When a mouse comes between the artist and the artistic impulse, it’s time for a graphics tablet. Looking like a slimmed down Etch A Sketch, graphics tablets or electronic art pads allow you to draw, write or doodle on a surface more akin to a traditional art pad. Instead of a mouse, you use a tool that resembles a pen, giving a more natural feel when putting “pen” to pressure-sensitive surface.

Art Pad from Cool i-Cam, makers of mini digital cameras, is an easy-to-use graphics pad at a modest price. For pound;49.95 you get an attractive translucent blue tablet with an active drawing area of 15.2cm by 11.4cm (actual size, 23.4cm by 23.2cm). The tablet is sold with a matching cordless mouse and pen - both requiring an AAA battery.

Loading the software is easy; you need a USB connection for the pad. When opening the graphics package, Art Dabbler from Corel, you can pick your colour, effect and drawing tool, including crayon, chalk, paint and pen. There’s also a flipbook animation tool.

With the pen you get nuances that are difficult to attain with the mouse. As the pad is pressure sensitive, the harder you press, the thicker the line on-screen. A class will be creating and printing out Christmas card designs within a couple of hours.

The package also includes Microsoft NetMeeting for sharing your creations on the internet, and Pen Soft, which gives the option of annotating Word documents with text or pictures created on Art Pad or of converting handwriting to type.

Art Pad is an entry-level product so you don’t get transparent overlays, huge drawing areas or deluxe graphics. Easy pen from NISIS, available for about pound;80, is the closest in price but it looks dull in comparison. You can pay upwards of pound;150 for high-end models.

Art Pad may not be as “organic” as the real thing, but it’s less messy. It’s also more intuitive than relying solely on a mouse, and you don’t have to worry about scanners.

Yolanda Brooks