Most of America spends their evenings sitting around the TV. This is fine and sometimes there are some great shows on to watch together. The real problem with watching TV is that it usually involves snacking (too much) and families don’t get a chance to spend the quality time together that they need.

Here's a great way to spend quality time with your family and get everyone (that wants to) involved. Start a "Drawing Challange!"

A drawing challange is best done between two people. In my case it's between my son (Ryan age 15) and me (I'm 47). We decided to pick a series of "reference pictures" to draw from. At first you want to make them pretty simple so it's still fun and you don't lose interest. Then you can add some that are little more difficult later. Don't worry about messing up, this is just for fun!

My son Ryan is a good artist for sure. He's always had an interest but I wanted to really get him going and this kind of challenge was just the trick. By challenging your kids, you not only teach them to get better, your skills will improve too.

Every drawing that we did, we tried to create a realistic look. In order to pull this off you have to show depth in your drawing but using a shading technique that I've learned over the years. I use a good HB pencil and gummy eraser to begin with. I then blend my pencil marks with a "tortillion" or blending stump. This is a great way to make a drawing appear lifelike.

The top drawing of the "Sphere and hand" was certainly more difficult to make the "globe" appear like it was really made out of glass, creating a reflection of the person holding it.

The second one the "Two Hands Drawing" was fun and had its degree of difficulty. This piece is supposed to look like the two hands are creating themselves as they go. The area with less detail appears flat and the hands themselves appear to be lifting off the paper. This is a result of using the tortillion and a good pencil and eraser effect.

It won’t be long until I'll be struggling to keep up with him!

You can see on this drawing that Ryan is beginning to understand how to shade effectively using a tortillion and eraser.

I can hardly wait till the next one!

Can you tell which "Batman" movie this one came from? Michael Keeton is Batman!

No mistaking this guy! It's Elvis in all of his glory. Ryan went back to Florida before we could complete this challenge. I emailed him the reference picture and he's already finished his, but I don't have a copy of it yet to place beside mine. As soon as I do, I will add his drawing of the "King!"

Update: I got Ryan's drawing and posted it next to mine

 I just finished this drawing and emailed Ryan the reference pic for him to draw from. Hope to get it soon.

The picture below was taken this morning as I was sketching the drawing above. My little girl, Emily might very well follow into her "Daddies" footsteps! She is only three, but I can see BIG things from her soon!

I hope you enjoyed this hub as much as I had fun making it.

Please leave me comments, and make suggestions on another "Drawing Challenge."

PS If you would like to get a personal hand drawn portrait of you or a loved ones, please visit this address www.soulreflectionsbyjeff.com