Texture is the
element of art
that refers to how
things feel, or look
as if they might
feel if touched.
Surface Qualities
Whether you are the
viewer or the artist, you
experience two kinds of
textures: real and implied.
Real textures are those that
can actually be touched,
such as the smooth surface
of a bronze sculpture or the
spiky surface of a cactus.
Implied textures are those
that are simulated, or invented. They include the
roughness of a rock seen in
a photograph or the fluffiness of a cloud as depicted
by an artist. real textures
offer both look and feel;
implied ones provide only
the appearance of texture.
In the photos above, how do you think that the surfaces of the objects would
feel if you were to touch them?
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Polyester and fiberglas, the materials used to create this sculpture, help make it look so realistic
that from a short distance, an observer can be
fooled into thinking it is a real person.
Duane Hanson (1926-96). Old Man Dozing, 1976. Cast vinyl
polychromed with oil and mixed media, 48” x 24” x 38”.
Some artists delight in depicting textures as
realistically as possible. In Alma-Tadems’s Interior
of the Gold Room, Townshend House, London,
c.1883, a remarkable number of different textures are
represented.
Use the Link below to go to the Nelson-Atkins
Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri, to view
Alma-Tadema’s watercolou. In your visual journal,
list as many different textures as you can find in one
column. In a second column, list as many textures
as you can find in the room that you are sitting in.
Compare the two lists: how are they different? How
are they alike?
One of the features of surface quality
is texture, the physical surface structure of a
material. Woven fabrics, for instance, have
particular textural surfaces. They range from
the closely knit fibers of silk to the heavy
weave of burlap. We can readily identify a
material by its texture: glass is smooth and
slick; sand is gritty and fine.
Texture might create diverse effects in
a design. Just as some artists or craftspeople
may focus on line, shape, or color, others
concentrate on texture to capture a particular
look or feel.
http://www.nelson-atkins.org/art/CollectionDatabase_
ImageView.cfm?id=15538&theme=Euro
Mariyn Ann Levine
(b. 1935). Work
Boots, 1983. Ceramic boots, approximately 9 x 11 x 5”.
Notice the lifelike appearance of Hanson’s Old Man Dozing and Levine’s Work Boots. Why might
an artist want to represent reality so precisely? Write a paragraphy in your visual journal that compares the work of these two artists. Think about why they might have wanted to create something so
life-like. Do you think that this is art or do you think that this is just copying from nature? Why?
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TEXTURE: Chapter 7 ArtTalk (Glencoe)
Lesson 1: Texture in Your Life
Textures are an important factor in life, influencing your decisions about things such as clothing or food. You perceive textures with both touch and vision. Texture is the element of art that
refers to how things feel, or look as if they might feel, if touched.
When you look at a photograph of a texture, you experience visual texture. Visual texture
is the illusion of a three-dimensional surface. There are two kinds of visual texture: simulated and
invented. Simulated textures imitate real or tactile texture, the texture you feel, such as when vinyl
flooring is made to look like stone. Invented textures are two-dimensional patterns that do not represent real surface qualities but evoke memories of unusual textures.
From the pattern of light and dark values on a surface, you can tell whether a surface is
smooth or rough. Rough surfaces reflect light unevenly while smooth textures reflect light evenly.
Surfaces can also be matte or shiny. Matte surfaces reflect soft, dull light. Shiny surfaces reflect
lots of bright light. Matte and shiny surface can be both rough and smooth. Artists can recreate all of
these textures by focusing on reflections of light and color.
Lesson 2: How Artists Use Texture
Artists use both visual and tactile textures to make you remember your previous texture experiences. This way, artists can convey feelings about their subjects. Color and value patterns are
used to produce the illusion of textures such as velvet and lace. To create tactile textures, the artist
Vincent van Gogh left swirls of thick paint on his canvases to make the colors look brighter. Other
artists add real textures by attaching materials, such as paper and fabric, to their artworks, creating
collages. Some sculptors imitate the texture of skin, hair, and cloth while others create new textures.
