KublaBrush Painting Competition

KublaAwards 2025

Introduction

Each participant may enter two entries in any of three categories: Journeyman, Masters, or KublaKids.

In addition, we are introducing a new partnership program with our Legendary Sponsors. Beyond the two initial entries, participants may also submit one entry for each manufacturer award. See the Manufacturer Awards section below for more information.

All categories are judged in the open system, which means entries will be judged according to the overall quality of the piece, according to the painting quality, difficulty, creativity and presentation of the art work.

Entries that have been submitted in other competitions are eligible, but past KublaBrush entries are not allowed. Participants must enter their own work and must be registered badge holders for KublaCon.

Every care will be taken by Kubla staff to ensure the safety of competition entries, but Kublacon staff, volunteers, and hotel cannot be held responsible for lost, damaged or unclaimed entries. Please reclaim entries anytime on Sunday, or Monday morning before noon.

Entry implies consent for Kublacon to photograph and display entries during the convention, the awards show, and online.

Manufacturer Awards from our Legendary Sponsors

In addition to the basic restriction of two entries per painter, participants may also submit one additional entry from each of our Legendary Sponsors.

Since we have six Legendary Sponsors, that means that each participant could theoretically submit eight entries: two, plus one for each Legendary Sponsor. Please note that judging criteria will not change for manufacturer awards.

The Legendary Sponsors, at this point in time, are:

For example: You could enter two Reaper models as your two entries; then you could also enter a Zombiesmith mini, as the Sponsor entry does not count towards the two figure limit.

Or in addition to the two initial entries, you may enter a Reaper mini, a Zombiesmith mini, a Skull & Crown mini, and a Bombshell mini. We have 6 Legendary Sponsors, so you may enter an extra model for each of these if you wish.

Categories of the Contest

The Journeyman category is intended for artists who are up-and-coming or still developing their skills. A gold in the Journeyman category is quite an achievement, and is an indication that the artist might be ready to compete in Masters.

The Masters category is intended for artists who have already achieved a high level of excellence in miniature art. A gold trophy in Masters is given in recognition of an artist’s exceptional accomplishment in painting, creativity, and presentation.

For our younger artists, the KublaKids category is for participants ages 15 and under, and their entries will be judged in a separate open system according to their creativity and skill.

Awards

Each participant will receive one medal (Journeyman) or trophy (Masters) for the piece that the judges deem to be the highest quality. Other entries will receive tokens according to the level of the piece (Gold, Silver, Bronze, or Certificate).

There will be multiple gold, silver and bronze awards for all categories. This is not a podium system, where only three people receive prizes; everyone whose entry is at gold level quality will receive a gold medal or trophy; the same goes for those at the silver and bronze level, of course. Those who are not yet at a bronze level will receive a Certificate of Achievement.

Of course we will have two important awards for overall excellence in miniature art: Best in Show and People’s Choice.

The judges will determine which figure is the Best in Show from among the gold Masters entries. KublaCon attendees will vote on their favorite mini for the Peoples’ Choice award.

Judging

All efforts will be made to ensure that judging is fair and transparent. Judges will work in teams of three or more and will discuss the merits of each piece, taking into account the painting quality, difficulty, creativity and presentation of the entry.

In addition, after the awards ceremony, the judges will be available in the painting area for one hour after the ceremony, so that participants can confer with judges to get feedback and pointers on their entries. This is an important aspect of the KublaBrush awards, as our end goal is to improve everyone’s skills.

Members of the judging panel are allowed to enter the competition, but will not judge their own entries.

Judges’ decisions are considered final. If necessary, the KublaAwards Painting Team (Meredith, Wayne, Michael, Nathan, and Derek) will break ties or make decisions that the judges’ scores do not account for.

Submission Schedule

Entries will be accepted in the painting area on Friday and Saturday ONLY (Friday from 2 to 6 pm; Saturday from 10 am to 6 pm). No entries will be accepted on Sunday morning. Judging will take place on Saturday night.

The KublaAwards ceremony will take place Sunday evening in the mini painting area at 5 pm.

FAQs:

Q: If I enter both Masters and Journeyman, can I medal in both categories?

A: Yes!

Q: When can I pick up my model?

A: After the awards ceremony, the models will be available.

Q: Can winners in any category win Best In Show?

A: No. Only Gold award winners qualify for the Best In Show.

Q: Can winners in any category win People's Choice?

A: Yes. The People's Choice award is based on a majority vote of KublaCon attendees, before categories are awarded

Judging categories

Rate 1-4 (1=Certificate, 2=Bronze, 3=Silver, 4=Gold)

Technical skill

Blending
Brush control
Textures
Contrast
Use of light and shadow / Environmental light and OSL

Difficulty

NMM / TMM
Freehand
OSL
Eyes and faces
Scale, size, and number of models
Scratch building

Creativity

Story
Color selection
Variety of textures
Originality (color choice, conversions, sculpting, etc)

Presentation

Basing
Composition: arrangement of elements and guiding the eye of the viewer
Ambience and mood

Workmanship

Model preparation
Filling gaps and filing seams, removing flash
Completion
Conversions

Judging Guidelines

Judges should avoid the tendency to “catalog errors” on an entry to determine its level. Rather, they should take note of what techniques were attempted and how successful those attempts are. An ambitious piece that does not quite succeed should be judged higher than a model that takes no risks or is not pushing the skill of the artist.

