Dagi Pen Review: sketches using a Dagi pen with Sketch Book App on an ipad

A new 25mm brush drawn  with a Dagi pen, using the Sketch club app on an ipad

When these kind of pens for digital tablets came out they were very very expensive and I didn't feel I could justify one.   The Dagi pen has come down to an affordable, justifiable price now  and I've been playing, seeing how good it is.  Mine is a pretty frosted green :>)  It's good!  I don't know how robust it will be, time will tell.

 The plastic disc is there presumably to protect the screen, it comes with a few spares,  obviously it is easily damaged.  The fine point means precise placement.

The images shown were all drawn in this app on the ipad

For accuracy in placement of the tip of the pen when drawing on the tablet, it feels just like normal pen/pencils - you can see precisely where you are placing the tip, unlike the normal rubber tipped stylus.

The paintbrush was drawn on a single layer, flipping between pen and brush and several shades of grey.

The bottle of gum arabic below was drawn on one layer in pen, then the brush was used on the layer below to add the washes.  Multiply was selected on the pen layer so that the washes come through. 

Then I experimented further, using multiply on this layer and going to the layer below to add washes of colour with a brush tool in the app.  So, the colour shines through.   It's rather like using glazes with paint but with the ability to add them beneath as well as above current work.

And a tea cup below - again using layers and multiply to add colour below a drawing, in which I hadn't originally planned to use colour (so too much pen). 

Adding washes on a different layer means that if I don't like it, I can simply delete the layer, preserving the drawing.  Line also comes through cleanly and isn't smudged or altered by the washes - sometimes that's good, sometimes not.  In the teacup it would have been better done on the same layer I think but it was only an experiment - not fine art :>)  It was the first drawing I tried with this stylus, so feeling my way.


A previous sketch with a normal rubbery tipped stylus - of one of the rubbery tipped styluses (stylii?):

 So, it's perfectly possible to draw without investing in one of these - but placement of the tip is less accurate and the Dagi feels so much more 'real' in its response and use. 

Incidentally as I said previously - I really like the text option, that allows you to draw with text (Sketch Club App)  - speeding up and slowing down alters the size of the text as you draw.  More here and here.

OK back to analogue :>)   I have lots of  'real' paintings on the go or in my head so I need to get back to paint - coast, flowers and mixed media collage all bubbling in the brain and partially on the paper.