Anna Mason's Watercolour Artistry from 1789-1910

Mary Richardson: This is a beautiful book. I enjoyed using it.

United States on Jun 13, 2023

marie: A pleasant read with clear explanations and beautiful illustrations

Australia on May 29, 2022

Amazon Customer: Love Anna Mason's books really hope she publishes a third. Very informative and easy to follow projects.

United Kingdom on Apr 02, 2022

Shubunkin: I love this artist's work, and her other book 'The modern flower painter' is really helpful, so I thought I'd have a look at this book too. It is a lovely book, but there are ten full page photos of the artist with a few that overlap onto the opposite page, plus a couple of photos of her garden, and I really would have preferred to have had more pictures of her artwork, as well as useful and helpful information about watercolour painting. I've never bought or read an art book before that has more than one or two pictures of the artist...and that's fine by me as it is their work I am interested in, and not how they look. Anna is a very attractive woman, and the photos of her are lovely...but do they really need to be in this book? No, not really. Still a nice book, but could have been a five star book.

United Kingdom on Dec 21, 2021

Avidspider: Besides being a beautiful book, this book gets straight into the business of teaching Anna Mason's watercolor painting method. It lays out in a particularly pleasing way all the tools necessary, specifying paint, brushes, paper, and even a best recommendation for a palette. I am often put off by the "tools necessary" pages of art or specific craft books, but Ms. Mason takes her time introducing and explaining the whys and wherefores of each item she recommends, and does so in a manner that is neither alienating, too vague, or overly complicated - it is beautiful and just right. The book continues carefully laying out Ms Mason's watercolor method. She does this so well, that by the end of reading, one is convinced that giving it all a try may not lead to disaster. And all along the way are gorgeous photos and watercolor illustrations of flowers, birds, and cute furry little critters. This book paired with both free and a low-priced painting class one can find on Ms Mason's website are an ideal combination for one who wants to reawaken their skills, learn for the first time, or simply add Ms. Mason's method to their watercolor skills arsenal. I am a just a fan, I have not been paid...

United States on Mar 27, 2020

Charlz Papovitch: I'm about half way through this book. The book is not really pulling me into it and I think this is because my style of painting watercolor tends to be loose and Anna Mason is a perfectionist. Her style and work is realism. It's unbelievable that she can imitate nature that precisely. Her paintings look like photographs and the photos are gorgeous as is her work.
However, I am feeling a connection with her as a gardener who then found watercolor. Its the way it happened for me.
From what I've read so far I think we are both passionate about gardening and watercolor.

United States on Feb 11, 2020

Stargazer4589: First, let me say I have recently signed up for Anna’s online ‘school’. That is how I learned about her art. I think she is a gifted artist and brilliant teacher. In the few weeks since I signed up, my art has improved greatly. But about this book..... it’s true that there aren’t many actual projects, as some reviewers have complained. But the projects included have extremely in-depth tutorials, designed for the reader to learn Anna’s method. Once you learn the method, you can apply it to try the many gorgeous pictures of Anna’s work in this book. I think the book Is gorgeous, and very inspiring. I think if you do the projects in this book, you’d surely have acquired the skill to try other more difficult paintings. For £13 this book is a good buy.

United Kingdom on May 16, 2019

SnowWhite13: I liked most things about this book. I am taking Anna Mason's classes and really like her style. She works very hard in her rendering of subjects although they look easy when watching her pain. I am really impressed with the beautiful paintings in this book. I don't know if you could learn to paint from this book, but you can certainly see her style and some of her techniques.

United States on Nov 17, 2018

JCR: Anna Mason is a very, very talented botanical realist who paints extraordinarily beautiful "photo-like" paintings. Her book teaches a step-by-step approach to her techniques and helped me understand even better the characteristics and benefits of layering many, many times to achieve subtle transitions and shaping of objects. I also ordered the same set of brushes she used (from the UK, which came in 4 days to WI!!). They were very beneficial also as they allow the fine details she uses in her style. I think a basic book would be a good first step, but I'm definitely a novice and have learned a whole lot from this book too. She added to my understanding of the basics I had gotten from another source. Each step along the way for four different finished paintings includes color swatches on the page so you can match the color you have mixed for comparison. There is also a picture of what that stage of the painting should look like. I have bought three other books she has published just for the brilliant illustrations in them.

United States on May 28, 2018

A Reader from Stockport: What a lovely books this is. I only received it earlier today and already know it's going to be a great book. It is full of absolutely beautiful illustrations with pages of step by step detail and images to trace at the back. As well as lots of flowers and fruit there are also illustrations and instruction on drawing a bird and a lovely illustration of a harvest mouse in grass which I'll have a go at. Many aspects are covered, such as texture, stippling shadow work and great attention to tones which I always find quite difficult. Highly recommended.

United Kingdom on Apr 21, 2018