We're looking for the best of art instruction and we want your help! Artists' Choice, The Artist and Leisure Painter have produced a shortlist and you can vote for your favourite.

To cast your vote, click here, or click [more] under each cover image to find out more about a book.

Include you name and address with your vote and we'll enter you into a prize draw to win £50-worth of art books, too.

Voting closes on 30th August 2009.

The Acrylic Flower Painter's A-Z	[more]
Author: Lexi Sundell Publisher: Search Press
An easy to follow guide that combines a perennially popular subject with a medium that's attracting many new converts.
Basic Colour	[more]
Author: Jane de Sausmaurez Publisher: A&C Black
Many artists struggle with colour because they over-complicate what it's about. Although this looks technical, it is in fact a thorough guide to how colour works both in life and on paper.
Artist's Little Book Of Inspiration	[more]
Author: Hazel Soan Publisher: Collins
Although this is a re-working of an earlier book, it manages to improve on the original and is a wonderful piece of serendipity to go to for a reliable source of ideas.
Brushmarks For Flowers	[more]
Author: Bee Morrrison Publisher: Privately published
Bee manages to all the basic techniques of flower painting into a mere 38 pages and so clearly that this might just be the best book ever published on flower painting.
Contemporary Botanical Illustration With The Eden Project	[more]
Author: Rosie Martin & Meriel Thurstan Publisher: Batsford
Much more than part 2 of the authors' previous Botanical Illustration Course, this concentrates on colour and texture, including the tricky and controversial black.
Face Parts	[more]
Author: Simon Jennings Publisher: Mitchell Beazley
An invaluable guide providing a wealth of reference material and practical information for anyone who wants to paint a likeness.
Free Expression In Acrylics	[more]
Author: John Hammond Publisher: Batsford
Effectively a guide to how to paint what you see without getting bogged down in individual techniques. John Hammond is a master of light and he'll show you how to give the viewer your personal take on your subject.
Marine Painting	[more]
Author: Françoise Coffrant Publisher: New Holland
In a book of approaches rather than techniques, Françoise looks at the many possibilities of the littoral including light, landscapes, boats, harbours and buildings.
Terry's Top Tips For Watercolour Artists	[more]
Author: Terry Harrison Publisher: Search Press
140 tricks and tips from one of the best teachers in the business. Simple, but straightforward and very instructive.
30 Minute Flowers In Watercolour	[more]
Author: Trevor Waugh Publisher: Collins
In a quick painting, it isn't possible to get to the level of botanical illustration and Trevor concentrates on shapes and colours rather than specific detail, looking at flowers as a composition element rather than a subject in themselves.
The Watercolour Flower Artist's Bible	[more]
Author: Claire Waite Brown Publisher: Search Press
This excellently-conceived series is ideally suited to the many variations of flower painting and is presented in a logical progression that makes it easy to find what you want.
Watercolour Trees & Woodlands (Ready To Paint)	[more]
Author: Geoff Kersey Publisher: Search Press
Books on trees are remarkably few and far between, but this is one of the best and Geoff demonstrates shape, structure and leaves as well as trees in their setting.

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