[dlwj]

Here's what I personally see:

Pencil on Paper vs Vector Pen Tool on Computer. The difference between these tools doesn't matter. Neither will teach you about the importance of proportion of characters bodies, or how the illusion of depth can be achieved.

Sure making a curve with a pen tool is very hard, and sometimes a very simple thing you can do with a pencil will utterly flummox you with the pen tool but the end result is worth it. The beauty and scalability of the resulting curve is unparalleled.

http://www.paulgraham.com/hp.html

"A programming language is for thinking of programs, not for expressing programs you've already thought of."