Madelynn Mutter: Painting the West

Join Maddy for a series of unscripted sessions in her home studio as she reveals her complete process for painting Western subjects in oil About the Course Discover the stories behind Maddy's Western oil paintings Watch the course trailer Watch as Maddy paints in her signature realistic impressionist style and creates work that reads as real life while remaining loose and painterly. In this course she takes a raw panel all the way to a finished painting over 50 lessons, covering her priming method, her sketchbook warmups, and the color studies behind her muted palette. PART 1 The Studio and the Setup Maddy walks through her studio setup, from the supplies on her table to priming a raw panel. 5 VIDEO LESSONS (45 MIN) 0 Why Western Art Maddy shares the rural upbringing and the themes of heritage and grit that led her to paint Western subjects. 10m 1 Studio Supplies and Setup Maddy walks through her essential supplies, including neutral gray palette paper, a sealed palette box, gloves, and an air filter. 8m 2 Mediums and Brush Cleaning Maddy explains why she uses safflower oil as her medium and demonstrates her system for keeping solvent clean and reusable. 6m PREVIEW 3 Priming with Oil Ground Maddy explains why acrylic gesso dulls oil paint and demonstrates applying oil ground thickly to build surface texture. 13m 4 Understanding Brush Shapes Maddy compares flat, bright, filbert, and round brushes and shows how each one marks paint differently. 8m PART 2 Sketchbook Warmups Maddy fills a sketchbook page with longhorns, drawing the shapes she sees rather than the ones she expects. 5 VIDEO LESSONS (34 MIN) 5 Warming Up in the Sketchbook Maddy explains why drawing is the foundation of her paintings and introduces the warmup studies she works from her own reference photos. 5m 6 Drawing Shapes, Not Subjects Maddy draws a longhorn using only the shapes she can see, rather than what she assumes should be there. 6m 7 Seeing Past What You Know Maddy sketches a second longhorn while catching the mind's tendency to fill in details that are not actually visible. 7m 8 Drawing Calves Maddy demonstrates how a calf's facial structure differs from an adult's, with wider eyes, larger ears, and a much shorter face. 6m 9 Negative Space and Planes Maddy uses negative space to check her proportions and shows how she dates and annotates each finished sketchbook page. 10m PART 3 Building a Personal Color Palette Maddy breaks down her eleven color palette and the studies that shaped it. 8 VIDEO LESSONS (49 MIN) 10 Introduction to Color Theory Maddy explains chroma and limited palettes, and why the pigment codes on a tube matter more than the color name. 10m 11 Arranging the Palette Maddy lays out her eleven colors in the same order she uses every session and explains why black never appears on her palette. 3m PREVIEW 12 Comparing Pigments Across Brands Maddy compares two tubes of olive green from different brands to show how much the pigment choice changes a color. 2m 13 Testing Colors with White Maddy tints each color on her palette to reveal its true temperature and to find which ones turn chalky when lightened. 6m 14 Color Study Chart, Part One Maddy begins a color study of yellow ochre, mixing it against each of the reds, purples, and yellows on her palette. 13m 15 Color Study Chart, Part Two Maddy completes the study through the greens, blues, and grays, revealing which combinations turn unexpectedly gray. 8m 16 Simplifying Your Palette Maddy compares her original sixteen color palette to the eleven she uses now and explains why fewer colors produce better results. 4m 17 Recommended Books and Resources Maddy shares her favorite books on animal anatomy, oil technique, composition, and color theory. 3m PART 4 Planning the Painting Maddy selects her reference, sets the composition, and settles every value before touching the panel. 8 VIDEO LESSONS (70 MIN) 18 Selecting a Reference Photo Maddy explains what makes a reference worth painting and why she chose this one photo out of roughly three hundred. 6m 19 Aspect Ratios and Cropping Maddy demonstrates how to match a reference crop to the panel's aspect ratio before committing to a composition. 6m 20 Applying an Imprimatura Maddy tones the primed panel with thinned paint so her values can be judged accurately from the first stroke. 5m PREVIEW 21 Beginning the Value Study Maddy explains why value determines where a viewer looks, then mixes a mid tone against the neutral gray of her palette. 10m 22 Blocking In Darks and Lights Maddy places her darkest darks first and steps up through each value, keeping the early layers thin. 9m 23 Refining the Value Study Maddy switches to a smaller brush to frame the legs and push shadows beyond what the reference actually shows. 13m 24 Evaluating and Adjusting Values Maddy blurs her eyes to find what stands out first, then rebalances the composition around the two faces. 12m 25 Drawing on the Panel Maddy sketches a deliberately loose drawing inside a two by two grid and seals it with acrylic setting spray. 