ARE DIGITAL CREATIONS ART?

Over the years I've experienced some difficulty in accepting photographic processes as a means of making art. By this I mean photo etching, and various other photomechanical processes. I do acknowledge, however, that a degree of expertise is involved in manipulating the photo processes. All the same I feel that there something ingenuous about using cameras, and the like, to make original art. It suggests a lack of various artistic skills encouraging the taking of shortcuts. So, and this runs counter to my personal views, the other day experiencing a bit of a creative block I went off surfing the web seeking inspiration and, in the midst of my search, I ended up at the App Store exploring various digital sketching and painting programs. Some seemed quite interesting, and as a few were free to download I reviewed and installed a version of Sketchbook Express.

My first attempt at making a sketch was a bit tentative, so I tried another, then another..........and I find that I'm quite liking the experience. It's actually quite amazing what can be accomplished with the various tools and an apparent unlimited colour palette. I also quite enjoy the fact that there's little to no preparation involved, and the clean up afterwards involves........well, actually, nothing.

Northern Ontario Landscape - Digital Sketch

Lake Superior landscape   Digital Sketch

Lake Superior Provincial Park Landscape   Digital Sketch

The question that now arise is whether this is art? Should I print it off and sign it, or should I be content to simply allow it to exist in its digital state and store it in a file on my computer? I'm also wondering if I should purchase a tablet of some sort and go off sketching? Technology, eh! It was suppose to make life easier.