fairly hard plastic that is meant to feel exactly like a sketching with a real pencil. That is both great and not so great, because to some the Pencil may not feel as natural for painting with. Now, I've heard rumors that Apple is planning on coming out with some softer replacement nibs, which I think would be wonderful, but that may also be just a rumor.

I hope this has helped you in your consideration of the Apple Pencil. Make sure to leave a comment with your thoughts, wether you own a Pencil or are on the fence.