Texture

TEXTURE

The term Texture comes from the Latin textura; textus meaning to weave. Texture is the visual or tactile surface characteristics which may be described as smooth or rough, plain or decorated, matte or glossy, soft or hard. The surface quality of a two-dimensional shape or three-dimensional volume is called texture. Texture refers to surface quality. Everything that has a surface has a texture. The term is often misused to refer only to rough surfaces but this is not correct. All surfaces have texture. While texture can make an image more interesting it is not a strong enough element to be useful for organizing a composition.

Every substance has its own internal and external texture

Internal texture:

The inner structure of an objective We see it after any object is sectioned Example ; cellular growth of woods.

External texture:

The outer look or structure of an object It is of two types: tactile visual

Types of Texture

There are two kinds of texture: 1. Tactile : Touch 3D texture 2. Visual : Visual illusion 2D texture 3. Invented : by artist

1. Tactile Texture

Tactile means touch. Tactile texture is the actual (3D) feel of a surface. Three-dimensional manifestation structure or finish, is directly related to the sense of touch. Involves using items with physical texture to add or create new textures. Both felt and visually perceived. Painters are most likely to take advantage of this to give their painting's surface a lively look. Paint can be built up into rough peaks in a technique called impasto. Vincent Van Gogh is famous for this. Some painters add sand to their paint to make more tactile texture. Glass can be pressed, cast, engraved to give varied degrees of roughness. Collages can use textured paper and other three-dimensional materials (like string, cardboard, sandpaper, etc.) to make a tactile surface.

2. Visual Texture

Visual texture refers to the illusion of the surface's texture. It is what tactile texture looks like (on a 2D surface). Two-dimensional visual textures can be seen but not felt. Visual texture uses line, point and shape, to create the illusion of texture. Visual texture is implied texture. The brain sees these patterns and interprets them as physical texture. This type of texture imitates physical textures from the real world. For example: The textures you see in a photograph are visual textures. No matter how rough objects in the photograph look, the surface of the photograph is smooth and flat. there are several factors which produce visual textures: Light and Stencil (Physical structure) Reflection and Absorption (Surface polish) Different Value Contrasts (Physically broken surface) Differences in Opaqueness (Thickness and depths of translucency, or transparency materials)

3. Invented Texture

This texture is created through the use of a repeated pattern, symbol or mark. This type of texture does not imitate any physical texture, but rather is invented by the artist.

Textural quality
smooth Texture: Seem Cool, tranquil, precise. Reflects light. Dont want extra attention Ex: pages of book

Rough Texture: Attract attention Activate surfaces and may overshadow form and color. Tend to look warm and informal. Absorbs light. May be pleasantly irregulars or painfully harsh.

Hard texture: Less inviting,rough,unfriendly

Soft texture: Tempt us to touch them Friendly and appealing Flabby (loose/soft). Ex: skin of a body

This composition shows how a simple design idea can be enhanced by good use of color and texture.

Pattern

Pattern

A recognizable motif regularly repeated produces a pattern. Pattern requires repetition -- in design as in life (a pattern of behavior). The more regular the repetition, the stronger the pattern. Compare this field of flowers with a checkerboard. Both have a repeating motif. The most noticeable patterns occur when you see the group before the individuals -notice the organization first (the checker board). All of the motifs in a pattern have surfaces, so there is always texture. But there is not always pattern -- only when you notice it. Texture and pattern are related. When you look closely at a tree you can see the pattern of leaves that make its surface. When you back away you loose awareness of the leaves and notice the texture the leaves make on the tree. Farther away still and you can see the pattern of the trees making up the forest and finally the texture of the forest. In this way pattern changes to texture as you loose sight of the individual motifs. This is easy to do with natural patterns, but you have to get quite far away from a checker board grid to see it as texture.

Pattern

Pattern is the regular repetition of a shape over part or all of the picture plane. A regular pattern leads the eye across and around the page, and so can be used as a way to direct the viewer around your composition. A regular pattern can also create Unity by repeating the shape on different parts of the page, which can lead to a unified, integrated work. Pattern can also create Texture and so can create more interest and richness in plain, unadorned areas. I'm often asked about the difference between pattern and texture. Texture and pattern can use the same elements, but pattern is more regular. You an have a variety of textures across a work of art. Patterns repeat the same artistic element in more regular and predictable way. The more regular, linear and predictable the pattern, the more calm and controlled the mood of the work will be. One way to add interest in a work is to have a break in the pattern that emphasizes the focal point. You can see this in examples 1,2,3, and 5. Notice in #3, by Klimt, how the pattern of the dress is suggested in the repeat blue flowers in the halo around the women's head, but in a larger, more irregular way.

Pattern

Pattern

Pattern