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What Is An Artist Glove For And Do You Need One? (With Examples)

You need an artist glove if you end up smudging your drawings or greasing your drawing tablet with your hands constantly!

What is an artist glove? An artist glove, also called an anti-fouling artist glove, smudge protector or two-finger drawing glove, is a glove that prevents your drawing from smudging in traditional media. The artist glove also reduces friction in your drawing tablet and iPad, and reduces the grease on the screen!

Not only that, but a drawing glove can be used with a light box as well.

Do You Need An Artist Glove?

The super honest answer is no, you don’t “need” an artist glove.

But, having one can help you with your drawings and art.

What Are Drawing Gloves For?

Drawing gloves are used for preventing artists from smudging their paper and drawing tablet or iPad.

I bet it happened to you before, where you had a perfectly clean piece of paper, and you’ve been drawing your amazing character there for a while.

artist using a drawing glove on screen drawing tablet, patricia at don corgi

Then, you accidentally pass your hand through the paper, trying to grab another tool, and smudge it all over!

If you’re using something like charcoal or crayons, then it’s even worse.

Even when using an artist glove you’ll need to be a bit careful, but you won’t get your hands all dirty and transfer it to other places on the paper.

You can always erase that mess you make, but it’s not fun nor easy sometimes!

Or, if you’re a digital artist and you start noticing some parts of your drawing tablet aren’t as responsive as before.

This is because the grease that comes out of our hands starts accumulating in the drawing tablet itself.

It happens even if you constantly wash your hands. Our skin produces natural oils constantly, so your drawing tablet will end up having grease marks on it, whether you want it or not. It’s normal!

This is worse if you’re using a drawing tablet with a Screen, like some of the ones I recommend on my Average Drawing Tablet Price post. They become covered with grease and you actually stop seeing your artwork!

The same thing happens if you’re using something like a surface pro for your artwork.

You can read here my recommendations if you should go with a screenless tablet or a tablet with a screen! (with different options for each budget)

Another plus of using a drawing glove is that it helps with palm rejection.

And by that, I mean that if you’re wearing an artist glove, it will be much less likely to accidentally use a touch feature on your drawing tablet or other electronic tools!

So to protect your art and to make your tools and materials last longer, I HIGHLY recommend you to get an artist glove.

A drawing glove is one of those things that you don’t necessarily need but it will make your work easier and help you make less of a mess while drawing.

Both traditionally and digitally.

Can I Use An Artist Glove For Paper?

Yes, you can use an artist glove for drawing on paper as well.

As we’ve talked about before, this is especially useful if you’re working with mediums that tend to cause a mess, such as crayons or charcoal.

You don’t need a special drawing glove for paper.

The usual drawing gloves that digital artists use are great for paper as well.

For this reason, it can be quite helpful to use a drawing glove such as the ones we mention below!

The Best Artist Glove For Drawing Tablets And iPads

Choosing an artist glove can be rough with all these brands popping up.

From Wacom to Huion artist gloves, the possibilities are pretty big nowadays!

Our Top Pick: Huion Artist Glove

Huion Artist Glove used on an iPad by Patricia at don corgi
Huion Artist Glove

The drawing glove I’ve been recommending for years!

  • Works For Both Hands
  • Great Price
  • Very Flexible And Comfortable
  • Lasts For Many Years
  • Simple And Elegant

I recommend the Huion Artist Glove (click to check the price on Amazon).

If you’ve been following my blog for a while, this should be no surprise to you.

I’m a BIG fan of Huion products, and I even got that exact same glove for free when I bought my Huion 1060 Plus (click to check it on Amazon).

Not only it’s an amazing drawing tablet at a great price, but it also includes wonderful extras like the artist glove and extra nibs!

And this is a great drawing glove for paper as well.

I really like the fact that Huion sells a lot of their products in packs. Many of their tablets will come with an artist glove, so you’re set with everything you need to draw digitally.

With that said, if you’re looking at other brands, there are really great options, too!

I’ve recently created this article on the 5 best Artist Gloves for Drawing Tablets and iPads, right here.

So, why the Huion Artist Glove?

I recommend the Huion Artist glove since, for one, it works for both hands!

So it doesn’t really matter if you’re a left or right-handed artist.

It’s also very flexible AND comfortable. Even if you have tiny or huge hands, the glove molds itself to your hand and feels really good.

