Young Archie champs crowned, honouring someone special

For some budding artists, their work has been elevated above the scrapbook or classroom wall.

It will instead take pride of place as a winning 2026 Young Archies entry.

The children's portraiture award, which takes its name from the prestigious Archibald Prize, is now on show at the Art Gallery of NSW, where the four winners were announced on Saturday.

Five-year-old Christian Pisarkiewicz took out the youngest age group prize, melting judges' hearts with his offering, My Daddy.

"I love him and he loves me," the pint-sized western Sydney creative offered.

His nearby dad, Matthew, beamed with pride.

"He's got a different take on things, he's always very creative. Still, it's surprising," Mr Pisarkiewicz told AAP. "It's impressive, incredible."

Christian's favourite thing about dad? "He cuddles me a lot," the five-to-eight-years champion said.

Another junior artist to honour his father was Hugo Hui, winner of the nine-12 years age group with, My family's driver (Dad).

The nine-year-old's work proudly featured the red car father Phillip uses in his work during uber duties and while ferrying his family around.

Mr Hui was an artist in Hong Kong before immigrating to Australia and setting up a life for his family in Queensland.

The only female winner this year, Lauren Blunden, took out the 15-18 years category.

Now an engineering student at Macquarie University, her work Between explores how she grapples with different identities, passions and pursuits.

"Balancing art and my uni and my career, trying to figure out whether I want to pursue art or go a different way," the 18-year-old shared.

Viraj Tandon was chosen as winner in the 13-15 division, for his piece Reflections, which is a tribute to his cousin who is both a DJ and a psychiatrist.

"I thought that in this painting I could show the duality of his two traits about how he wants to heal the soul and how he heals people entertainment-wise," the 14-year-old told AAP.

Now in its 14th year, the 2026 Young Archie Awards received more than 4300 submissions, with 70 finalists chosen across the four age groups.

Along with the prestige, the four winners each received $200 cash and a large hamper of art supplies.

The runners up took home $50 and a smaller goodie bag.

All the finalists' work is now proudly on display at the Art Gallery of NSW alongside the Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Prizes 2026.