Digital artists are often more unseen than a lot of tradtional artists. Some people even say that digital art isn't "real" art. To anyone who's ever worked with Photoshop or programs like Paint Tool SAI, digital art takes just as much skill as any other art form, if not more. For reasons unknown, it causes a lot of contreversy. People who don't know what digital art really is tend to think there's a magic button that says "make art". This of course is not true, and actually quite ridiculous.
Digital artist are obviously artists, as the name implies. However there are many types of digital art. There's painting, photomanipulation, photography, animation, vectoring, fractal art, and many more. As more programs are made, and technology advances, more art forms will arise and grow.
A lot of digital artists are self-taught. Photoshop is a skill you can pick up easily on your own, as well as drawing skills. However, some colleges do offer a digital art program. Though, some have a general art degree. There's not much of a point to get higher than Bachelor's degree. Again, you can be pretty sucessful without a degree, and some technology centers offer courses for digital design.
Part 2