Artists' Master Series

This is by far one of the best books I read on painting. The insights are not only useful for artists but also designers and photographers. Textures, light sources, color theory, reflections, physics, color models, etc. - there is so much valuable information in this book. It is written in a very comprehensive format due to the illustrations and short chapters.
In the beginning is the theory and a suggestion for exercises, then there are some tutorials and in the end a gallery of works of contemporary artists. I loved reading this book, I will certainly revisit it as a reference.