Recently I've spent about 400-600 dollars on books related to art.
In short I know the good books from the shitty ones.


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Henry Yan has a figure drawing book.
It's the best figure drawing book on the market.
He runs through everything you'd learn in a typical figure drawing class. Except he's really fucking good. This book is a gem.

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Interested in Digital Fashion Illustration with photo shop or illustrator?
This book has a quick run through of the basics of each program.
Also some example of what you can do. It's all really simple things that make a big a difference. if you're like me and like to do both traditional and digital methods of image making then this book is a must.

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Out of ideas? Like Japanese Illustration? The Japanese are ahead of their time when it comes to conceptualization and pretty images.
This book is a run through of 150 Japanese illustrators. It's probably the neatest effing book I've bought.

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James Jean is god. He did the covers for Fables. His illustrations blend both traditional and digital methods. If you're looking for someone who is currently moving forward in illustration. This book makes me happy every time i see it.

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Illusive: Contemporary Illustration ONE AND TWO
buy both of these. just do it. it has so much reference to current illustration. it runs through all types of illustration. fashion, pattern making, vector, etc.



I think that's all for now. I know some of these books is an arm and leg. But hell if you starve yourself for a week. Not only will you be 10 pounds thinner, you can buy a nice book.

-Al