Madison Gilroy 

"Blue Colored Bowl"

9x12

Acrylic paint on canvas, 2023.

This was my first ever painting. I picked the picture out of the bowl out of a little box in the classroom. I didn't know what my first ever painting was going to be so I went to the little box for ideas. I sketched out the shape of the bowl first with a pencil. I wanted the shape of the bowl to look real. When looking at the bowl its looks like someone is looking at it. It has shading and dimension so it looks like a realistic bowl. It was really difficult shading the color because I have never shaded paint. Acrylic paint dries very fast if using a little paint at a time. But I really wanted to make it look realistic so I kept going making the shading better. I really liked how it turned out and I wouldn't change anything about it because how I was determined to make it look good. I spent a lot of class periods on it because I wanted my baseline painting to look good and so it set my standards high when painting. By setting my standards high I will stay determined to keep my future paintings looking good because I don't want to take a step back with my progress in painting I want to take a step forward making my paintings look good and keep adding details. 

Madison Gilroy

"Cora" 

9x12''

Acrylic paint on canvas, 2023

I wanted to paint a picture of my cat for my first-ever painting. From the beginning I wanted Cora to look realistic as the painting could possibly be. Cora was a dark all-gray cat with only two spots of white and they weren't visible on how she was positioned in the photo. I wanted to keep the canvas small because I have never painted before. I started sketching the head because the size of the head would then show how big the body would be. The head was also the hardest thing to sketch because I wanted the ears to look identical. I did the body second and the tail last. After I finished the sketch I started painting the body I started with one color gray all over the body except the eyes. I added a darker gray color in some spots so I remembered where darker shades are at. Then I added strokes of different colors of paint grays and whites on her to make her fur fluffy and look real. Cora's eyes are green so I did them green and added some shadows to them.  Cora was in front of a window when I took the photo so the back of her ears was a pinkish color. I wanted to paint her because she was my best friend and I want people to know that an animal can be a best friend. Cora's collar isn't just a random color it was the first collar she ever got when she was a baby. As she got older she grew out of it so we had to put it away. When she passed away we put it in her box because that was the first collar when she was a baby. The most difficult thing I did was painting Cora when I started it she was alive and I couldn't wait to keep putting detail on it. Recently she passed and I didn't really want to put more detail on it because I was just emotional from her passing away and because I realized that she was perfect and the painting I did of her was perfect like her. The painting of Cora is realistic I added shadows and fur to make her look real. I'm really glad I painted her because I don't think I could after she passed away and I can't wait to hang it up in my room. 

Madison Gilroy 

"The Leopard Gecko In The Window"

9x12'' 

Acrylic paint on canvas, 2023. 

The painting I did has my leopard gecko Axel in the window. I painted a picture of the habitat he lives in at my house. Axel was the first reptile I ever got so he is very important to me so, I wanted to paint him. I started with painting the background next, I started sketching out the pineapple he has. I put sketched him in the window because he was always poking his head out the window of the pineapple. All the animals I paint are important to me in some way. It's important to love the animals people have, me painting them is a symbolic way of me showing I love all my animals. In the progress of me completing my painting, the leaves were the hardest thing I did. Thank gosh I had too much light blue paint saved from my background from when I painted it, so I went over the leaves I messed up on. Then it looked like so mistake even happened! When I was texturing the ground I had trouble because I didn't want the ground to look so boring. Even though I was frustrated with this painting at times I never gave up on it nor did I start over. My painting is realistic because I put the leaves, pineapple, and Axel in this painting. The painting showed what he always did, tuck his out the window. 

Madison Gilroy 

"Baxter"

9x12''

Acrylic Paint on canvas, 2023. 

This is a painting of my dog, Baxter. I wanted to paint him because he is very important to me. Baxter was my family and my first dog. We all take care of him because he is our dog. If I paint all my animals I can't forget my first dog. While I was painting Baxter I was looking at three photos of him to get all of his details correct. I wanted to have the background be some shade of brown because Baxter is a neutral color. Making Baxter I messed up a few times but I just let it dry and painted over it. When making the hair was very hard so I took a brush that had crazy hair and used that to make the hair. They look like dots but Baxter still looks like me and has texture. Baxter looks realistic in this painting I took multiple pictures of him and used them to paint him. I love it because it looks like Baxter got a school picture taken of him. 

Madison Gilroy 

"Thumper the Important Rabbit"

9x12"

Watercolors on canvas, 2023. 

Thumper was my family and my rabbit we had. I took care of Thumper the most, we were buddies. My sister got Thumper for her birthday at a young age. After Thumper grew up she got less attached to him. Thumper lived with me in my room. I wanted to paint him because I had painted all my animals besides him and I didn't want to leave him out, he was so important too. I started drawing him on one side but then I messed up so I moved to the other side of the paper to start fresh. I didn't really like how it started off but once I started painting him more I grew to love it. I think it looks like a book cover of a rabbit. The watercolors make it look like that. One of my favorite things about Thumper had the flappy ears. The artwork I painted of him is real. I used many photos of him to get him realistic looking. The legs had me stuck for a while but they ended up looking real. Thumper was the best rabbit ever and I'm glad I painted him.