Considered one of the most sensitive of art practices, the drawing of the human figure has been employed from antiquity to the present for both aesthetic and practical purposes. While long serving as the educational foundation for western art, a spirit of innovation and originality characterizes the production and reception of figure drawing because of the infinite variety that can be achieved with the sparest of means. Contemporary artists, as strongly evidenced through text and image in The Perception of Appearance, continue to renew and expand the expressive potential of one of the oldest art forms. Readers can take geat pleasure in assessing current concepts and debates surrounding issues of perception, obeserve the wide range of movements, linear rhythms, and points of view, and have a reference for important contemporary artists.