The highly prestigious awards are run by the Art Gallery of New South Wales and collectively offer nearly $200,000 in prize money for the winning artists.

Anh Do has been nominated in the Archibald for his portrait of friend Peter Garrett, frontman of rock group Midnight Oil, titled Peter, Up Close.

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It's the third time being a finalist for Do, who in 2017 won the People's Choice with a portrait of actor Jack Charles.

Paul Ryan is a seasoned finalist in the awards, counting nearly 30 nominations during his career, but this year it's for a collaboration with Chris Zanko whose name has also popped up previously.

Their work Bulli, Rock Steady is a finalist in the Sulman Prize and depicts a red brick cottage - a common theme throughout the suburb - with two male figures dressed in track suits standing in the driveway, reminiscent of American rap group Beastie Boys in their heyday.

The work aims to represent the changing demographic of the suburb which is slowly squeezing up-and-coming creatives out of the area.

"I started hanging around northern Illawarra when I was 15 when it was a lot more working class, it was more coal miners and steelworkers," Ryan told the Mercury.

"Wealthy people from Sydney realised there were bargains to be had here. Everything is becoming incredibly expensive and it's hard for young artists to stay in the area."

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Zanko added he could see himself in the boys Ryan has painted, almost like a mirror to himself growing up in the area and watching the landscape change.

"It's becoming more what my work's about," he said. "There's so many people I've gone to school with ... who are not being able to afford to buy a house."

The $50,000 Wynne Prize is awarded to the best landscape painting of Australian scenery or figurative sculpture, while the $40,000 Sulman Prize is given to the best subject painting, genre painting or mural project in oil, acrylic, watercolour or mixed media.

A national portrait prize, the Archibald Prize carries $100,000 prize money for the winning artist. Entries must be painted in the past year, from at least one live sitting with the artist.

Winners will be announced on Friday May 13.

The finalists in all three prizes will be exhibited at the Art Gallery of NSW from Saturday May 14 to Sunday August 28 2022. Archibald Prize finalist works will then tour to Victoria and regional New South Wales in July 2023.

Thirroul artist Paul Ryan has regularly appeared as a finalist in the Archibald, Sulman and Wynne prizes for several decades. He also credits himself as being the guy who taught comedian Anh Do to paint.

Here are his top three artists or "stars of the Australian arts scene" he has picked to take out the Archibald in 2022:

Joan Ross

Daniel Boyd

Black Douglas

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