Why are we still Painting?

[Caesar]

While we're at it, why are we 'scrolling' down web pages?

Honestly I never even think of actual scrolls when I use that word. Language is never static, and it seems the word 'painting' is expanding in meaning.

But I don't think traditional painting is going to disappear anytime soon... Just look at the resurgence of colouring-in books dominating the adult bestseller list right now. For many people it seems traditional art-making has a zen aspect to it, which Artrage comes close to replicating, but still requires use of technology and a certain amount of analytical know-how.

The children's picture book world is an interesting one when it comes to the digital 'versus' traditional rub. I doubt very much that there are many picture book artists working today without making use of a computer for either some, most or all of their process, yet if you see an interview with that artist, or a photograph of their workspace, they'll almost always show their pots of paint and stacks of textured paper and they'll talk about their thumbnail sketches. You won't hear which art software they've been using. You won't see a photo of an illustrator standing next to their scanner, or cursing at the printer.

I guess they know that 1. that's not what consumers want to know about and 2. part of the children's picturebook product is 'nostalgia' and the illusion that it has been created by some artisan living in a quaint village with their thumb through a wooden palette, squinting to the horizon to catch the dying light.

This is why I think the term 'pixelating' or whatever isn't going to catch on anytime soon

A most interesting intervention indeed. Very pragmatic and keen. Interesting the scroll reference. Actually there was a possible reason and feeling for that choice. A scroll is read by progressively unroll it, which is more or less what seems to happen on a screen, the upper part apparently rolled again and the above unrolled I think.
Although I'm an English speaking native the term pixeling or pixelating "horrifies" me a little because if pixel is a contraction of picture element it just says that I'm just ordely placing those elements, thus no creativity or unique skill or vision neceddarily implied. Moreover picture comes from pictura (Latin) or pittura (Italian) which is an illustration or an artpiece achieved by painting, therefore, in a way we're back to painting but having lost the artistic content somehow focusing on the picture elements, the puzzle pieces placing.
I tend to concur with Gary's preference for visualizzare, but in English maybe rather than translate it into visualize, which we preponderantly associate with a pure mental activity, we may coin a neologism like visualing, which encompasses the whole artistic process from our inner vision to making it visible also through either happy and unhappy accidents and changes and not concentrating too much on the tool we use, as it is the specific case of disegnare o dipingere in Italian which probably cannot be univocally transposed in strictly coincident English words.
Anyway I'm afraid that whatever will eventually appear to be the term, it will probably take into no account linguistic subtlelty because we errouneously disregard their deep reference with our brain mechanisms, thus with a better intelligence in the sense of intelligere (Lat.), i.e understand, capture with our intellect. The same applies when we read and write by computers and similar gadgets, we lose (also according to a research test I read) the opportunity and benefits of developing a better conceptual organization, more appropriate wording, coordination of hand, spatial vision and idea etc. It's not a matter of zen. Being able to have high or unique manual or artisanal skills is a fundamental part of being human and learning, since our mind basic structures and paradigm, logical and spatial, refers predominantly to our main physical unrivalled resources and assets, to our capability of language and handicraft (homo cogitans and homo faber, i.e. that thinks and that makes).
So painting and writing the good, old way is still as much good as ever (until we fully evolve into ectoplasms with tentacular protuberances and wirelss controlling devices LOL) and tells us more about our psychology and personality apart from being useful to better develop our mind as well as specific body coordination with it.

P.S. What about virtupicting as a term? Is there any sort academy in Oxford or elsewhere dealing with this matter for English language to propose a term or apply for a copyright or a "word patent"? LOL