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Aquamania: Exploring the Library

Mara Metcalf's Aquamania

This guide will help you find inspiration and information about contemporary artists working in watercolors, drawing, illustration, and figural representation.

Searching and Browsing in Books

Search the FLO Library Catalog to find print and electronic books. For titles owned by the SMFA Library, select our location in the right-hand "Filter Your Search" box on the results page.



 

Browse these call number ranges and headings on the SMFA Library shelves

ND1808, ND2130   Watercolor
NC Drawing, design, illustration
NC1060-1260 Drawing – modern artists
NC900 Illustration
NC905 Illustration in pen & ink
N6494 .F5 Figurative art (general)

 

Browse these subject headings to see all consortium holdings related to watercolors, drawing, and figurative art

Watercolor painting Pen drawing
Watercolor painting technique Illustration
Drawing Illustration of books
Figure drawing Figure painting

Searching and Browsing Online

Artsy

The website Artsy is a fantastic source of images of and information about contemporary art. Try searching and exploring these topics:

  • Contemporary Watercolor
  • Drawing
  • Figurative Art
  • Contemporary Figurative Drawing
  • Contemporary Figurative Painting

 

Artstor

The SMFA Library provides access to Artstor (linked below), a great resource for art images. Using the advanced search feature, you can limit by the classification "Drawings and Watercolors" and specify a contemporary date range (e.g., 2000-2015).

Please note that to use this resource outside the Library, you must set up an account on a Library computer.

 

Publicly Available Image Collections

In addition to Artsy, there are a growing number of freely available digitized collections from museums, universities, historical archives, and other cultural heritage institutions. Use our Publicly Available Image Collections guide to start exploring.

 

Make the Most of Google

Google Advanced Image Search 

A great way to harness the power of the regular Google Image Search toward delivering quality, trustworthy results. Some tips:

  • In the "image size" menu, select a larger option to help ensure image quality.
  • In the "site or domain" field, enter .edu and/or .org. This will limit your search to sites (from museums, universities, etc.) that are more likely to include complete and accurate information with image files.
  • Try filtering your search by "usage rights." In most cases, using images for scholarly work (papers, presentations) is protected by Fair Use, but incorporating images into the output of your artistic practice is a thornier issue. Knowing the licensing information for images you use is a smart way to work. 

Google Image Search Filters

Search Google Images for any general term (for example, "art") and explore the suggested filters (contemporary, watercolor, Chinese, etc.). Try searching other broad course-relevant terms, such as:

  • watercolor
  • drawing
  • illustration

Other SMFA Library Subject Guides

You can further explore resources, in the SMFA LIbrary and beyond, on the following subjects:

And there are more! Go here for a complete list of our Research Guides.

Contact us!

Please feel free to get in touch with a librarian at any stage of your research process. Stop by the library (located on the third floor of the B side of the Fenway building), or get in touch directly with:

Ashley Peterson

  • apeterson@smfa.edu
  • 617-369-3653

Darin Murphy

  • dmurphy@smfa.edu
  • 617-369-3651

Circulation Desk (evening and weekend contact)

  • library@smfa.edu
  • 617-369-3650
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