Casein Paint
Casein paint is a water-based paint that uses casein, a milk protein, as its binder. It dries quickly to a matte film and becomes increasingly water-resistant as it cures.
Painter
Jacob Lawrence
Jacob Lawrence was an American painter known for vivid narrative series about Black life and history, especially The Migration Series, created with quick-drying tempera on hardboard panels.
Jacob Lawrence quick facts
Review key details about Jacob Lawrence's life, career, narrative painting, major series, and the historical subjects, materials, and methods that shaped his work.
| Born | September 7, 1917 · Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S. |
|---|---|
| Died | 2000 |
| Nationality | American |
| Paint media | Casein tempera · Tempera · Watercolor · Gouache |
| Documented supports | Hardboard and composition board · Paper · Cardboard and paperboard |
| Documented example | Captain Skinner (1944), gouache on paperboard |
| Common subjects | The Great Migration, Black history, workers, Harlem, family life, war, civil rights, and everyday community life |
| Notable works | The Migration Series, The Life of Toussaint L'Ouverture, and War Series |
Sources: Museum of Modern Art, MoMA: The Migration Series, MoMA: casein tempera panel, Smithsonian: Captain Skinner, Smithsonian: New Jersey, from the United States Series, and Smithsonian: The Library.
Paint types used
See the paint types documented in Lawrence's work, with links to PaintZeal references explaining each medium's properties, uses, and working characteristics.
Tempera
Traditional tempera is an artist paint made by combining pigment with an emulsion binder. Egg yolk is the best-known traditional binder, but the broader tempera category can include other emulsion recipes, so a museum record that says only “tempera” does not always identify the exact binder.
Watercolor
Watercolor paint is a water-based art medium made with pigment and a water-soluble binder. It is known for transparent color that settles into absorbent paper.
Gouache
Gouache paint is an opaque, water-based art medium made with pigment and a water-soluble binder. Traditional formulas dry to a matte finish and can be reactivated with water.
Surface types used
See the surface types documented in Lawrence's work, with links to PaintZeal references explaining how each support behaves and is prepared for painting.
Painting Board
Painting board is a rigid artist support made from hardboard, wood, or another stable panel material. It may be sold raw or prepared with a medium-specific ground layer.
Paper
Paper is an absorbent sheet material made primarily from cellulose fibers. Its weight, sizing, surface texture, and wet strength determine how much paint it can accept before buckling, pilling, bleeding, or warping.
Cardboard
Cardboard is a paper-based sheet material made from compressed fibers, often with corrugated fluting between liner sheets. It is lightweight and absorbent, so heavy wet coats can soften or warp it.
Painters similar to Jacob Lawrence
Explore painters similar to Jacob Lawrence through tempera, narrative figuration, socially engaged subjects, bold graphic structure, and American modernism.
Ben Shahn
Ben Shahn was an American painter and graphic artist known for socially engaged imagery, expressive line, and paintings made with tempera.
Paul Cadmus
Paul Cadmus was an American painter known for figurative paintings, social satire, and sustained use of egg tempera throughout much of his career.