Drawing, the most basic of the visual arts, is often seen as a natural ability, but it can be learnt. Working from observation in pencil, pen, or charcoal helps you to see clearly, increases your visual awareness, and enhances your ability to design in two dimensions. The New English Art Club, an exhibiting society with a 125 year history, runs a school of drawing in which it tries to keep alive the tradition of working from life, which used to be taught in all art schools but is now almost extinct. Charles Williams Cert. RAS RWS NEAC, the current curator, brings together exercises, illustrations, demonstrations, and, above all, the attitude to drawing of the NEAC Drawing School in one comprehensive book. Williams links nineteenth-century artists and thinkers like Walter Sickert and John Ruskin with contemporary writers like Betty Edwards in an attempt to show that to draw is to be a part of a great, living tradition that the contemporary world of photography and digital technology will never eclipse.

* Close photographed demos/process

* 130+ black and white and colour illustrations

* Clear design

* Sketchbook sized, convenient, recognizable

* Tips, hints, and examples from practicing professional artists

* Professional, 'manual'-style presentation