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Texture in Art: Docent Training Juried Fine Arts Exhibition 2017, and FRESH AIR

Texture in art can be physical/tactile or visual/implied. Physical texture is the actual dimensional variations of a surface that can be felt by touch, while visual texture uses light and shadow to mimic the appearance of physical texture without physical contact. Our experience of visual texture relies on our previous experience with physical textures in the real world. Texture, along with other design elements, can help tell stories and evoke emotions in the viewer. Texture can also be abstracted into patterns that may vaguely evoke tactile experiences.

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Dawn Encarnacion
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57 views

Texture in Art: Docent Training Juried Fine Arts Exhibition 2017, and FRESH AIR

Texture in art can be physical/tactile or visual/implied. Physical texture is the actual dimensional variations of a surface that can be felt by touch, while visual texture uses light and shadow to mimic the appearance of physical texture without physical contact. Our experience of visual texture relies on our previous experience with physical textures in the real world. Texture, along with other design elements, can help tell stories and evoke emotions in the viewer. Texture can also be abstracted into patterns that may vaguely evoke tactile experiences.

Uploaded by

Dawn Encarnacion
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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TEXTURE in ART

Docent Training
Juried Fine Arts Exhibition 2017, and FRESH AIR
In the visual arts, texture is the perceived surface
quality of a work of art. It may be perceived
physically, through the sense of touch, or visually,
or both. Our experience of texture in visual art
relies on our experience with the physical world.
Use of texture, along with other elements of
design, can help to tell stories and evoke
emotions.
•Physical Texture
•Implied Texture
•Pattern
Physical/Actual/Tactile Texture
• Physical textures (also known as actual texture or tactile texture) are
the patterns of dimensional variations in a physical surface. Physical
texture can be felt by touching the surface of the object or material. •
Physical texture may also be perceived visually without physical
contact.
• Light and shadow are important factors in the visual experience of
physical texture. The physical profile of the texture casts shadows that
help us perceive texture.
• The visual experience of physical texture is also informed by previous
experience with the physical world.
Visual/Implied Texture

•Visual texture is the illusion/representation of


physical texture. It is created by the
manipulation of light and shadow to mimic the
visual experience of physical texture.
Since this is a slide show,
all of the images are
IMPLIED TEXTURE!
This is a close-up photo
of a Van Gogh painting.
The light and shadow in
the photograph
represent the tactile
dimensions of his
impasto technique.
Artists can manipulate
paint and other media
to create
physical/tactile texture
in their work. However,
for the most part, we
experience this physical
texture visually. We are
not usually invited to
touch the art.
This is another example of
visual texture. We have a
physical experience of it
because we know what
fur feels like. We transfer
our previous physical
experience to the image
to imagine what it feels
like to handle this object.

The texture, combined


with the forms, are
unsettling. We don’t want
as much as an eyelash in
our tea, let alone a small
rabbit pelt. The texture
evokes an emotional
response.

Meret Oppenheim, 1936


Our
experience
of visual
texture
relies on
our
previous
experience
of physical
texture.
We know what this jello feels like. We know that it is chilled. We might even be able to imagine what it taste like.
We have many
words to describe
texture.
The words alone,
without any image
or object, can evoke
our experience of
texture through our
imagination and
memories.
Chafing, Disfigured,
Creamy, Distended
Channeled, ,
Creepy, Downy,
Chapped, Dreary,
Crochete Drenched,
d, Dripping,
Cheap, Dry,
Crude, Ductile,
Cheerful, Dull,
Crumbly, Durable,
Chunky, Dusty,
Curdled, Effective,
Clammy, Elastic, Hygienic,
Cushione Emblazon Icy,
d, ed, Immaculate,
Clean, Embossed Granul Impenetrable
Cut, , ar, , Imprinted,
Clear, Enameled, Grating Incised,
Cutting, Encrusted, , Incisive,
Coagulated, Engraved, Gravell Indented,
Damaged Enlarged, y, Inflated,
Abrasive
, Etched, Greasy Inflexible,
,
Coarse, Even, , Inlaid,
Acute,
Grimy,
Words, type, or letterforms,
divorced from their phonetics
and definitions, can also be
arranged to create textures that
evoke tactile experiences.
Van Gogh represented a
great variety of textures
through the simple use
of line. Notice the
repetition of lines that
mimics the patterns of
actual textures in the
landscape. You can see
here that there is a
relationship
between pattern and
texture. If you filter out
the physical evocation
of implied texture, you
are left with pattern
Pattern

•Visual texture may be


abstracted or stylized into
pattern.
A close-up
photograph of
fish and fish
scales. Notice
the role of light
and shadow in
rendering of
the texture.
Photography is
very good at
representing
light, shadow,
and texture.
This is an example of a
drawing of fish scales
that evokes a tactile
dimension through
the use of line weight,
density and shading.
TTh
This is an example of a fish scale pattern. It is abstracted from the
pattern of physical texture. It may remotely evoke an imagination
of tactile experience, however, it functions more as pattern than
implied texture.
This fish scale
pattern is
further distilled
into simple
black and white,
moving further
from the
experience of
texture into the
realm of
pattern.

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