Embroidery from Sketch to Stitch by Pat Langford is a great book to read if you are interested in crossing over from drawing and painting to fabric art.
That said, this book assumes that you already know how to use a sewing machine and have some skill with machine embroidery, or that you can embroider [...]

Stitch Magic by Jan Beaney and Jean Littlejohn is a glorious book about rich, dimensional embroidery techniques. It also addresses several other kinds of surface treatments for fabric, mostly related to embroidery.
This hardcover book includes a variety of amazing techniques whether you are working with geometrics, abstracts, or realistic imagery in your [...]