Digital Painting?

Okay, Here's an interesting question: Is there such a thing as digital painting?

It's a long-lasting argument that a friend and I have been having for quite some time. I argue that the process of painting requires the inclusion of hand and tool, a medium that can be mixed to create different hues, and represented compositionally on a flat surface (with the possible exception of reliefs, but that borders on sculpture).

When I do my work, I'm using a wacom tablet,  and use an electronic pen. I use Adobe Photoshop, which allows me to mix colors by placing one ontop of the other with the brush tool to create  a different hue. Lastly, it's pretty obvious that a monitor displays a flat image, and Adobe Photoshop doesn't operate in terms of 3-D rendering. So, these all fit into my understanding of painting. I feel like when I'm making artwork on the computer, it feels a lot like I am in the process of painting, which would probably be most akin to gouache, airbrush and watercolor if I were using physical mediums.

She says that painting includes other elements; that it requires the physical hand-to-surface interaction, and the physical act of mixing pigments. Also, an oil, fresco or other tactile painting has a quality that digital work can never have, which is the interaction of the painting with its environment. IE, A painting displayed in a room with a set lighting surrounded by other paintings will have a different impression than a painting found in an attic, or just different lighting and different paintings around it.... or no paintings. Also, part of the experience of viewing a painting is being able to study it from up close, far away, side to side, acknowledging the tacticity of how the painting was done.

What's interesting is that I have to agree with the last point, to some degree; a picture of a painting doesn't have the same impact of seeing the physical painting. What I find interesting is that the physical manifestation of a digital piece- a high-resolution print out, for example- doesn't have the same impact as the original artwork on the computer screen it was done on. So, although seeing a picture of a physical painting on the internet doesn't have the impact of seeing it in person on a wall, seeing a picture of a digital work on the internet is actually closer to the original work than seeing its physical manifestation. However, does that mean that a painting needs to be a physical object, or that seeing an original digital painting just means seeing it displayed in an electronic format (computer monitor)?


Thoughts anyone?

Or am I just overthinking this? I think the issue is very important, because what I believe are digital paintings are becoming increasingly popular at increasing speed... the speed of technological growth that is. As we create new mediums, so artists develop new tastes and new styles, which ultimately decides the future of the art scene. Relevant, yes? No?