Visual Narrative Form In Jacob Lawrence's The Migration Series

Jacob Lawrence creates a work of art directly influenced by visual narrative content. In his sequence of art work, The Migration Series, it utilizes the pattern of shapes, colors, and motifs throughout each 60 panels. This series signifies the great history that is related to the background of himself and his family during the migration of the north from the south. Examining all the panels in the series, Lawrence predominately used the same colors throughout the entire project. For example, in the above panel, Lawrence used a great amount of darker colors to portray the scene of the migrants scrambling to get through the gates. The colors are more of a cool sequence, meaning that they aren’t too bright or too dark. The majority of the African American people are wearing

The components such as the people, sky, and roads fit to one another. Those natural fundamentals combined symbolize and balance his story of migration. The blue of the sky in certain panels is highly saturated. His use of repetition throughout this series signifies the lively rhythm of jazz composition – highlighted the perseverance and hopefulness of the people migrating to the north. His series was able to create space and the illusion of depth because he overlapped the people in many of his panels. For example, panel 60 has many people standing, and the overlapping of the colors signify the illusion and depth. Various elements are balanced by shape, size, or placement to establish a graphical equilibrium. Throughout his 60 panels, there is a repetition of visual elements, shapes, and unusual lining. Lawrence’s usage of lining provides a distinct shape when outlining the people, but the remainder of the lines are primarily straight – like panel 46 when drawing the steps. The flattened, sharp forms, tough diagonals, and contrasts of light and shadow present the vitality of the