FAQ

Use the Track my order link in the menu, or the tracking button in your shipping email. Tracking can be slow to update, so it's worth checking again after a day. If it still looks stuck, email me your order number and I'll look into it.

Every paperback ships with tracking, and I email you the tracking link when it ships. Paperbacks are printed after you order, so these times include printing as well as delivery.

In business days, the estimate is 5 to 10 for the UK, 5 to 12 for the US, 8 to 16 for Australia, 9 to 15 for Canada and 9 to 14 for the EU. Other countries show their own estimate at checkout. Any PDFs in your order are instant downloads.

These are estimates, because the post sometimes runs slow.

There are four subject guides, called Volumes 1 to 4. Volume 1 is Landscapes, Volume 2 is Portraits, Volume 3 is Flowers and Volume 4 is Animals & Birds. Each one works on its own, so you can start with the subject you most want to paint. You don't need to go in order.

The Shadowing and Lightening guides are my earlier ones. They are about colour theory, mixing shadows and lightening colours, rather than one subject.

Each of the three has 54 pages with 40+ paintings, in A4 size. Every mix comes from the same 8 tubes of paint. The Portrait guide starts with skin tones from pale to deep, then eyes, lips, cheeks and ears, and hair and beards. The Flower guide groups its flowers by petal colour. The Animals & Birds guide paints pets, farm animals, wild animals and birds.

Every painting comes with 3 painting steps, its colour mixes, tips and the brushes to use. The Landscape guide is bigger, with 82 pages and 70+ paintings from 7 tubes.

Email me quickly with your order number and I'll cancel and refund it so you can reorder. Once it's printed or shipped it can't be changed. Digital guides can't be refunded once sent.

Please check which edition you've picked before you pay.

Right after you order, you'll get an email with your download links. It comes from noreply@digital-downloads.com, so if you can't see it after a few minutes, please check your junk or spam folder. Paperbacks of Volumes 1 to 4 come with the PDFs, so you'll get this email with those too.

Each of the Volume 1 to 4 guides comes as two PDFs. The easy download one is a smaller file that opens quickly. The High Quality one is the full-size file. If your order has all four guides, your free paint-along sheets are on the same page.

Your order confirmation email also has a Download your files button. You can use it again any time, on a phone, tablet or computer. If it doesn't work, email me at hello@malcolmmuronda.com and I'll send your links again.

Email me as soon as you can with your order number and the correct address. Paperbacks go to print within a few hours of your order, so the sooner I see it the better. Once your book is printed or has shipped, the address can't be changed.

Please check your flat or unit number at checkout. Payment apps can fill in an old address.

Email me as soon as you can with your order number and I'll do my best to catch it, then cancel and refund it so you can reorder. Paperbacks go to print within a few hours of your order. Once it's printed or shipped it can't be changed. Digital guides can't be refunded once sent.

The Shadowing and Lightening guides each come in two editions. Acrylics and Watercolour covers both acrylics and watercolour. Oils is for oil paint. The Landscape, Portrait, Flower and Animals & Birds guides are one edition each, and they work for acrylic, oil and watercolour.

If you paint in both oils and acrylics, start with the one you use most, because they behave differently.

To check what you have, open the first page. It says which paints the guide is for. The covers look alike, so two different editions can look like a duplicate. If you really do have two of the same, email me a photo of that page and I'll put it right.

The first page of each guide lists the paints I used. The Landscape guide uses 7 tubes and the Portrait, Flower and Animals & Birds guides use 8. Each one has a brand chart to help you find the matching tube in the paints you already have. Colours differ a little between brands, so a close match from your own brand works well. In the Shadowing and Lightening guides, the Limited Palette Guide at the back shows how to mix a close colour from a small set of paints. Still stuck? Email me which colour and which brand you have, and I'll suggest a swap.

For Volumes 1 to 4 (Landscapes, Portraits, Flowers and Animals & Birds), yes. Every paperback comes with the PDFs, so you can start painting while your book is on its way. The PDFs arrive straight away and the paperback follows by post.

The digital edition is the PDFs only, with no paperback. If you want the paperback, you don't need to buy the digital edition as well.

The Shadowing and Lightening guides are different. Their paperback and PDF are separate, so if you want both, choose both at checkout. I can't swap one for the other after you order, so please choose the one you want before you pay.

Yes. On the Volume 1 to 4 book pages, choose a bundle before you add to cart and the saving is applied for you. You can take paperbacks or digital.

Two guides together save 15%. The pairs are Landscapes + Flowers (Volumes 1 and 3) and Portraits + Animals (Volumes 2 and 4).

All four guides together save 20%, and you also get the free paint-along sheets.

They are printable pages to paint along with. Each painting gets its own A4 page that shows its colour mixes. There is one PDF for each of the four guides.

You get them free when all four guides (Volumes 1 to 4) are in the same order, paperback or digital. They are added to your order for you, so there is no code to type. Guides bought in separate orders don't count together.

They are on the same download page as your PDFs. Open the email from noreply@digital-downloads.com, or the Download your files button in your order confirmation, and the four sheets are listed with your guides.

They can take a few minutes to appear after you order. If they are not there after that, email me your order number and I'll sort it out.

I'll replace it free. Email me a photo of the problem within 14 days of delivery and I'll arrange a reprint.

Open the PDF and choose Print. Set the scale to 100% (some printers call it Actual size) and pick A4 or US Letter to match your paper. Please don't choose Fit to page, so everything prints at the size I designed it. The paint-along sheets are made for A4 paper.