ART 1213/1143: Drawing I: Evaluating Images

A guide to evaluating images

Video for Resources

In this video we learn about some resources available to you for finding good quality images. Video length: 16 minutes, 5 seconds.  Click "Watch in Panopto" for the best video quality.

Image Resources

Last Activity!

The last activity asks you to use the Artstor database you learned about in the above video in order to find an image. You can locate the Artstor database in the Images Research Guide also linked above. Follow the caption examples below and in the Image Caption Basics handout on this page to create a caption for the image you found. Be sure to enter your name in the space provided in the activity. At the end of the activity you will receive a completion certificate.

Citing an Image

Identifying information is required for any image you use in a paper or presentation. Images are not generally cited in a bibliography or note in Chicago style, but if such an entry is needed, see The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition, Section 14.235: Citing Paintings, Photographs, and Sculpture. The type of citation that is normally required is called a caption. A caption appears below the image and should contain as much of the following information as you are able to find.

  • Creator First Name Last Name
  • Title of work (in italics)
  • Date created
  • Medium (oil on canvas, photograph, poster, etc.)
  • Dimensions (in inches or centimeters)
  • Repository (institution that owns the orignal work) and city or country where located
  • Image source (Database, website, book, etc.)

*Use n.d. to indicate no date
*ca., short for circa, may be substituted for the exact date if it is not known

Example: Diego Velázquez. The Toilet of Venus. 1647-51. Oil on canvas, 122.5 x 177 cm. National Gallery, London. Artstor, http://www.artstor.org.