This selective list of "how to" titles provides information on the technical aspects of art.  You may search the SUBJECT catalog for "art technique*" or "art material*" to locate additional titles.

Alberti, Leon Battista. On Painting (Della architectura, della pittura e della statua. trans. John R Spencer, New Haven: Yale Univ. Press, 1956.

Cennini, Cennino. The Craftsman's Handbook (Il libro dell'arte). trans. Daniel V. Thompson, New York: Dover,1954

Cohn, Marjorie B. Wash and Gouache: A Study of the Development of the Materials of Watercolour. Cambridge, Mass.:The Center for Conservation and Technical Studies, Fogg Art Museum and the Foundation of the American Institute for Conservation, 1977.

Doerner, Max. The Materials of the Artist and their Use in Painting with notes on the techniques of the Old Masters. New York: Harcourt, Brace Co., 1937

Lambert, Susan. The Image Multiplied. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1987.

_____________. Reading Drawings: An introduction to looking at drawings. New York: Pantheon Books, 1984

Mayer, Ralph. The Artist's Handbook of Materials and Techniques. 3rd ed. rev. and expanded, New York: Viking Press, 1970