Image Essay 11: Narrative

Narratives tell a story. Some are more self-explanatory while others need background information to be understood. During week 11 we were working on our narrative paintings. Some were simple and needed little explanation while others needed to be explained. A piece that needs no explanation is Jerome Witkin’s “Division Street” [A story told in 3 panels]. He does a n excellent job at showing how the woman feels in the painting by her actions and the expressions on her face. In the first panel the woman is scowling as her husband puts on his hat and heads for the door. With the use of color in this first image it can also be construed that the woman is jealous because of her entirely green face. Then in the second panel we see the plates with food hit the wall that were intended for the man. In the first panel one sees that she is just holding the plates and her anger, then in the second panel it show how she let her anger go. Then in the third panel again her skin tone is back to normal and she seems calm and is just cleaning up the mess alone. This piece does an excellent job telling the story of the woman. It needs little explanation and little interpretation. One is able to see the action and consequences all at once.