The contest has a panel of judges, who evaluate all the entries. The panel of judges consists of experienced painters with several awards from both national and international competitions. The panel of judges in 2024 consists of:
Kalle Lähteenmäki
instagram.com/paintingbaron
Antti Vuento
instagram.com/vuentominis
Erkka Marttio
instagram.com/marttio_miniatureart
erkkamarttio.com
Visiting Guest Judge
The judges’ panel is once again completed by a visiting guest judge to be confirmed later.
The judges will select the winners with mutual decision based on critical visual inspection and discussion. Each submitted contest work will be judged as an entity, so mastering only one area of the workpiece does not guarantee a victory. Any specific painting style is not expected or consciously preferred. The judging can never be fully objective in and of itself, but the judges will do their best to evaluate the contest works from as many points of view as possible, striving to disregard their own preferences.
The judges will at the very least take the following details into consideration:
- Paint application and technique: each part of the work has been painted meticulously and purposefully from every side and there is no texture visible in disturbing amounts in the layers of the paint itself. There is no noticeable carelessness in various painted sections’ outlines in the miniature.
- Meticulous miniature and base assembly: The paintwork has been prepared with care. Traces of mold lines and printing supports among other surface defects that do not belong to the miniature or the base in and of itself are not visible. Possible conversions have been made in high quality, so that it is difficult to distinguish them from the original miniature.
- Arrangement and composition of elements: the arrangement of the physical parts of the work have clear purpose, and thought has been put into them. The miniature and the elements of the base function as a clear entity and compliment each other, guiding the viewer’s eyes to the centerpiece of the work.
- Artistic expression, storytelling, originality: the colors of the work are harmonious and further help to convey a distinct theme, emotion or story. Thought has clearly been put into the choice and composition of colors and it supports the entity of the work together with the miniature and other parts of the base. The work one way or another conveys a new or otherwise original idea.
Cold Tones Society 