Is this "Fake Art"???

Over the years, I’ve had conversations with fellow artists about paintings I created using a software application called ArtRage and whether they are “real art.”  At first, I was surprised that I’d have to defend the media.  But then it got me thinking about what is “real art” and what makes computer art different.  

Waterfire

Painting is all about capturing some aspect of reality in two dimensions.  Whether the artist’s style is realistic or abstract, the end result is still the artist’s individual interpretation.  The properties and techniques of watercolor are very different from oil, which are very different from pastel, which are very different from pen and ink, which are….(you get it).  Whether I put pigments mixed with oil on a primed piece of cotton canvas with a paintbrush, or chose a canvas texture and then select a color which is applied and manipulated with my mouse, I’m still creating an illusion.  

A photographer is still a photographer even if s/he uses a digital camera and a computer instead of film and a darkroom. The big difference between paint on canvas and using my computer might be that I could print up as many copies as I wanted.  As with photography, there are other media where this is possible.  This reason might influence the price, but it should not negate the skill, time etc…  

If painting as about creating an illusion would that make all "real art", in fact, "fake art"?