# Good Art Books for Artists

**URL:** <https://community.thevirtualinstructor.com/t/good-art-books-for-artists/521>\
**Category:** Uncategorized\
**Created:** [December 27, 2019, 3:58am UTC](https://community.thevirtualinstructor.com/t/good-art-books-for-artists/521 "2019-12-27T03:58:43Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Ginny](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/community.thevirtualinstructor.com/ginny/32/94_2.png) [@Ginny](https://community.thevirtualinstructor.com/u/Ginny)\
**Post date:** [December 27, 2019, 3:58am UTC](https://community.thevirtualinstructor.com/t/good-art-books-for-artists/521/1 "2019-12-27T03:58:43Z")

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I would like to start this thread by recommending the book Art & Fear by David Bayles and Ted Orland.

“This is a book about making art. Ordinary art. Ordinary art means something like: all art _not_ made by Mozart. After all, art is rarely made by Mozart-like people; essentially—statistically speaking—there _aren’t_ any people like that. Geniuses get made once-a-century or so, yet good art gets made all the time, so to equate the making of art with the workings of genius removes this intimately human activity to a strangely unreachable and unknowable place. For all practical purposes making art can be examined in great detail without ever getting entangled in the very remote problems of genius.”  
—-from the Introduction

I am reading this for the second time in less than a year and I cannot recommend it highly enough. It is an eye opener, a comforter, a motivator. Get it. Read it. Tell about it. 🕶

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**Author:** ![sterlingsiam](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/community.thevirtualinstructor.com/sterlingsiam/32/30_2.png) [@sterlingsiam](https://community.thevirtualinstructor.com/u/sterlingsiam)\
**Post date:** [December 27, 2019, 8:57pm UTC](https://community.thevirtualinstructor.com/t/good-art-books-for-artists/521/2 "2019-12-27T20:57:44Z")

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Thanks Ginny! From the introduction, it seems like just the type of book I would enjoy.

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**Author:** ![natashaD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/13edae/32.png) [@natashaD](https://community.thevirtualinstructor.com/u/natashaD)\
**Post date:** [January 4, 2020, 10:32pm UTC](https://community.thevirtualinstructor.com/t/good-art-books-for-artists/521/3 "2020-01-04T22:32:53Z")

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Hi, thank you very much for opening this new thread. This is a very interesting and important topic. And thank you for your recommendation !  
On my part, I recommend Andrew Loomis “Successful Drawing “ and Joseph D’Amelio “Perspective drawing handbook”. I am a beginner and trying to deal with many challenges in drawing. The first book is great for anyone interested in improving their skills. The second help to understand the perspective. It is very well written. I really think they both are very good indeed.

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**Author:** ![Charles](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/community.thevirtualinstructor.com/charles/32/716_2.png) [@Charles](https://community.thevirtualinstructor.com/u/Charles)\
**Post date:** [May 27, 2020, 8:28am UTC](https://community.thevirtualinstructor.com/t/good-art-books-for-artists/521/4 "2020-05-27T08:28:06Z")

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I’d recommend “The Art Spirit” by Robert Henri, “How to Draw Animals” by Famous Artists School, “The Figure” by Walt Reed, “The Natural Way to Draw” by Kimon Nicolaides and “Fun With a Pencil” with “Figure Drawing for All It’s Worth” both by Andrew Loomis.