As we get closer to the start of the NomNom Figures Painting Contest, it’s time to introduce the judges who will be evaluating your work and reveal exactly how the judging process will be conducted.
Our goal is to ensure that every entry is judged fairly, consistent, and focused entirely on the quality of each entry.
🧑⚖️ MEET THE JUDGES
We are proud to officially introduce the first members of our judging panel:
🔸Carol Ottolini: instagram.com/carolottolini
🔸Groundeffected: youtube.com/@Groundeffected
🔸Winter Studio: instagram.com/winter3dstudio
🔸Timothy (Tday3d): instagram.com/tday3d
🔸Sally Studio 3D: instagram.com/sallystudio_3d/
🔸Mimic Hobby: instagram.com/mimic_hobby/
🔸NomNom Figures: patreon.com/NomnomFigures
⚖️ HOW JUDGING WILL WORK
🔸 BEFORE JUDGING: JUDGE CALIBRATION
Before reviewing the official contest entries, all judges will participate in a calibration session using the same sample entries. This allows the panel to align their understanding of the scoring standards before official judging begins and helps make scoring more consistent across the panel.
🔒 BLIND JUDGING
Entries will be presented to the judges without identifying the contestant. The focus will remain on the submitted work itself, not the artist behind it.
🧑⚖️ ROUND 1: QUALIFICATION
📅 Top 50 Announcement: October 25
Round 1 is designed to efficiently narrow the entries down to the strongest finalists.
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Each entry will be reviewed by 3 randomly assigned invited judges + the NomNom judge, for a total of 4 judges per entry.
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Each judge gives the entry one overall score from 1–10.
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The detailed weighted criteria are NOT used during Round 1.
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Scores are averaged to determine the Top 50 highest-scoring entries.
If multiple entries are tied at the cutoff score, all entries sharing that score will advance, so the finalist pool may exceed 50.
🏆 ROUND 2: FINAL JUDGING
📅 Top 10 & Winners Announcement: October 31
This is where the full judging process begins.
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All 7 judges will review every finalist.
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Every finalist starts Round 2 with a clean slate – Round 1 scores do not carry over.
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Judges will score each criterion from 1-10.
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Scores will then be calculated according to the official weighting below.
🎨 OFFICIAL ROUND 2 JUDGING CRITERIA
The average Round 2 scores from all 7 judges will determine the:
🏆 Grand Champion
🥈 2nd Place
🥉 3rd Place
⭐ Top 4–10
Round 1 is about qualifying for the finals.
Round 2 is where every finalist receives a deeper evaluation from the full judging panel based on technique, colour and lighting, detail, finish, presentation, and overall impact.
📌 For complete contest information, rules, guidelines, and prizes, please visit our official Painting Contest page:
We’re excited to see what everyone brings to the judging table.
Good luck, painters! And most importantly, enjoy the process!! 😀
