Welcome to RADPencilArt Blog

Hello and welcome to my blog RAD Pencil Art. As this is the first posting on this blog, let me tell you a little about myself. I am Robert Dillard; a manager of a computer help desk working for the US federal government. I'm married to my wonderful and supportive wife Tina and have two grown sons. Now from the above you might have guessed that I am not a professional artist. However, I do have a love of drawing and art as a whole.

So why is an IT professional writing a blog about drawing? Well, the simple answer is “Everyone needs a hobby” and mine happens to be drawing. As many of us when we are young, we love to draw and I was no different. I would also say that I did not really display any great artistic ability. Yes. I could draw and for the most part, people could even identify some of the items I drew. It was not until I was in middle school that I started to take a more serious interest in drawing. I had a research project for school and as a part of it I drew a tyrannosaurus rex from a dinosaur book. Yes, as many kids, I had a fascination with dinosaurs. Anyway, I was really proud of this drawing, because it was the first drawing that I ever did that really looked like the reference. (Wish I still had a copy of it somewhere to share on this blog)

Fast forward to high school, I did not take up art. I heard of this thing called drafting and decided that I want to focus on that. So, through high school I focused on mechanical drawing, which is still a form of drawing and art, but without the freedom. Through high school, I took a drafting class every year and two my senior year. After graduating I went to a small junior college to continue my study of drafting. However, after my first semester in college I had become board of school and needed something to do with my life. So, I ended up going and joining the military without even telling anyone in my family that I signed up. (That maybe a subject for a future blog). Anyway, I spent 20+ years in the military doing IT work, retired and did another 9 years as a contractor. Now I am a federal employee managing a computer help desk.

My point for the history lesion is to show that you do not have to be a professional artist or a natural talent to have a love of art and be good at drawing. I believe everyone can draw, it only takes the desire to do so and practice. I can’t state that enough, practice is key. If you think about it, that goes for almost everything in life. If you want to be good at something you need do it over and over again. Through practice you get better. My goal is to help you along the way and show you what I have learned over the years of drawing and hopefully encourage you to try it. Now I am going to end this first blog here. Please join me each week and I will walk you through my drawing process and show you that you too can draw.

On a side note:

 I am launching this blog on National Drawing Day in the United States. This is one of those Happy Little Accidents that Bob Ross always talked about in his PBS Painting Show. (I am a big fan). Anyway, happy National Drawing Day to everyone, now take some time and gets the pencils out and DRAW.