Mary Ann's Message It has been a very busy spring, and I am just now finishing the third e-book, and have one more half finished. The first one was Painting on Watercolor Canvas. (now $14.95) It has been available since January 2008 on my “tips” site. I discovered the special canvas and was quite taken with the look of the finished product, as I could paint “aqueously” or heavy (which gives the work more of an acrylic look). It is VERY forgiving, and changes can be made easily during the painting process. My beginner students love it! It also has the capability of being sealed with a UV spray and framed without glass. The next E-book is Painting Flowers in Watercolor. ($27) has 10 chapters of step-by-step illustrations. This book deals with numerous ways to approach flower painting. White flowers, colored flowers, and flowers with or without a background. Most of the paintings in this e-book are done on Rtistx Board, another surface that I love. The washes flow together and become smooth, glowing phrases across the page. It is a PVC product with a special granular surface on one side that accepts the watercolor, and the colors end up very saturated and brilliant. I love color, so this is one of my favorite surfaces now. It also can be sealed and framed without glass. Remember, No Glass, No Glare! I also still paint on 100% rag paper, but really prefer not to have to mat and frame with glass. The third book, which is available now, is Learning the Basics in Watercolor. It is less expensive ($10) because it is more of a guide to the “tips” site, and leads to short videos in many cases of how to use the brush. Sometimes these videos are difficult to find on the tips site, as there is so much information there. There are several chapters of step-by-step illustrations dealing with landscape, still life, a sunset, and florals. It has a guide to the kind of brushes needed and how to use them; the kind of surfaces that the beginner can work on; creating a color wheel; how to learn about your colors, and more. It will help the beginning painter access more information from the web and especially on my painting tips site. The book still in progress is Painting Landscapes in Watercolor. From monochromatic tones of a sunset, creating prospective in unusual settings, rushing water, water reflections, clouds and skies, background trees, shadows, rocks and types of trees, this book will help you know why or why not to paint certain things in detail. In these chapters, design is at the forefront so that the eye of the viewer moves into and around the painting. Hard and soft edges are important elements of each composition, and I deal with how to achieve these effects. Keep in touch. You will be hearing about its completion soon. What Would You Like Me To Write About? Art is my passion and I love to paint. I also like to write about painting, which is why I started this website. But I need to know what you want me to write about! You can do that by clicking this link and submitting your idea. And for those of you who don't submitted an idea, please check here for new ideas and vote for the ones you like. That will help me select future topics to write about. News This doesn't have to be just my news. Let me know if you have some news you would like to share. I will include appropriate news in the next newsletter. You can also submit news on the site by clicking here. I realize we're in tough economic times, so I'm reducing the price of my e-book, Painting on Watercolor Canvas, to $14.95. That's a 40% discount from the original price To learn more, click here. Share Your Tips and Paintings Watercolor Painting Tips can only get better if you share your tips as well. I know there are some very talented artists out their that have great tips to share. Maybe the best tip you can share is by sharing a watercolor you've painted. I've got just the place. Just click here to let us see what you've been up to!

Recently Published Feb 12, 2009, Graduation - This watercolour was painted from Life in the royal Art Society group. The model was feeling sick so she only sat for half an hour. I felt I had not Jun 17, 2009, Penny digs! - These are two of my granddaughters watching Penny dig at the Jun 17, 2009, Tiger by Sreejesh Koonery - its simple Jun 17, 2009, California girl California beach -Are you just about ready to jump ship and go with oil paint? I know I am getting really close. I hate the footprints but lightening them makes them Jun 9, 2009, Cheaper masking fluid - Instead of the more expensive masking fluids, I tried Jiffy Sew which is a rubber based fabric glue. It is a little thicker but it worked just fine - Jun 3, 2009, Share photos? - Would it be possible to have a page where we could share photographs that subscribers could use without copyright? Some of us have no access to