Architects and interior designers must be aware of texture and can use it to make buildings, rugs,
and furniture blend into or stand out from their environments. In crafts, artists pay attention to all
types of textures. Some artists even invent textures, using rubbing, scratching, and pressing techniques known as frottage, grattage, and decalcomania.
In frottage, a freshly painted canvas is placed right side up over a raised texture and rubbed or
scraped across the surface of the paint. To create grattage effects, wet paint is scratched with a variety of tools such as forks, razors, and combs. In decalcomania, paint is forced into random textured
patterns.
On the Following page, study the compositions and think about how each of the artist’s
represented used texture. Use your Visual Journal to answer the questions.
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Clockwise from the top left:
Claude Monet. Morning Snow Effect. 1880
Edgar Degas. The Fourteen-year old Dancer. 1864,
Bronze, slightly tinted. 24” tall.
The figure of the yound dancer is cast in bronze.
Even the vest and the ballet shoes she wears are bronze.
To that Degas added a skirt made of gauzelike fabric and
a satin hair ribbon.
Why do you think he added real textures to the metal
figure?
Rembrandt van Rijn. Self-Portrait.1628, age 22
Vincent Van Gogh, Starry Night. 1889, Oil on Canvas
At times, van gogh became so impatient with the
progress of his work that he squeezed the paint directly
from the tube onto the canvas. Then he used anything
that was handy, including his fingers, to move and swirl
the globs of paint around. In both his work and Monet’s,
another Impressionist, the paint is thick.
Compare these two works to that of Rembrandt’s. In
his self-portrait, only the highlights are thick, while the
shadowed areas are painted very thinly. How does this
use of texture affect how you see the portrait?
Have you ever visited the Magic Gardens of Isaiah Zagar on South Street
in Philadelphia?
If not, use the link below to see how one man used texture to revitalize a
section of the city.
http://www.philadelphiasmagicgardens.org/history.php
TEXTURE
• Write definitions for the Vocabulary.
• Do the Journal Entries as described.
Vocabulary:
1. Texture ________________________________________________________________________________
2. Visual Texture ___________________________________________________________________________
3. Matte Surface ___________________________________________________________________________
4. Collage _________________________________________________________________________________
5. Frottage ________________________________________________________________________________
6. Grattage _______________________________________________________________________________
7. Decalcomania ___________________________________________________________________________
• Journal Entry 1:
Collect 6 small samples of various textures, such as a scrap of sandpaper, a swatch of fabric, textured paper
or magazine illustrations that show texture. Mount these samples in your visual journal. Under each sample,
write two words that describe the texture, such as “slick”, or “smooth”, “bumpy” or “rough”. Then write a short
paragraph describing how you could use various textures (or the appearance of texture) in your art.
• Journal Entry 2:
Make a collection of 6 texture rubbings. To make a rubbing, place a sheet of thin paper against a rough object or
surface. Hold the paper in place with one hand. Use the flat side of an unwrapped crayon or the side of a pencil
lead to rub over the paper. Rub in one direction – away from the hand holding the paper. Rubbing back and forth
can cause the paper or object to slip. Examine the rubbings closely, paying special attention to the lines, dots,
shapes, and values. Cut the rubbings into a 4 x 4” square. Mount them in your journal. Beneath the rubbing,
identify the source.
• Journal Entry 3:
In your journal, draw nine shapes of different sizes with a pencil or felt-tip pen. Some shapes could touch the
edges of the paper. Fill each shape with sketches of a different texture. The textures should be invented. For
instance, you could put lines of writing close together in one shape, or you could try repeating small shapes in
another. Try line patterns, stippling, or smooth shadow.
• Journal Entry 4: Visual Journal on Texture. Follow the Rubric for the monthly journals.
For further help and more information on Texture, use the following link below. Here you will find a PDF
powerpoint from Arttalk’s Chapter 7 on Texture.
http://www.fcds.org/faculty/RebeccaStoneDanahy/web/protected/Beginning%20Art/CH7_texture.ppt.pdf