Art books I own and use. Many of these are well-known and loved titles, but I list them here anyway, because it is hard to judge a book without looking at it, and I more or less tested these. (In association with Amazon.com.)

	Visual Literacy by Richard and Juith Wide One of the very few books that I know of which are of any use in teaching art. Aimed more at visual design than drawing, and more at teachers than at students, the book contains tasks from a course in design with students' works. The tasks are wonderful for teaching the crucial but oft overlooked basics, such as composition, clarity, interpretation. Must have.
	Figure drawing without a model by Ron Tiner Very good text about developing a knowledge of human figure applicable for drawing it from memory, plus a lot of illustrations in expressive comic book style.
	Anatomy for the artist by Sarah Simblet Admittedly, this book is fairly expensive, but its excellent photographic illustrations make it more than worth the cost. The variety of models and poses, and anatomical analysis of classic works make it truly stand out of the crowd.
	Drawing the living figure by Joseph Sheppard This book consists of samples of figure drawings together with the analysis of visual anatomy seen in them. Each drawing is accompanied with two more, detailing the visible anatomical structures and illustrating the bones and muscles which make up the pose. It makes a very useful reference and learning resource.
	The art of animal drawing by Ken Hultgren Probably the best book on animal drawing of all currently available. Little text, a lot of illustrations and schemes with explanations, on all stages from sketch to finished drawing; a lot of content on action and even animal caricature. The drawings are excellent; my only gripe is that the artist did not understand the shape of the house cat skull, but that is an admittedly minor thing.
	Colored Pencil Solution Book by Janie Gildow and Barbara Newton One of the most comprehensive books on colored pencils as fine art technique and a reasonably all-round resource, containing everything from material reference and ergonomics to step-by-step demonstrations and methods to correct errors.
	The artist's complete guide to figure drawing by Anthony Rider This book concerns drawing from life, rather than drawing from memory, and the approach it offers is meant for having a model and inapplicable without a model. Yet, it contains many inspirational drawings and technical tips.
	The illusion of life: Disney animation by Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston This hefty tome is a textbook on Disney animation written by two of the Nine Old Men. The authors discovered that explaining what their art was about was impossible without reviewing its history, and this book is not just an art form manual, but also a chronicle of the studio's life and experience. Richly illustrated by drawings from various Disney movies up to the end of the Nine Old Men period. Expensive, but inspirational and more than worth reading.
	Virtual Pose by Mario Henri Chakkour Not a book, but rather a reference CD with catalogue in book form, this volume contains photographs of two models in Quicktime VR format, which allows to virtually rotate the figure around.
	Virtual Pose 2 by Mario Henri Chakkour The sequel contains more poses and more models. The value of these two albums is that they allow to see the volume of the model's body, not just a flat snapshot, which makes them much more usable than simple photographs. It is actually possible to use them in absence of a model for figure drawing.
	Encyclopedia of Fantasy & SF Art Techniques by John Grant, Ron Tiner An idea catalogue more than anything else, this book contains information not as much about actual techniques as the creative approaches used in fantastic art.
Books on other subjects, but worth looking at nonetheless.
	Redeeming Factors by James Lane I illustrated this SF novel.
	Expedition by Douglas Wayne Barlowe “The most popular travel book of the 24th century” is an account of an artist's journey to the planet Darwin IV. Highly imaginative and beautiful, and an example of how even most fantastic subjects can be handled with firm internal consistency that lends to credibility. Additional value in many working sketches included in the book.
	Prometheus Rising by Robert Anton Wilson One of the most thought-provoking books I had encountered, it promotes an eight-level model of human consciousness which works where most advertised psychological theories become fuzzy, making such thing as psychology of religion and moral possible.