He wrote panel captions from his initial research, often with the help of fellow artist and future wife, Gwendolyn Knight. In 1940, Jacob Lawrence rented his first studio to prepare and lay out the 60 panels that would comprise The Migration Series. “I tried to create a staccato-like rhythm over and over and over again the shapes as they move…I build on the geometry and I love it.”–Jacob Lawrence Jacob Lawrence, The Migration Series, Panel no. Students have the opportunity to use different shapes and lines in their own artwork to show the varied experiences of their lives and communities. This particular panel shows the juxtaposition of the more earth-centered South-through Lawrence’s use of biomorphic shapes and curved lines-and the more industrialized North (in other panels)-through Lawrence’s use of straighter lines. As they moved North, their lives depended more on industrial machinery. In the South, Black Americans lived in more rural communities, where farming and agriculture were the primary sources of food and jobs. 7: The migrant, whose life had been rural and nurtured by the earth, was now moving to urban life dependent on industrial machinery.Īcquired 1942 The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC © 2020 The Jacob and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Foundation, Seattle / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Teacher Note: If your students have not yet learned multiplication, they can find only the perimeter of the selected shapes instead of both the perimeter and area.

Measure the geometric shapes in order to calculate the perimeter and area.

The shapes can be the same as long as they’re different sizes, or they can select three different geometric shapes.

Students should then follow the following steps:.

Review perimeter and area with your students.

After they’ve created their own pieces, students will measure both the perimeter and area of three geometric shapes included in their art.

Part 4: Optional Extension - Math Connections

Discuss the neighborhood scene they depicted and why they picked it.

As students present their art pieces, they should:.

Only use markers or crayons at the end to fill in any additional details that you need to complete your neighborhood scene.

Using those shapes, create the neighborhood scene you identified.

Using construction paper, cut out different biomorphic and geometric shapes.

However, if you find your students need more structure, you can provide the following guidance: This artmaking project is designed to be open-ended to allow students to express themselves in their own ways.

Using construction paper and crayons or markers, students will create their selected neighborhood scene using geometric and biomorphic shapes.

Students should select something they see in their neighborhood every day (ex: apartment building, house, cars, buildings, garden, bus stop).

After students identify Lawrence’s geometric and biomorphic shapes, they will create their own art using different kinds of shapes.

When does Lawrence use biomorphic shapes?.

When does Lawrence use geometric shapes?.

Students should use this graphic organizer to identify geometric shapes and biomorphic shapes.

They usually have curved lines and irregular angles.

Biomorphic shapes are shapes that we see in nature like flowers, animals, and clouds.

They usually have straight lines and angles. We don’t often see them in the natural, outside world.

Geometric shapes are shapes such as triangles, squares, rectangles, circles, trapezoids.

After allowing students to describe geometric and biomorphic on their own, provide them with the definitions of each:.

Ask students: How might we describe biomorphic shapes? What do you notice about the lines?.

Point out the cotton and the boll weevil (a type of beetle that eats cotton buds and flowers) as examples of biomorphic shapes.

Ask students: Based on this panel, how might we describe geometric shapes? What do you notice about the lines?.

This panel is made up of only geometric shapes.

IDENTIFY geometric and biomorphic shapes:.

When we looked at the panels, what kinds of shapes did you notice?.

Lawrence used lots of shapes and lines to show the everyday things he saw - people, buildings, doors, windows, hats, and luggage.

In this lesson, they will learn about how he used shapes and lines.

Explain to students that Jacob Lawrence had a unique process for creating his art.In what circumstances do you notice Lawrence using curved lines?.

In what circumstances do you notice Lawrence using straight lines?.What kinds of shapes do you notice in Lawrence’s panels?.

Click through the panels and stay on each panel for about 10 seconds before moving on to the next. Ask students to write down what they notice about the shapes and the lines. Watch this short video on Jacob Lawrence’s process for creating The Migration Series.

2 types of shapes in art