⚖️ 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.

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🧑‍⚖️ ROUND 1: QUALIFICATION

📅 Top 50 Announcement: October 25

Round 1 is designed to efficiently narrow the entries down to the strongest finalists.

• Each entry will be reviewed by 3 randomly assigned invited judges + the NomNom judge, for a total of 4 judges per entry.
• Each judge gives the entry one overall score from 1–10.
• The detailed weighted criteria are NOT used during Round 1.
• 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.

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🏆 ROUND 2: FINAL JUDGING

📅 Top 10 & Winners Announcement: October 31

This is where the full judging process begins.

• All 7 judges will review every finalist.
• Every finalist starts Round 2 with a clean slate – Round 1 scores do not carry over.
• Judges will score each criterion from 1-10.
• 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

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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.

🚫 WHAT WE DO NOT SCORE

To keep judging focused strictly on the painting itself, the following will not influence an entry’s score:

• Print quality – layer lines, support marks, resin defects, assembly gaps, and other printing issues are not scored directly. However, if these imperfections interfere with the painted finish or affect the visible quality of the paintwork, they may indirectly influence the evaluation.
• Degree of difficulty – contestants are working from the same approved model roster, so perceived complexity will not earn additional points.
• Scale – choosing a larger or original scale provides no scoring advantage or disadvantage.
• Photography quality – photography itself is not scored. However, the clarity and presentation of the submitted photos may affect how effectively the judges can evaluate the final painted result.

We’re excited to see what everyone brings to the judging table.
Good luck, painters! And most importantly, enjoy the process!! 😀