There will doubtless be mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, aunties, uncles and grandparents aplenty. And there will also be at least one cat, if 10-year-old Evie Juchau has anything to do with it.

The rules of the inaugural Young Archie competition for budding five- to 18-year-old artists, a spin-off of the annual Archibald Prize, state the subject should be a portrait of a person who "plays a significant role in the entrant's life".

"She really wants to draw her cat who is probably the most important person in her life," says Evie's mother Mireille Juchau, who was attending an art workshop at the Art Gallery of NSW on Monday with her daughter and son, Emile. "I did explain what a portrait was but she always manages to sneak an animal in somewhere in all her pictures."

Art Gallery Trustee and 2011 Archibald winner Ben Quilty and Victoria Collings, senior co-ordinator of education and family programs, will judge the entries.

"It's going to be a really great eye opener as to who are the key people in children's lives today," Collings says. "Rather than it being a celebrity or someone well known, it's people with a significant role in their lives. Hopefully that will encourage them to sit down and draw the person in front of them and not work from photographs.

"It'll be interesting to see the difference in the ages as well. The person who is important to a five-year-old would be very different from someone important to an 18-year-old."

Eight-year-old Lucy Grant is another keen young artist inspired by the prospect of entering the prize.

''She absolutely loves art,'' says her mother, Alison Grant. ''We have a neighbour who is very creative and who is a graphic designer by trade and she does a lot of art work with her."

There will be five finalists in four age categories, from which four winners will be chosen. Each winner receives a $100 debit card, an art pack and a family pass.

Their work will also be hung in a "child-friendly way" alongside the adult exhibition.

Collings has a clear idea what she is looking for in the final 20 works. "It should be something that is really unique to that child."

And maybe a cat or two, as well.