For two years in a row the judging panel, chosen by Ms Morton, has selected works by younger, emerging artists as winners - despite entries including paintings by established artists from around Australia.

"What's very interesting is often we get entries from artists who are very well known or who have been finalists in the Archibald Prize and the judges don't select their work for the Kilgour Prize," Ms Morton said. "It's often quite surprising who doesn't make the cut.

"This is blind judging, we're just judging from the image. So we don't know until we get to the end who the person is.

"That's what we love about the prize ... it's got a really broad appeal."

This year is no different, with the 30 finalists of the figurative and portraiture prize hailing from five different states. Works from newcomers such as Newcastle's Leeroy Chapman will hang alongside paintings by past winner Peter Gardiner and former Archibald Prize winner Nigel Milsom - also Novocastrians.

A local figure who has consistently made the cut is Lambton's Michael Bell. Mr Bell has entered the prize seven times and has never missed out on a place in the finals.

Well-known for his paintings of Newcastle's dog beach, Mr Bell said his entry this year "The After Party" steps back into the interior of his studio and includes a "very odd self portrait".

"It looks like I am about seven years old ... I was sort of thinking about time passing and looking back at a fair period of time," he said.

The painting melds together a studio he travelled to in Thailand last year, and some of its regular animal visitors, as well as an ancient Roman bust.

"Things in it have been borrowed from different periods of art history. It's a messy studio interior, pretty much like my environment."

The winner of the prize will be announced at 5.30pm on Friday at the Newcastle Art Gallery. Finalist works can be viewed until October 13.

Mr Bell will speak about his work with other finalists on Saturday between 1.30pm and 3pm.

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