9m PART 5 First Session: Blocking In Maddy mixes every color she needs, then blocks the whole painting in across one long session. 9 VIDEO LESSONS (111 MIN) 26 Mixing the Dark Colors Maddy builds a warm black from five colors and demonstrates how she dulls any mixture with its complement. 14m 27 Mixing Lights and Background Maddy mixes her neutral whites, a dull purple, and a warm brown for reflected ground light, then settles on a background color. 12m 28 Blocking In the Cow Maddy lays the first paint on the panel, working outward from the hindquarters in the direction the muscles run. 14m 29 Building Form and Soft Edges Maddy adds the transition values between shadow and light, then introduces the dry brush she uses to soften edges. 17m 30 Blocking In the Calf Maddy keeps the calf lighter than the reference shows so the cow remains the dominant subject. 12m 31 Painting the Head and Horns Maddy paints both horns in a single pass so they match, then places the eye by comparing it to the surrounding landmarks. 11m 32 Adjusting Wet Paint Maddy warms a painting that has gone too cool and explains when to stop working wet paint entirely. 12m 33 Checking Anatomy with a Mirror Maddy demonstrates her mirror trick for catching the anatomical errors her eye has stopped noticing. 4m 34 Laying In the Background Maddy applies the background in thick dollops, then deliberately softens every hard edge with a dry brush. 15m PART 6 Second Session: Detail & Finish Maddy returns to the dry painting to build detail and texture, then signs it. 16 VIDEO LESSONS (169 MIN) 35 Returning to a Dry Painting Maddy shows how she keeps mixed paint fresh between sessions, then remixes the warm and light colors the painting still needs. 10m 36 Detailing the Calf's Face Maddy corrects the eyelash placement, warms the nose, and builds the small shapes of a young face. 13m 37 Finishing the Calf Maddy adds highlights, fluffs the ears with a dry brush, and taps mud onto a set of gangly legs. 15m 38 Painting the Front Leg Maddy builds the cow's front leg from anchors, transition shadows, tendon highlights, and dew claws. 12m 39 Refining the Hip and Tail Maddy drags light paint across dry texture and emphasizes the hip bone that completes the composition's arch. 6m PREVIEW 40 Adding Spots and Belly Darks Maddy layers blues and warms into the darks while keeping the edge of every spot deliberately broken. 11m 41 Painting the Tail Maddy loads a rough filbert with black and presses it into the panel to create the look of hair mid swish. 12m 42 Working the Back Legs Maddy softens the rear leg into the distance while bringing the front leg forward with added contrast. 14m 43 Painting the Top Line Maddy covers the remaining pencil marks and taps in the folds that run along the neck and back. 12m 44 Building the Horns Maddy paints the growth rings near the head and keeps the horns warm, since they carry a great deal of blood. 14m 45 Painting the Eye Maddy builds the sideways pupil, the water line, and the eyelash while keeping the eye from looking unnatural. 10m 46 Painting the Nose Maddy creates the illusion of a nostril rather than a flat shape and hints at whiskers too fine to actually see. 10m 47 Checking the Darks Maddy explains why dark passages sink as they dry and covers oleo gel as an alternative to varnishing early. 7m 48 Adding Palette Knife Texture Maddy smears existing paint with a small knife to catch the light and brightens the outer corners into a vignette. 9m 49 Painting Grass and Ground Maddy taps grass in multiple directions and pulls it up over the hooves to ground the animals in the scene. 7m 50 Signing and Varnishing Maddy tests her signature placement, keeps it low in contrast, and explains how she varnishes once the surface is fully dry. 7m FREE GIFT Digital Workbook Comprehensive workbook with key insights and exercises from Maddy's course EXERCISES & TIPS FROM THE COURSE BONUS COURSE Taking Your Own Reference Photos Maddy's complete course on gathering reference photos, included at no extra cost. 16 VIDEO LESSONS (93 MIN) As a special launch promotion, this entire course is included with your purchase at no extra cost. Maddy shows you how she finds, photographs, and selects the reference photos behind her paintings. You will spend a day in the field with her, then sit down at the computer as she sorts through everything she brought home. The two courses connect directly. The reference photo of the cow and calf that Maddy paints in this course was captured on camera during the longhorn shoot in Part 3, and you will watch her choose it out of roughly three hundred photos. View the course 1 Why Your Own References Permissions, model release forms, and the simple camera setup Maddy relies on. 4 lessons (17 min) 2 On Location at the Family Farm Shooting a place she has photographed her whole life and still finds something new in. 4 lessons (18 min) 3 A Day with the Longhorns Working the light around a live herd at Wayment Longhorns in Honeyville, Utah. 3 lessons (17 min) 4 Back in the Studio Culling a full shoot at the computer, plus storage, backups, and why it all matters. 5 lessons (41 min)