I've been asked by AutoDesk to make digital portraits of the TED Global 2011 attendants (Edinburgh, July 11-15).  . Should be fun, but it is not something I usually do, so I need to practice a bit and make some choices.

• What tablet? Rather than going for a slate tablet, the instrument of choice will be an iPad.  AutoDesk's SketchBook Pro works wonderfully on an iPad.  If I use the same program on a windows tablet, I need a keyboard. So I decided to  forgo the pressure sensitivity & slightly larger format and opt for the easy interface of the iPad instead.
• Which stylus?  The pogo stylus is to inaccurate for my taste.  The Dagi stylus seemed great in the beginning but quickly became a bit rough;  the lines wouldn't flow smoothly anymore and it made a scratchy sound on the iPad surface (with protective covering). Dagi apparently has made an improved version, which I hope to receive soon.  But in the meantime there are many YouTube movies on how to make your own stylus, and most of them are not much better than what is available in the stores.  Except one:  recently I found a YouTube movie that shows how to make your own stylus, that it is fantastically smooth and easy to use. The guy who developed it goes by the name Koabusks.  Check it out here. 
• Which style?  I want to make portraits that look nice as well as digital, not as if made on paper.  More about the quest for a proper digital portrait in the following blogs.