Oscar Cooke, 11, who painted a picture of his father cheering him on at soccer, won the special prize which will give him the opportunity to work with a local graphic designer to create a children’s mascot for the gallery.

Yasmin Nagorcka, 14, won her in her age group for her portrait of Logan’s Restaurant owner Shane Timms. She said Mr Timms, who despite having MS himself, was a great support when she was first diagnosed with type-1 diabetes.

“He constantly helped me count carbs whenever I went to his restaurant and he was just really amazing and helpful,” she said.

Warrnambool Art Gallery director Vanessa Gerrans said the inaugural Junior Warrnibald had been a great success with the 300 entries selling out. “We definitely could have sold more. We’ll have to do a couple hundred more next year,” she said.

“Next year we might look at altering the age categories slightly because the difference between six year olds and 10 year olds is quite high.”

First and second prizes were presented in four age categories on Sunday and included: 

Under fives: Gabriela Niruban (1st) and Roisin Hansford (2nd). Age 6-10: Summer Bell (1st), and Rebecca Moody (2nd). Ages 11-15: Yasmin Nagorcka (1st) and Bridie King (2nd). Ages 16 -18: Ella Hasell (1st) and Matilda Hetherington (2nd).

The event was a fundraiser for WDEA’s artlink program.