Here is a drawing of my 3 nephews!!
 

Here is a drawing of my 3 nephews; small, medium and large! Aren't they cute?? They live only 2 hours away, and are really great boys. I did this drawing for my sister-in-law for her Mother-in-law's birthday.

Wow, Michelle that is beautiful. You are so talented. :)

Oh wow! That is beautiful! I love it! The receiver of that pic is going to be sooooo touched!

You never fail to amaze me with your artistic talents!

So good and lots of details! I like it :p

Very good! You are awesome! I wish I was even a little talented!

Wow! I think that one tops all of your artwork that i have seen.
Fabulous :D

Nice job , soon it will be three men ..they grow so fast .

Wow, did you draw it or photoshop it because everything matches up perfectly even down to the water ripples and the detail in the very background.
Can you draw Yorkies that exact because I would love to pay you to do a detailed sketch of my yorkies that is as exact as that drawing.

Wow...that is awesome...and as a mother of 3 boy's I know that she will love it. I have one that I would like to send you and see about you drawing it for me. It is on my computer at work. I will send it to you Monday. I have a poem I found last year that I want to put in a frame with a picture of my boys and I was just thinking this morning about what picture I wanted to use and I think one drawn like this would be perfect! You may want to use the poem for your sil.

Boys

Day to day traumas, day to day joys,
Day to day crises of three little boys.
Wall to wall clothing, wall to wall toys,
Wall to wall wheeling and rolling and noise.

Eyeball to eyeball, head to head fights,
Heart to heart talks when I turn out the lights.
Neck 'n neck races and tangled up kites;
Double code secrets, mysterious rites.

Baseball, football, and basketball "champs,"
Demolition experts in vases and lamps.
Everyday darlings, everdya scamps;
Kisses and valentines...and frogs, cold and damp.

Let's hear it for boys! As mother of three
I pray every night that blessed they might be.
While I have his ear, I ask God to see
To Patience, sanity and survival - for me.

Norma Sadler Hansen

Thanks so much!! I use the grid system so that everything comes out matching just right. I did take some liberties with the scenery and the water. I know that the farther away the more muted and gray it should be, but I wanted the reflection of the trees in the water to show. I can do animals and people too. I used 2b, 4b, 6b, and 8b graphite pencils. This one took me a long time to do since it was for my sister-in-law who has always been there for me. The youngest is hers by birth, and the two older ones are by marriage, but you would never know. The boys have brought so much to our family and I treasure them. I wanted it to be just right and she wrote back in tears. I told her it was the least I could do since she has done so much for me!
When you use the grid system you can get very good details, I used 1/2" grid for this one. I also used my blending stick to try to soften almost all areas. I have been doing many more drawings lately and really love it. I just started with photoshop and corel, but am just learning. LOL I had to get the video professor cd's to learn about what are pallettes and layers. I'm still on the first of 3 cd's. I did do a digital painting of my niece, that a thread on here. All I had to do was paint over her picture, called muck up, and then change brushes for oils and then use a clone thing to bring back her face more. I really loved it! I printed it out on textured art paper and then used Krylon glossy spray on it! It looks like a real painting. Well I guess it is. I have the tablet and stylus. So much less mess than my other paintings :D Thanks again and I'll post a drawing of a dog soon. I have one on commission. I'm going to stay with the 1/2" grid to get better details. It's easier now since I made some grids on clear plastic and can put that over the photo. I little trick I learned from another artist on here!

Thank you so much. I am going to print the poem out and frame it to go under the drawing! She will be thrilled!!

You are really good at what you do! Keep it up!

I know you don't want to do this to the original, but if I read your post correctly, your SIL is giving the original to her MIL. If you are going to frame a copy for your SIL, you may want to think about doing it this way.

I am in my 3rd year of University for Illustration and have never seem someone have such luck with the grid system. You must have had to do a million little squares to have your sketch turn out that percise.
I also work a lot on Photoshop so I know all the tricks and tools on there.
I can't wait to see your dog drawing.

Love it! You keep getting better. Makes me want to hop in that picture and go for a walk with the boys.

I couldn't help but notice, though, how one of the ducks in your picture looks like a face with a hat on. If I discover this is another subtle dig at me and that silly hat, I'm never gonna speak to you again!

Darn, it's too small to enlarge, but you get the picture.