Whether digital art is 'real art' has been a subject that has been widely debated over the years, there has been many artists speaking about this topic because it has always had this stigma surrounding it, a lot people seem to be under the impression digital art is a form of cheating when it comes to creating artwork. Majority of Digital artists come from doing traditional work first before picking up a graphics tablet and a lot of the time they use their skills they have learnt in their digital work. the process of learning how to digital paint and draw is the same as using any other medium yet it's a lot more cleaner and streamlined.
There is also often a lot of talk of a disconnect when it comes to digital art, this is due to digital art not being tangible as well as the cheapest of drawing tablets not having screens; you physically have to look at your screen and not look at what your hand is doing. A way to combat this is having a graphics tablet with a screen such as a Wacom Cintiq, it makes the learning curve a lot less steep but it will still be there; from personal experience it took myself a long time to get used to and more comfortable using a graphics tablet.
The stigma digital art has lingers to this day as many, including professionals don't see it as proper 'art'
Opinions of other artists from their personal experiences:
Quotes from Journals and Articles:
"what matters
most is the end
result, not the process
employed." - Just Enjoy the Pictures:
Hand-Crafted Versus Digital Art
by Julie Danielson, The Horn Book Magazine, March/April 2014, Page 44
"Not so long ago another category appeared—digital art. The computer has turned out to be a powerful tool for an artist. It provides a clean workspace, with the freedom to make mistakes. It's so powerful that traditional artists have started to look at it as some kind of unfair extension. One pen instead of a bunch of pencils with different softness, all the brushes that need to be cleaned all the time, charcoal, ink and whatever you'd like to use? One machine for every size, shape and material of canvas, for every color and way of blending? Everything neatly placed on your desk, with the option to save for later? A dream tool for lazy people!"
"Here's the problem: a computer isn't an art tool. It's not a substitute for a brush, or canvas. It's a set of tools that lets you create an image of reality in the same format as photos. That's all. Does it make the creation process more convenient? Yes. Does it make it easy? No."
