Excellent. Given that the spouse supports making this $44 investment, I say that the artist should go for it. Here are some additional ideas:

• If money still needs to be saved to purchase the tablet, are there micro-crowdfunding options available?
• I'm aware of several illustrators who have gone to Patreon and utilized that as an extra income stream; perhaps the artist should look into that.
• Would the artist be willing to post some of their past work here on Steemit? It is possible that exposing their work to Steemit might impress someone enough that they'd be willing to order some commissioned art. Bonus points (and cash) if the artist and prospective client can work out a deal that involves two versions of the same commissioned artwork; one made from the old tablet and the other from the new one.