Paul Pickard

I am a retired IT Professional. I have an Associate’s degree (2 year, 1979) in Graphic Arts, Pre-Digital. I worked very briefly in the field, as it did not pay the bills and was incredibly stressful. A few years later in 1983 I went back to college and took a year long program in Mechanical Technology at a Technical college (RIT) in Rochester, NY. I learned Computer aid drafting (AutoCAD) and the processes of design and manufacturing, which included drawing a mechanical part using CAD and then using CNC machines to cut the part. I also learned to use various other large machine shop tools. It was a great experience. I was a Drafter/Designer for about 10 years. Then, I caught the computer hardware/software bug and was all-in. That led me to my last career change - the Information Technology Profession. It was the perfect fit for me.
Anyway, now that I am retired, I picked up Art again. My big mistake was I stopped drawing in 1985. I told myself I would pick it back up after I retired. Well, here I am and I think I lost my mojo. For example: The drawing I posted in my profile, would have taken me a couple of hours to draw back in the 1980’s. It took me about 2 weeks to finish (I had to do a lot of thumbnails and I had to walk away from it many times). Even now when I look at the drawing, I want to tweak it. Ha-ha. I guess I am a perfectionist – and that, in a nutshell, is my problem. I want to try something out of my comfort zone. I have been looking at videos of artist who work loosely - Robert Joyner being one of them. I want to try watercolor. My comfort zone media is pencil, charcoal and soft pastels. With that said, it’s time to get back at it.
Other interests: Table Tennis, Walking, Bicycling, Motorcycling, Music, Reading and a News Junkie.