Yes, I did draw it "in Paint or something!"

Actually I don't know what it was first created in - I stared with it as an "actor" from a 2D animation program, called "Tales Animation", which I really like. You can download it from http://www.dollysoft.com/index.htm. Unfortunately, the site seems currently inactive.

I modified the character several times (with at least three different programs) before deciding to use it as an avatar for this forum. When I decided to do that, I also decided to see how small I could make the file and still have it look OK - for that I used a combination of Paint Shop Pro to do the pixel reduction and Paint to restore hard outlines afterward.