Win Upto $5,000 Cash in Portrait drawing contest

Enter the Famed TERAVARNA 13th Portrait & Figurative Art Contest Now

Attention is expressed through painting a face. You can't fake it. The eye is everywhere, when proportions are wrong, or when the gesture is borrowed, whether the artist didn't actually look or have looked much more deeply inside the person just by looking at his or her from the outer surface- it can be told by the painting. Portrait artworks are the most revealing genre of painting, which requires effort and is the most magical.

Thus, portraiture has survived all the revolutions in art. Abandoned by the avant-garde. The conceptualists dubbed it "sentimental”. The market was saying it's old-fashioned all the time. Then, someone picks up a brush and paints a face, and then the room goes quiet once again.

TERAVARNA portrait drawing contest is looking for those who are brave enough to, against all odds, pick up their brushes and choose to paint a face. 

The 13th PORTRAIT International Juried Art Competition is the best portrait drawing art contest. Know all about it here. 

The Theme of the Portrait Drawing Contest  

After more than 10 years of championing artists from all continents, this year, TERAVARNA, the contemporary gallery in Los Angeles, has combined its Figurative art and Portrait program into one unified call. The figure and the face are two different ways of asking the same question: What does it mean to render a human being? What happens if the subject is more than a likeness?

It's the 13th Portrait Art Contest, a Juried Art Competition, one of the more expansive and interesting open calls taking place this year in portraiture. Realism is welcome. So is abstraction. These are all the things in between. 

You can send human and animal subjects, full figures, parts, faces in mid-thought, bodies in movement, ancestors painted from memory, strangers painted from instinct. 

Any visual media is acceptable: painting, mixed media, drawing, photography, digital, sculpture, and 3D installation. If the piece is a serious engagement with the figure or the face, then it is qualified.

The Ultimate Prizes 

Up to $5,000 in Prizes — and That's Not the Most Interesting Part

Let's get the numbers out first, as they are important.

TERAVARNA has up to $5,000 to give out in cash prizes to the winners of this international portrait competition, split into:

First Prize: $500–$1,000

Runner-Up Prize: $350–$500

Merit Prize: $250–$350

Talent Prize: $100–$250

Indeed, participants will get the Certificates of Recognition (professionally designed) for Honorable Mention and Finalist awards, which are our non-cash prize awards for the artists whose portrait artworks make a difference, and were a true competition. 

However, the prize package doesn't stop at the cash, which is what makes this one stand out for portrait artists looking to make a name for themselves.

Benefits you will get by participating in the portrait drawing contest:

ARTSY representation: First Prize winners get a six-month feature in ARTSY, and their artworks will be exhibited up to 10 in total. The runners-Up can get 5 of their portrait artworks highlighted. The participants who win the Merit Prize will get the opportunity to exhibit 3 artworks on Artsy. 

Talent Prize winners have the opportunity to get their artworks, figurative art, or any paintings or works exhibited for just $211 for 6 months on ARTSY. 

Immersive VR Showcase to Boost Profile: The VR show for all cash prize winners is presented in a simulated gallery setting, in which collectors increasingly find themselves when they discover new pieces.

Making Art Accessible to All: TERAVARNA also has special discount coupons for artists with disabilities and artists from developing countries, both of which are processed through the TERAVARNA Foundation. The figurative art and portrait art contest is designed to be accessible.

Global recognition through social media: Social media is everywhere, and via TERAVARNA's Instagram, Facebook, X, LinkedIn, and YouTube,  through curated posts, stories, reels, and carousels.

Newsletter Feature for Wider Exposure: Newsletter inclusion in TERAVARNA's monthly publication, which is sent to a large number of collectors, galleries, and other artists.

Additionally, 5% of all entry fees, not to exceed $250, is donated to NGOs carrying out the most effective conservation efforts for wildlife. A $20 donation is helping to fund a greater cause than the competition itself.

The reason why this call is worth your time.

The problem with portrait drawing contests is that there are a lot of them that are conservative. They are most fond of technical likeness, and that's not a bad thing — virtuosic likeness is its own miracle. Artists writing in more eccentric, freer, less formal idioms, however, are left out.

TERAVARNA's 13th Portrait call is clearly more inclusive. The jury is not just interested in precision, but also in power and personality. We are not looking for famous portrait paintings, but looking to make one famous. A loose oil on paper portrait of someone you love. A photo that makes someone you don't know into someone. A sculpture that has a pose that is longer than a body could be. A figurative art painting which, somehow, despite being devoid of a definite face, seems to depict a particular person's face. Everything is out on the table.

The Practical Details

Artwork entry: $20 per entry (non-refundable)

Mediums: All types of art are welcome. 

No. of Submissions: You can submit any number of artworks, up to 10, and may submit a second or more sets of artworks as well.

Image format: JPEG/JPG file, less than 2MB size preferred (5MB max), cleanly cropped, clear size, no frame or borders.

Eligibility criteria: All artists, ages 18 and up, from all over the world.

AI policy: Only Human-made work is allowed. No AI tools, AI-generated elements, AI textures, or AI upscaling should be used during the creative process. All artworks that use AI in any way are automatically disqualified.

Deadline: June 30, 2026, 11:59 PM California Time. No extensions.

It will take about 3 minutes to apply: click on “how many works you will be submitting”, then pay using a credit card or PayPal, and upload your images on the page you are redirected to. 

The notification of cash prizes will begin on 7th July, 2026, and the cash prizes will be distributed on 29th July, 2026 onwards. 

Wrapping Up 

Each face is a sort of conspiracy between the person who has it and the artist attempting to represent it. The best portrait artworks are not a picture of what people look like; they're a picture of something they didn't know they were displaying. A flicker. A piece of heavy metal is attached to the upper lid of the eye. The manner in which one carries his or her own absence.

If you are doing that — or at least trying to — then TERAVARNA's 13th best portrait drawing art contest is the place for your work.

The deadline is up and coming. Go paint.