[CONTEST] ArtHelper Selects: Portrait + People

Antiquity of the Soul, pastel 16” x 24” - Steven Paul Carlson

This black and white portrait captures a radiant smile from Florence Mattison, the historic Conway, Arkansas educator who started one of the first free lunch programs for young students in the U.S.

When I first made this image, it took my breath away. I said to myself, “It feels like God is looking out of her eyes.” The gentle curves of her expression hold a lifetime of stories and wisdom.

This piece not only honors her legacy but also holds the inspiration for resilience and grace.

This painting is of a nomadic Tuareg woman who lives in the Sahara Desert. She was trained by the Nomad Foundation (a non-profit I founded) in Niger to be a traditional birth attendant. She delivers babies in a tent, with no electricity or running water--her courage inspires me. Her name is Tamoumoune.

My Muse (my Hubby) 2025

Kyïv, Ukraine

Graphite on paper, 50x40 cm

#wheelchairartist #customportrait

This Painted image was inspired by a visit to Italy some years ago. I was wandering down a quiet back alley and cam across this guy with his art which is titled ‘Taking a Break’. I based the painted image around the style of Jack Vettriano as I love his artwork.

Charcoal on Strathmore

I Am My Brother's Keeper

The window to the soul.

Captured on location using natural light in the UAE.

This is a portrait of my son taken in 2016. I had just started taking photos, and this one won a 2nd place prize at the local nature center.

Azure Gaze” Acrylics, Gold leaf and Resin on 36” x 48” gallery wrapped canvas

“No One’s Coming To Save You” 9”x12” ink on water color paper

Quiet harbor reflection

“Artificial Ignorance “ Alla Prima oil painting on gessoed wooden panel

My son who we list December 2023 one of my only graphite drawings it was so painful

"Doll Maker from Cabo", Oil on Linen, by Vic Ritchey. I saw this lady sitting along side of the road in Cabo, Mexico. I knew it would be an interesting painting so I took a snapshot and it turned out better than I thought. This is one of my favorite paintings that I completed.

Portrait, oil on canvas, 18x20 inches.

The Gift hand painted on silk. What could it be? Her new robe, her necklace, or her baby?

In this acrylic painting I wanted to express the innocence of childhood play on a golden summer’s afternoon, where a little girl is having fun blowing “dandelion clocks”, utterly absorbed in her play. I used unusual colours to create the tones in her hair, to give the painting more vibrancy and glow. @Jan Calderwood Fine Art

“In your darkest times, when you feel most alone, remember that love is always there.  You might not feel it, might not see it, but ask for it.  And it will come”.

Where the Fuck Is the Love confronts the moment a woman stands at the edge of disillusionment and chooses truth over silence.

The work draws on the archetype of Mary Magdalene - not as a figure of shame or submission, but as a woman of insight, sovereignty, and emotional courage. Her gaze is steady, unapologetic, and unafraid to ask the question many avoid. The question itself is both confrontation and invocation: a refusal to accept emotional absence as normal, and a demand for love to be reclaimed as power.

This painting speaks to women standing fully in themselves - not softened, not diminished, but present in their complexity. The rawness of the surface, the urgency of the text, and the intensity of colour reflect the internal terrain of transformation: grief, anger, vulnerability, and awakening held simultaneously.

In Tracie Eaton’s practice, colour functions as emotional language. Purple signals deep transformation and spiritual authority; aqua carries feminine intuition and heart-led communication; pink reveals what has been hidden and insists on love’s visibility; white opens space for clarity and wholeness. These colours are not decorative - they are intentional carriers of meaning.

Where the Fuck Is the Love embodies Tracie Eaton’s broader practice of translating lived emotional experience into abstraction and figurative presence. It positions love not as sentimentality, but as truth, agency, and reclamation - particularly for women who choose to stand in their power rather than shrink in their pain.

Dimensions: 84.5cm(w) x 3.5cm(d) x 127cm(h)

Acrylic and mixed media on canvas, stretched over dibond and pine framing

Oil on canvas 20”x30”

Self-portrait

Soft pastels on paper

18x24

"Maize Farmer" A Native American/African American farmer and agronomist scientist who was experimenting with various varieties of hardy corn crops to help his tribe sustain itself, his mother being the Matriarch of a N.C. Tuscarora tribe. 20"x24" Oil on Gallery-wrapped canvas.

My hand drawn digital illustration "Retro Vibes".

The Pilgrim’s Devotion — Leh, Ladakh, circa mid-1980s, Kodachrome 64

I encountered this woman in the streets of Leh. This striking image captures a Ladakhi pilgrim, her face etched by years of mountain sun and faith.

Deep blue eyes and wispy curls add a touch of classic charm and pure “Innocence” to this translucent watercolor portrait.

My Blanket Covers Me 30”x20” Oil on Canvas

Oil on panel: José de Felipe, director of the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid choir, giftedwhen he retired circa 2007

Morning Catch

Acrylic on Canvas

This is a portrait of Michael, a Jamaican spear fisherman I met on vacation:

canon camera photo in workshop

My portrait of Freddie Mercury from Queen.

Linda Sacketti art

Desire for connection A4 piece of paper

Wings of Dawn

There is a moment just before the day begins
when everything is still…
and full of possibility.

This painting lives in that moment.

She is not looking outward,
but inward—
where the first light appears.

What rises within her becomes the world:
open sky, gentle water,
wings in motion…
a quiet sense of freedom.

For me, this piece is about remembering
that every new beginning starts in the mind.
The light we see…
is the light we allow ourselves to feel.

Wings of Dawn is an invitation
to pause,
to breathe,
and to return to that place inside
where hope begins again.

First of all, I need to say that I am not a portrait person. However, sometimes you just can't help yourself. Came across this fellow at the local Ren-Fest a few weeks ago. He must be a regular, because he knew just how to pose. Then, the sunlight was beaming through in such a way as to create a high key light that outlined him. All I had left to do was focus, get the exposure right, and push the button. Taken with a Mamiya C330s and Tmax 400 film. This is a selective scan from the original negative.

Time Traveling Preacher

"Portrait No. 1"

2020

oil on canvas

65 x 60 cm

A Journey of Faith and Reflection captures a serene moment of a young woman in prayer, seated on a church pew. The soft light filtering through stained glass creates a tranquil atmosphere, inviting viewers to reflect on their own spiritual journeys.

“Emerald in Hope” painted in oils on copper panel! She knows hope is around the corner! By Diana Budler