You know it’s cold when all the figure models in town are posing in leotards, tights, and scarves!

This was drawn on my latest impulse purchase, the Toshiba Encore Write 2. It’s sort of a poor cheap man’s Cintiq Companion. Or, to those that don’t geek out about this stuff, it’s a small tablet PC on which you can draw. it runs full-fledged software (such as Manga Studio, which I already bought for my Mac), and the pen is much more precise than anything I can buy for my iPad. On the minus side, it runs Windows, which, even when streamlined for use on a tablet, still feels like a chore compared to anything Apple.

For general tablet use, it’s pretty underwhelming. But if you’re looking for an art creation tool, the Encore Write 2’s combo of stylus hardware and desktop software works very well, and is surprisingly unique at this price point.