The Perfect Mother’s Day Gift!

Mother’s Day is just around the corner. Mark your calendars for May 9th!

You may be wondering what to get the mother in your life this year. Have you thought about your wife and mother of your own amazing kids? What could a loving husband possibly give her to say “thank you” for the countless hours of love and nurturing that she gives to your family, for the sleepless nights, and tender care?

This year, I would like the husbands reading this to consider a gift that will blow your wife away and likely produce the good kind of cry. A custom, timeless portrait of her children!

Every year, I get requests around this time for Mother’s Day custom portraits. They are some of my favorite projects. Get some of my recent drawings below, and keep reading to find out how you can save over $150.

The Big Giveaway!

This year, I’d like to offer $30 off and 4 free 11×14 prints of a custom drawing to one lucky person. The prints alone are valued at $125, and they make great gifts for grandparents and other family members! I will have a third party choose the winner randomly from the visitors who comment on this post by March 31.

If you prefer, you may purchase a gift certificate for the amount of your portrait to present to your wife so that you can choose the reference photo together!

If you’re still looking for more gift ideas, you can find lots of additional Mothers Day gifts at 1800Flowers to find the perfect compliment to your custom portrait.

Watch me work in this entertaining video:

I have several more speed drawing videos here if you’d like to see more.

Best Products for Work & Productivity from 2009

There are a lot of inventive, genius products and services out there, and I enjoyed my fair share of them in 2009! I want to share them with you.

Mint.com – Free

I’ve always been really good at keeping up with where my money goes. It started with Excel spreadsheets and watching bank statements closely. At the end of each month, I’d meticulously categorize spending in areas like food, gas, business expenses, mortgage, etc. Mint.com has simplified this month-end process. Now? I simply log in and look at pie charts and already categorized spending and take it all in. It’s beautiful! You can create your own categories or use existing ones. Compare your spending to national averages, track bank transfers, payments, and basically stay on budget! Add all of your accounts to monitor them on one site: bank accounts, mortgage loans, car loans, mutual funds, other stocks, and credit cards if you use them. I’m still amazed that this service 100% secure and free!

Practical application: Fantastic for helping you start a realistic budget without a lot of fuss. Just track your spending for a couple of months and see the areas that could be improved.

iPhone – $99+

When these first came out, I thought, “That’s ridiculous. I’m not paying more than $400 for a phone! I was using a Blackberry and it seemed to do everything I needed. Fast forward a couple of years. iPhones are now really affordable (especially refurbished), and my monthly plan is actually less than it was on my Blackberry because GPS capabilities are built in and free. I had been paying $10/month for Blackberry’s GPS service. So, now I have access to the world at my fingertips. Not only do I get style points (which are important for an artist), but the iPhone really increases my productivity. I have apps that allow me to update my clients’ WordPress sites on the fly, check the weather, measure things, track finances, listen to my favorite music, show off my portable portfolio, read the Bible, supply white noise while on vacaction, and even help me learn chords on the piano. There’s simply no substitute (yet)