I like you Colonel. I'm sure I've told you that before, but I do.
Now the digital/traditional debate.
I take issue to people telling me that my digital paintings are not creative. Not referring to you, DrB, as I see your point, but I'll come back to that later. There are websites I know of that ban digital art because they think it's all a load of photo manipulation and filters. It is not. That mountain I drew (yes, drew) on the top of the 2nd page of this thread - there were no filters used, no photos used (only a reference, nothing within the file itself), no tracing was done, no sampling was done, no colour palettes were downloaded, nothing. I drew that using a pen and paper (ok, a digital pen and a graphics tablet, same thing, a little less dirt) and I shaded it using (digital) paint. A majority of digital paintings do the same. Some might take colour inspiration from another image, I bet a lot of traditional artists do the same. Some paint over elements of old works, again, something not exclusive to the digital world. True digital art is art like any other, the skills you need to make a digital painting from scratch - composition, line, value, colour theory, dynamics, space, readability - are exactly the same for creating an oil painting, the only difference is mastery of your medium.
DrB - When I digitally paint I need hand/eye connection as much as any traditional artists. If I had something like Wacom Cintiq I would literally be drawing onto the screen just as I would a piece of paper. Many, many traditional artists use photo references, plenty enough digital artists use live references - laptops and tablets are a thing. I bought my tablet so I could take it out with me and sketch. Sure, I could and do use a sketchbook, but to me digtial is just another media to choose over pencil, pastel, ink, watercolour etc.
The point you're really getting at - well I do agree with that and that is why I generally lean more towards traditional art. It's visceral, physical and you can get close to it without the use of a screen. I would hate to see all art galleries install big screens and show only digital pieces. Some, yes, as I do like to see detailed digital art on a big screen, but nothing compares to seeing a the texture of an angry oil painting, or the delicacy of watercolour over ink. Digital art is fun and breaks down a lot of limits but there's nothing quite like jabbing a brush full of oil paint at a canvas, or watching watercolour bloom and take a life of its own. That's a personal preference.
Now the digital/traditional debate.
I take issue to people telling me that my digital paintings are not creative. Not referring to you, DrB, as I see your point, but I'll come back to that later. There are websites I know of that ban digital art because they think it's all a load of photo manipulation and filters. It is not. That mountain I drew (yes, drew) on the top of the 2nd page of this thread - there were no filters used, no photos used (only a reference, nothing within the file itself), no tracing was done, no sampling was done, no colour palettes were downloaded, nothing. I drew that using a pen and paper (ok, a digital pen and a graphics tablet, same thing, a little less dirt) and I shaded it using (digital) paint. A majority of digital paintings do the same. Some might take colour inspiration from another image, I bet a lot of traditional artists do the same. Some paint over elements of old works, again, something not exclusive to the digital world. True digital art is art like any other, the skills you need to make a digital painting from scratch - composition, line, value, colour theory, dynamics, space, readability - are exactly the same for creating an oil painting, the only difference is mastery of your medium.
DrB - When I digitally paint I need hand/eye connection as much as any traditional artists. If I had something like Wacom Cintiq I would literally be drawing onto the screen just as I would a piece of paper. Many, many traditional artists use photo references, plenty enough digital artists use live references - laptops and tablets are a thing. I bought my tablet so I could take it out with me and sketch. Sure, I could and do use a sketchbook, but to me digtial is just another media to choose over pencil, pastel, ink, watercolour etc.
The point you're really getting at - well I do agree with that and that is why I generally lean more towards traditional art. It's visceral, physical and you can get close to it without the use of a screen. I would hate to see all art galleries install big screens and show only digital pieces. Some, yes, as I do like to see detailed digital art on a big screen, but nothing compares to seeing a the texture of an angry oil painting, or the delicacy of watercolour over ink. Digital art is fun and breaks down a lot of limits but there's nothing quite like jabbing a brush full of oil paint at a canvas, or watching watercolour bloom and take a life of its own. That's a personal preference.
) whereas drawing I can just sit anywhere and use anything as a support. My issue is I don't tend to treat drawings as final pieces of art, there's always more I want to do, mainly with colour or adding water to soluble graphite. I'm inclined to try oil pastel again, and I also have a small set of wax pastels (aka crayons 
) which I can try. I don't like thin pencils, they hurt my hands. 
