There were over 400 submissions to the Junior Warrnibald this year.

The overall winner this year was Ruth Olivier, 13, for her portrait of her sister Hannah.

Her piece 'Hannah - Now & Then' is about her admiration for her older sister.

"I look up to my sister Hannah because she is a very nice person, a talented artist, and I wish to be like her," Ruth said.

"When I drew the two different pictures of Hannah I put a lot of my own patterns, colour and creativity in it."

Her collage shows a "sophisticated" approach to the art prize said Aaron Bradbrook, curator of exhibitions and outreach at the Warrnambool Art Gallery.

"It's nice to see artists embracing different mediums to create their portrait," he said. "Ruth showed creativity and critical thinking in what she was hoping to achieve, which resulted in a nice conceptual resolve to the work."

The gallery received hundreds of strong entries this year.

"It was great, it's a lovely diverse range of skill, talent, creativity and colour," Mr Bradbrook said.

"I think having an age group of kids from one to 18, it just shows a really vast range of often unbridled creativity which is great."

It's the fifth time the gallery has hosted the award.

"Basically the Junior Warrnibald and the Warrnibald are a showcase of creativity in the region and recognition of significant contributors to the cultural fabric of this part of the world.

"It's a great way to engage and encourage creativity from an early age.

"It provides young budding artists a platform make a portrait, think about who they might like to depict, why they want to depict them and then they get to show their work in an art gallery.

"People don't forget - a lot of young artists won't forget winning first prize in the Junior Warrnibald, it's a great accolade."

The gallery received entries from across the south-west region.

The winners in the age categories were:

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