I’ve tested this with my husband, who has bigger hands, and the glove fits well on him!

Okay, this doesn’t matter as much, but this artist’s glove is pretty stylish.

It’s a very simple and elegant black with the Huion logo on it.

And finally, this drawing glove is also great for traditional media as well!

You don’t need to get a separate one just for sketching, inking, or coloring your drawings.

This makes the Huion Artist Glove a tiny expense that will last you a few years if you treat it well and learn how to wash your drawing glove (more on this later).

What Artist Gloves Can Lefties Use?

Most artist gloves can be used by left or right-handed artists!

But there are specially designed anti-fouling gloves for lefties like these ones on Amazon.

These are also pretty great, made of high-quality Lycra, and as a bonus, it’s actually a pair of gloves! So if you accidentally lose one of your gloves, you’ll have another to wear immediately.

Trust me, I’ve lost my glove before and had to search the whole house for it!

In my honest opinion, since I’m a lefty too, the ones used for right-handed people (such as the ones I recommended before) fit just as well.

DIY Artist Drawing Glove (Do It Yourself At Home!)

If you’re on a budget or just like to make your own materials and tool, you can DIY artist drawing glove (Do It Yourself)!

It’s a pretty fun and straightforward project and it shouldn’t take you long to get a drawing glove that you like.

And even if it goes wrong, the materials to make your own artist drawing glove are very cheap, so you can just start over.

(DIY) Do Your Own Artist Glove to save some money and have fun with this little project!

First off, I would like to say that some people prefer using two-finger gloves, others just one-finger glove and others instead use fingerless gloves and work with it!

This tutorial will show you how to make any of these using a simple glove.

So, here’s what you need:

  • A comfortable glove
  • Scissors

When choosing which glove to use, I would go with thin ones with an elastic fabric.

The ones you use for winter, for example, wouldn’t work very well when drawing! They restrict your movements and their material isn’t quite appropriate to use because of the debris they leave.

The thickness of it will not only slow your movements but it will make it difficult to feel the pen and tablet as well. It will feel very weird!

Once you have your glove and scissors ready, to make your own Artist Drawing Glove, you just need to cut the part that you prefer.

So if you just want to make a fingerless glove, cut all the fingers!

If instead, you want to make a two-finger or one-finger glove, you’ll need to cut a bigger portion on the side.

3 different ways to diy an artist drawing glove
3 Different ways to create your own artist glove!

Check the image above to see which part you need to cut for each type of glove!

And that’s it! Make sure that you’re comfortable using that glove, and if you are, feel free to cut the pair of that glove so that you have one extra.

In this way, if you end up losing one or put it to wash in the washing machine, you’ll have a spare.

Our Top Pick: Huion Artist Glove

Huion Artist Glove used on an iPad by Patricia at don corgi
Huion Artist Glove

The drawing glove I’ve been recommending for years!

  • Works For Both Hands
  • Great Price
  • Very Flexible And Comfortable
  • Lasts For Many Years
  • Simple And Elegant

Related Questions

Can I wash my artist glove? Yes! Pretty much every artist glove can be washed in your washing machine or washed by hand. If it starts to be a bit stinky or dirty, be sure to wash it!

How can I wash my artist glove? To wash your artist glove, simply hand-wash it in cold water, using mild detergent. This way you’ll remove dirt and grease from it, it’s a great way to clean your artist glove.

What is an anti-fouling glove? An anti-fouling glove is the exact same thing as an artist drawing glove. The name is just different!

Can you rest your hand on a tablet? Of course! Especially if you’re using a drawing glove, you won’t need to be afraid to dirty it. But even if you’re not wearing one, there’s nothing wrong with resting your hand on your tablet.

How do I clean my drawing tablet? If you want to clean your drawing tablet, it’s best to use an anti-static cloth and clean it lightly. You can also just dampen a simple cloth and clean with it. Just don’t use chemicals or detergents!

If you still haven’t upgraded to a screened tablet (or you’re wondering if you should go with a screenless tablet instead) you can read my article on “Should I Get A Drawing Tablet With Screen Or Without?” right here.

What Is An Artist Glove And Do You Need One? Keep Your Drawings And Tablet Clean!
DonCorgi

Patricia Caldeira is the main writer here at Don Corgi. She's an art teacher with over 20.000 happy students across many platforms and courses!

Enjoy your stay and as always:
Keep on drawing!

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