Kamvas 16 (Gen 3)
Panel Size: 15.8" (Diagonal)
Resolution: 2560 x 1440 (16:9) QHD
Price: € 599

The Kamvas 16 is a 15.8 inch drawing tablet from Huion. We've (favorably) reviewed a number of Huion products in the past, so we were more than happy to give this tablet a try as well. A disclaimer up front: Huion provided this product to us for free, but they have not had any influence over this review.

The Kamvas 16 is not a standalone tablet; instead it's an external screen that you need to connect to your computer. You operate it with a pen, it offers no touch-screen capabilities. I know the majority of cartoonists these days will choose an iPad Pro instead, but if you're on a tighter budget, a drawing tablet like Huion produces does provide a more budget-friendly alternative.

What you get: the tablet, a tablet stand, various cables for different ways to connect the tablet, a pen with pen stand, instructions and a drawing glove

For the Kamvas 13, I was very positive about the option to simply use a usb-c to usb-c cable to connect tablet to laptop. Back then, I was less positive that this cable was not included and had to be purchased separately from Huion. I was pleasantly surprised that for the Kamvas 16, the usb-c to usb-c cable cable was included.

Simple set-up with just one cable

This made setting things up very simple: just download the appropriate driver and plug it in. In must admit that I was bit skeptical about this tablet, especially the size.Would an extra 3 inches really make a difference as compared to the Kamvas 13? I use the 13 a lot when I travel and although it's fine to work on, I do find myself often longing for more screen space. As it turns out, 3 inches extra does feel like a lot; in terms of drawing experience, I found working on the 16 felt almost as good as working on my Wacom of 22 inches.

With the Gen 3, you can also really see and feel that Huion's technology is improving. The screen feels nice to work on, the resolution is great and the accuracy of the nib is impressive. One issue I have, which is also the case with other Huion tablets, is that I sometimes have to click the button on the pen (which I use as a right mouse-click) several times to get it to work. Another bug I experienced was that at times the pen turned unresponsive in Photoshop and I had to mouse-click on the computer to get it to work again; this could be a minor bug solved by reinstalling the driver, but I did not have time to extensively troubleshoot it.

Overall, though, I was happy working on it. I was also pleasantly surprised by the sturdiness of the tablet stand. For a tablet of this size, it's nice to be able to set it at an angle. I was worried the stand would be flimsy, but it actually work quite well while being quite small (which is good for travel).

That brings us to the negative, which, ironically, also has to with the screen size. The skepticism I mentioned before about the screen size wasn't just about working experience, but also about transportation. The Huion 13 is ideal for travel; even with a protective sleeve (I use an old laptop cover), it fits nicely into a medium-size backpack. The Huon 16 however, barely fits in my (quite sizable) backpack, and that's without any sleeve. You can by a Huion sleeve for it, but it seems you would then have to carry it separately.

It kind of begs the question: who does Huion want to target with this tablet? If I were in the market for a Huion display for traveling, I would very probably choose the Kamvas 13. Not only is it way easier to transport, it's also less than half the price of the 16, currently retailing in Europe for € 279. The Kamvas 16 will set you back € 599. And on the other hand, if I have 500+ euro to spend on a drawing tablet, I would probably be on the lookout for something larger, maybe even saving up a little longer to get a 24 inch tablet.

In conclusion, I can honestly say that the Kamvas 16 is a good tablet, and a pleasure to work on. But size- and price-wise it feels like a bit of a miss. It's not quite large enough to justify using it in your studio (again, I think you'd be better off saving up for something with even more screen space) unless you have a tiny desk, but it's also not small enough to comfortably fit in your backpack for travel. And given the fact you'll be paying 300+ euro more or 3 extra inches of screen, the choice for the Kamvas 13 or a 13 inch tablet from another brand seems obvious.

Tjeerd Royaards

The Forum for Humor and the Law (ForHum) has launched the largest survey ever conducted on political cartoonists’ online experiences. The survey covers how cartoonists post their work, if they have ever been censored, and how often they feel insulted or threatened by other users.

The results will form the basis of a report by Cartooning for Peace, Cartoonists Rights and their partners, to be published within the next twelve months. This report aims to highlight the prevalence of issues such as censorship, abuse, and security threats, and will serve as a credible advocacy tool for political cartoonists, offering evidence-based recommendations to social media platforms, lawmakers, and other stakeholders.

