I never learned color in an academic way… so this may have something to do with (my) expressing myself in a very limited palette. Limiting yourself… forces you to be more inventive.
—Jacob Lawrence

Very early in his career, Jacob Lawrence developed the principal components of what would become his trademark style — the use of flat areas of solid color, an economy of form, and an expressive use of pattern and composition. These qualities were the by-products of Lawrence's education and his use of water-based poster paints.

To better understand Jacob Lawrence's use of materials and techniques, the Jacob and Gwendolyn Lawrence Foundation has worked with conservator Elizabeth Steele and the Getty Conservation Institute to conduct an analysis of paint samples collected from more than two dozen artworks in public and private collections throughout the United States. Using the latest available scientific procedures — gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry — Getty scientists were able to identify binding media and pigments in each of the paint samples. The results of this research have been published as "The Materials and Techniques of Jacob Lawrence" by Elizabeth Steele and "Identification of Pigments and Binding Media in the Work of Jacob Lawrence" by the Getty Conservation Institute.

Additionally, Elizabeth Hutton Turner, curator at The Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., has researched Jacob Lawrence's education as it informed his technique. The results of her study have been published as "The Education of Jacob Lawrence." Both essays are included in the book Over the Line: The Art and Life of Jacob Lawrence (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2001).