Art: Drawing

A general research guide about art for students at UW Bothell and Cascadia College.

Drawing Books

A selection of drawing books available at the Campus Library. Click on the book image to see availability & location information.

The Campus Library arranges books by Library of Congress call numbers. Below are the major sections for drawing.

NC1-1940 Drawing. Design. Illustration

NC1-45	General Including collective biography
NC50-266	History of drawing
NC390-670	Study and teaching
NC673-677	Competitions
NC703-725	General works
NC730-758	Technique
NC760-825	Special subjects
NC845-915	Graphic art materials
NC930	Conservation and restoration of drawings
NC950-(996)	Illustration
NC997-1003	Commercial art. Advertising art
NC1280-1284	Printed ephemera. Imagerie populaire
NC1300-1766	Pictorial humor, caricature, etc.
NC1800-1850	Posters
NC1860-1896	Greeting cards, postcards, invitations, book jackets, etc.
NC1920-1940	Copying, enlarging, and reduction of drawings

Search by keyword using an artist's name (Rembrandt, Matisse, etc.) or a related term (technique, exhibitions, criticism, catalogs etc.) and the word drawing: examples, Rembrandt drawing; Matisse drawing, drawing technique, drawing criticism.
Use quotation marks to search for exact phrases or titles: example, "Drawing: A Contemporary Approach"
Search by time period (16th century, 17th century, 19th century, etc.) and the word drawing: example, drawing "16th century"
Search by Library of Congress Subject Headings, putting them in quotation marks: examples, "Drawing, Renaissance"; "Drawing, Abstract"; "Drawing, Cubist"; "Architectural drawing"; "Charcoal drawing"; "Figurative drawing"; "Landscape drawing"; "Drawing, Russian"; "Drawing, Latin American"; "Drawing, French". Click here for a complete list of LC Subject Headings pertaining to drawing.
Use limits (the links along the left of your search results) to narrow the scope of your search (depending on your search terms, these may not always be present).

Start by going to ARTstor, a searchable database of digital images covering many time periods and cultures. [UW restricted]
NOTE: ARTstor now requires all users to register and log in to download images. If you do not have an accout, click on Register in the upper right corner.

To limit to drawings in ARTstor, click on Advanced Search in the upper left corner.

In the Advance Search screen, use the Classification filter to limit your search to Drawings and Watercolors.
You may also want to specify a date range or geographic location by using the Geography or Search by date or date range filter.
Finally, enter your search terms in the boxes under Search for words or phrases. (You can also limit your search to the Title or Creator field by using the drop-down menu, or you can keep the default setting and search in any field.)