tl;dr; Non-artist dad looking for iPad for artist daughter. iPad Air 3rd Gen w/ 256 GB, Pencil 1 or iPad Air 2020, Pencil 2, but only 64 GB due to budget. I needed a bit of advice on deciding on which model iPad to get my daughter which will be primarily used for digital art. She is 13 now but has been doing digital art since she was about 6 years old and to my (slightly subjective, bc dad, eye) she is quite talented with her favorite area being character/cartoon drawing and some animation. She can, and does, draw on paper, but we have always been a "digital family"; so to speak as I am in the technology field and as such our house has been filled with it since well before she was born. She is quite good at just using a mouse, starting out using FireAlpaca and while she still uses that, I do have a full CC Suite of Adobe products that she uses. I got her a Wacom tablet a few years back (not the kind with a screen, just a peripheral tablet) and shed used it a little bit but ended up not using it anymore as she was more comfortable using the mouse. She has now asked for an iPad which I don't mind getting her as she wants to be able to draw and sketch other places besides just in front of the PC. Well, I do mind in that I am not an Apple fan at all but do realize they make great, albeit expensive products, but that is beside the point really. I'm not going to let my own feelings on a company dictate what she does or doesn't get. She has an iPhone 11 Pro Max that she uses for her videography and photography so the camera on the iPad is a non-issue. So, I have it narrowed down to 2 choices really. After researching and understanding the benefit of the laminated screen, I ultimately landed on the iPad Air as the best budget v. need v. features balance. I can't decide between the following. An iPad Air 3rd gen (which you can still get, at least for now, from Best Buy), Pencil 1 or the newest iPad with Pencil 2. Clearly there is, what, nearly a $200+ total dollar difference between the 2 and I am unsure if the benefits are really worth that extra cost. I'd also really only be able to afford the 64GB version of the 2020 iPad Air. If I were to get the 3rd Gen iPad Air, I could bump up the storage to the 256GB. She primarily wants the iPad specifically so that she can use Procreate in addition to the Adobe products available. I'd still come out cheaper with the 3rd Gen with 256GB than with the newest model at only 64GB. So, looking for some experts advice on what you think would be a better choice, considering the situation, her age, etc. Thanks!

Hi Shelzmik

Since you wrote that your daughter feels more comfortable
with the mouse. There you could try if she likes
vectorgraphics programs. There are some really beautiful
painterly Vector programs

This two are free:
- Creature House Expression 3.3
- Microsoft Expression Design 4
But, sorry you must search the Web a bit
to find them. Because both are older Programs,
still usable. Runs fine on Win 8.1 by me.

As an alternative you can try Affinity Designer.
It is an inexpensive vector program ( 60.-), which
also has painterly vector brushes such as Expression
and Expression Design. Affinity Designer has also a
very good bitmap part in it, with good brushes.
You would have the best of both worlds. You can use
these Bitmap Brushes also for vectorgraphic shading.


For the Ipad Part
iPad Air 3rd gen Pencil 1 / vs newest iPad with Pencil 2
As an Pencil 1 will be fine enough, but the newest iPad have
an more powerful Processor. So i would spend the
extra cost.

Here a Link to Brad Coboy Channel with some Reviews
of Ipads from an illustrators view.
https://www.youtube.com/user/thebradcolbow

Im not really an Expert for iPads, but i would say 64-GB its ok
I own an iPad Pro 12.9 64GB with an Pencil 1 and dont run
out of Ram. Have also some Experiments on drawing with
a Cintiq Display and an Wacom Pencil and find the Apple Pencil
far more better.

But an Ipad have a few more advandecs over an Cintiq.
It has an build in Computer, you can use it for other things too.
No Time waste on booting, its instand on.
No Cables
The painting Apps are very cheap
if you compare this to PC painting Apps.

Biggest minus for me.
The Data transfair between Ipad an PC
its cumbersome even that the iPad has
now an Data Manager and USB Sticks Support
The best way to do this is per iCloud or per Email
because of Files corruptions.

Some ipad painting Apps i recommend
Procreate
Tayasui Sketches
iOrnament

I hope this will help a little and i wish you
to find something that you like.
Have a nice day.
vectorian