The book is organized into chapters covering seven important genres: nudes, figures, landscapes, still life and studies, heads, fantasy and abstraction. Each chapter selects a cross section of artists and examines their practice in detail, using key drawings to serve as perfect examples of a particular quality in drawing. Light, shade, rhythm, form, space, contour and composition are all covered in detail. Each artist is described through one of their masterpieces, plus a biographical profile and a practical look at the way the drawing was made: the materials and technique, as well as an examination of the ideas and inspiration behind its making and how the artist’s life might reflect their concerns. The book covers a broad historical and geographic sweep, and includes many of the most celebrated male and female artists. Their artworks are shown not as styles to be copied blindly or as the magical work of untouchable gods, but as real objects that were made by human beings.