Check out the ForHum website for more information and to take the survey! You can participate until June 15.

We were present at the International Journalism Festival last week: cartoonists Stellina Chen from Taiwan and Tjeerd Royaards from the Netherlands gave a workshop on the role and impact of political cartoons.

Why are cartoonists so often targeted by dictators and how are cartoonists coping with the rising number of autocratic regimes in Europe and the world? Stellina and Tjeerd showcase the work of a number of cartoonists who are currently in trouble because of their work and, using examples of their own work, they also explain why cartoons can have such an impact and what tools a cartoonist uses to create an effective image.

You can watch a recording of the workshop here.

Charles Beyl is a cartoonist from the United States. For 20 years, his cartoons appeared in Lancaster Newspaper's Sunday News, Lancaster, PA. Check out his website to see more of his work.

Simon Banville is an illustrator and author from Canada with over 20 years of experience in comics strip and cartoons. Check out his website to see more of his work.

A lot of work has been done in the machinery of our website over the years, in an effort to keep things running as smoothly as possible, but there hasn’t been any major work done on the way the site works since its launch in 2020. Until now.

It’s still a work in progress, as we iron out the last bugs, but we are proud to present a number of new features, such as the ability to publish animated GIFs, showing related collections and improved navigation.

These are some of the new features we implemented.

The homepage slideshow shows likes and comments:

The latest collection tile on the homepage has a title, summary and date:

Latest news now also has a title, and comments have dates:

Our footer now includes links to our Bluesky and LinkedIn account:

Our cartoons overview page now also shows the likes and comments, showing you which cartoons are popular and what's being talked about:

And our cartoonists can now upload animated GIFs, like this one by Glen Le Lievre.

Our collections now have dates...

...and individual collections show related collections:

Individual cartoons show collections they are part of:

And finally, our cartoonists portfolio pages received an upgrade:

We hope you enjoy the upgrades, and that they make it easier to navigate through the website, and to find the cartoons you want. If you encounter anything that doesn't work properly, please send us an email.

We are excited to announce Cartoon Movement is part of a new research project! The project is named DELIAH, an acronym for Democratic Literacy and Humour. DELIAH examines the multifaceted role of humor in artistic forms, cultural spaces, and online and offline fora, identifying how humor can either support or undermine democratic participation and processes in Europe.

For the next four years, DELIAH will undertake research in Spain, Belgium, Estonia, Germany, Slovakia, Spain and the Netherlands. The research is done by a consortium of universities, lead by Ghent University. The other partners are the University of Groningen, the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Comenius University Bratislava, the University of Göttingen and the University of Tartu. Cartoon Movement is part of the consortium to provide a practical perspective. The project is funded by the European Union as part of the HORIZON-CL2-2024-DEMOCRACY-01-04.

Cartoon by Steve Bonello

At the core the project is academic research, but the output is meant to be usable not only for academics, but also for policy makers, NGOs, educators, satire professionals and the average European. Throughout its four year lifespan, the project will publish toolkits and white papers that will present the research results and translate them into clear insights, policy recommendations and educational tools.

Here are some of the things we'll be doing in the next four years:

-Provide an overview of how Europeans look at humor.

-Provide an analysis of how humor can foster democratic participation.

-Create tools to recognize humor that aims to undermine democracy.

-Provide guidelines for content moderation (when is moderation warranted and when should free speech prevail).

-How to recognize humor that aims to undermine democracy.

All the output will be made available on the project website deliah.eu, but if you want to be informed about the project from time to time, we recommend you subscribe to this Substack. There we'll provide the latest project updates, news about events, interviews and a weekly cartoon about democracy.

James Mellor is an award-winning freelance cartoonist based in the UK. His work has appeared in Private Eye Magazine, The Sunday Telegraph, The Spectator, The Critic Magazine, Charlie Hebdo and numerous other publications.

We are delighted to welcome Roar Hagen, a cartoonist from Norway working for Norwegian newspaper Verdens Gang. He is also a member of Cartooning for Peace.

Cartoon by Zez Vaz

Our second monthly newsletter of the year is out! March 1st marks the start of an exciting new academic project for us; meanwhile, we are also busy preparing for the International Journalism Festival next month! You can read more about both in this issue.