The photos provided here are images of past winners and are intended to give a holistic indication of the level.

Journeyman Standards

The key term at the Journeyman level is neatness. A cleanly painted figure with highlighting and shading will do well in the Journeyman contest.

As judges look at each Journeyman entry the first time, they should go into it with the assumption that it will be a silver level piece. If the piece succeeds on some more advanced or ambitious techniques, it should be considered for gold in Journeyman. If it does not succeed in some silver level techniques, it should be considered for bronze. There should be relatively few Certificates of Achievement; these should be awarded for entries that need more refinement to achieve the bronze level.

Everyone who enters the contest will receive an award, Certificate of Achievement or higher. Most Journeyman prizes will likely be bronze or silver.

There will be a large amount of variation within a given level category, with the most variation at these bronze and silver levels.

The below criteria are suggestions to the judges. If an entry shows a mixture of gold, silver and bronze level techniques, the judges should consider all of these and use their discretion to come to a fair conclusion about the entry. One single weak criterion should not be enough to drop a level; judges should look at the overall piece and evaluate it globally.

Journeyman Bronze

A bronze level entry looks good on the table. It shows creativity and some technical ability, but may not be as neat or cleanly painted as a silver. In addition, color choice may need more contrast; the piece may need more shading or highlighting. There may be visible mold lines or gaps. There may be no base attempted.

Journeyman Silver

A typical silver entry is a clean, neatly painted model that looks good on the table. Good brush control is obvious. Color choice is good; there is some shading, highlighting, and some attempt at blending (effective dry brushing is fine). Workmanship should be good (few or no mold lines or gaps). It has some kind of basing done. Contrast, blending, story, textures, and more advanced techniques such as freehand and OSL, if present, may not be entirely successful.

Journeyman Gold

All the criteria for silver are met, and in addition the entry should successfully exhibit skilled blending, good contrast, good metallic technique (NMM or TMM), an interesting story, good textures, freehand, OSL, or composition.

The basing should add to the story or atmosphere of the model. Every advanced technique may not be completely successful, but some of them are, and the artist should be challenging themselves. Receiving a gold in Journeyman indicates the artist might be ready to compete at the Masters level.

Masters Standards

The reference point in Journeyman is silver; in Masters, it is bronze. A bronze in Masters is already an impressive achievement. A bronze level figure in Masters is substantially higher in quality than a gold in Journeyman.

The following criteria play a much bigger role in Masters: story, composition, creativity, color usage (theory) and difficulty.

Masters Certificate of Achievement

This is awarded to entries that have some basic (Journeyman) level flaws such as weak workmanship, brush control, color choice, contrast, story, or basing. Just one such weakness might not be enough to bring an entry down to Certificate level; it is up to the judges to evaluate.

Masters Bronze

All the criteria necessary for a silver/gold level award in Journeyman are assumed to be achieved: good brush control, color choice, workmanship, shading and highlighting, and basing are all expected. More advanced techniques (OSL, metallics, freehand, etc) have been attempted, but not all of them are completely successful or may seem awkward.

A bronze level piece might show weakness in composition, color theory, story, lighting, or originality.

Masters Silver

A silver level entry shows more successful advanced techniques than a bronze level. Story, composition, creativity, color usage (theory) and difficulty are well executed. There may be one or more weaknesses in some areas, but overall the figure is very high quality. Advanced techniques are executed well, such as NMM/TMM, OSL, freehand, conversions, and more.

Receiving a silver in masters is a significant achievement!

While it's tempting to use errors to judge silver vs. gold masters level entries, the judges should avoid this mindset and instead focus on what was attempted and what was executed successfully.

A silver in Masters has either a majority of scores in the silver range (3), or some in gold (4) and some in bronze (2). Ultimately it is up to the judges to determine the appropriate award for the entry.

Masters Gold

A gold trophy in Masters is given in recognition of an artist’s exceptional accomplishment in painting, creativity, and presentation.

Difficult elements and techniques must be attempted with an impressive level of success.

Good story and composition are required, and high levels of creativity are very important.

Gold does not imply perfection. There may be some advanced techniques that are not completely successful, but the majority of them should be effective and well done.

In general, a figure that achieves gold in Masters will show gold levels in at least two of the five categories (Technical Skill, Difficulty, Creativity, Presentation, and Workmanship). However, the decision is in the hands of the judges and Painting Team, who will make the final decision.

Click HERE for the printable version of the KublaBrush Painting Competition Rules.

Click Here to Get Your Badge!

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