Actually, this wouldn't be the first year I've given away hand-drawn charcoal portraits for Christmas gifts.  I've done these every year since the nieces and nephew were born.

With five kids of our own, the family has always been wrung tight to come up with gifts for the extended family.  Since we generally can't afford to buy presents for everyone, I began to draw portraits.

It made perfect sense.  Portraiture really doesn't cost me much more than time.  A portrait is a gift that comes from the heart, to the heart.  I think we all appreciate the end result: me (the artist), the family recipient, and some day, when the portrait subject is all grown up, she'll appreciate it, too.

To my mind, an original hand-drawn portrait is the best gift I could personally give--better than anything I could've picked out of a store.