Texture! It’s one of those elements of art that’s exactly what it sounds like. You know, I can pull
up a picture of anything and you’ll probably be able to tell what it’d feel like to touch it. Dog?
Probably feels fluffy. Polished stone? Probably feels smooth. Like, “Ah yeah, this [noun] probably
feels like [adjective in the context of texture]." In fact, our brains are so powerful, that you can look
at anything around you, and you’ll ALSO know what it would feel like to lick it. Go on,
look around the room. You know I’m right. Sorry, not the point. The point is that texture is one of the
core keys to quite literally giving your artwork the feeling you want it to have. Let’s continue.
Our friend google states that texture refers to the way an object feels to the touch
or looks as it may feel if it were touched. Texture is one of the seven elements of art. And for the
most part, that really is the long and short of it! Texture is either drawing something to look like
it’ll feel like something, or using certain materials or techniques to give it a physical, touchable quality.
But don’t worry, the video isn’t just gonna end here. There are still a couple more definitions
within the umbrella term “texture”. In fact, there are four different types of texture -- actual, implied,
abstract, and invented texture. But let’s define actual texture to start. Actual texture can also
be called literal texture and it's the texture in an art piece that is physically there there are
a few ways to get actual texture -- one is by using the actual physical material that relates to what
was drawn. For instance, if you illustrated denim shorts, you would use actual denim as the texture.
Another way of showing actual texture is by using a textured medium. Some artists like to
mix in sand in their paint to give it a grainy texture! Or perhaps you’re using something a little
more abstract, like eggshells or stones, and that will give it an actual texture as well. You can
also use a technique called collage, where you use mixed media to create art that has many different
actual textures. You could use different fabrics, plastics, papers, clays, garbage -- you name it! But
the most popular way to give a piece texture is with the techniques and tools used with the medium.
When it comes to 3D art, there’s pinching, pressing, scoring, scraping, and so much more!
Using a variety of different techniques with your mediums can give actual texture to your pieces.
When it comes to 2D artwork, actual texture is usually done with paint! Oil and acrylic paint
can be layered in globs and will dry as a glob, giving it a literal texture. This technique is
called impasto, first created in the 17th century by Diego Velasquez, Frans Hals, and Rembrandt.
And speaking of Rembrandt, here’s his Self Portrait, painted in 1659. Obviously you’re just going to have
to trust me on this one, but Rembrandt used a lot of impasto to get certain textures on skin and
fabric. It’s a little hard to see when the image is this small, so let’s zoom in a little here. There we
go! You can see all the paint strokes and raised details when you’re close up. Rembrandt really
liked to use impasto upon the lighter parts of the face, and very transparent paint on the background.
This adds a really nice contrast to the piece, which is a principle of design. If you were to
touch the canvas, you’d be able to feel all the bumps and textures of thick layers of oil paints.
Ironically, because you can’t feel it right now, it’s more like implied texture. But let me get
into the definition of that one first. There are so many names for implied texture, like visual
texture, simulated texture, so on and so forth, but we’ll just stick to implied for this video.
Implied texture is texture that isn’t actually there, but an illusion illustrated to look like it.
This is the one that most of us are used to, whether someone draws a sharp knife, a fuzzy
sweater or a haystack, it’ll all feel like a sheet of paper or a canvas. You do have a bit of an actual
texture because of the paper or canvas you’ll use, whether the texture quality is matte or shiny or
whatever. But overall, you’re just not going to feel the texture that you draw on top of whatever it is
that you’re drawing on. Honestly, I could use pretty much any piece I wanted to for this segment, but to
make it look real texture-y, let me use Symi (Thrown Drapery) by David Ligare. No this isn’t a photo. It’s
a painting. I know, it hurts me a little too with how crazy that is. This painting is done in a style
called hyper-realism or photorealism, where the piece looks so realistic that it’s almost
indistinguishable from a photo. But of course, all of this texture in the painting is implied texture.
You can practically feel the sheet in the wind, the water from the ocean and the rocks
on the shore, but alas, all you would feel if you touched this piece would be the canvas beneath it.
Now you’re probably sitting there right now, saying “Jessie, you’ve basically said texture is either real or
not real. What else is there?” Don’t worry. There’s more, it just gets a little weirder from here on
out. Invented texture is texture that doesn’t actually exist, and is created by the artist!
So let me draw a bunny. What texture would I draw for it? Don’t give me the actual answer
though, or any textures at all. ONLY give me the wrong answers. THAT’S invented texture.
There isn’t exactly an artist I want to point out for invented texture, but rather an art medium
that you’ve probably heard of. Vantablack was invented a while ago by a man named Anish Kapoor.
Vantablack was deemed “the blackest black in the world”, because it was able to absorb 99% of the
light around it. It looks like you’re staring into a void! There was a lot of...controversy...around the
medium, but even so, you have to admit that that’s pretty cool. Notice however that it’s a man-made
texture...or...lack of texture? And you’ll never see it anywhere in the wild or in any normal circumstance.
That’s invented texture! There’s one more type of texture to explain, and this one
might be the strangest. Abstract texture is when existing textures are used out of context in
order to portray a new idea, or create new emotions. This is often known as juxtaposition. So let’s take
that bunny again, but instead of fur, I’ll give it scales. That’s abstract texture -- putting other
textures where they don’t technically belong. Take Object (Le Déjeuner en fourrure) by Meret Oppenheim.
I don’t think I need to tell you that cups, spoons and plates aren’t supposed to be fuzzy, but I’ll
point it out anyway for the sake of the video. This piece in particular was meant to show how nice fur
is to touch, but the one place we don’t like to have fur is in our mouths. And, you know, we kind of
have to put cups and spoons in our mouths. Because this fur is where isn’t not supposed to be, it’s a
form of abstract texture! "This technique feels very surrealist though," you tell me. "This doesn’t
seem like something I should apply to my current artwork." Au contraire, my friend. Kirby’s Epic Yarn
is actually another example of abstract texture. Yes. Finally. A video where I can talk about Kirby.
Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING in this game is made of fabric or yarn. The trees, rocks, ice, food,
characters -- it’s all made of textiles and string and everything sewing related you could think of!
Of course, our trees aren’t made of fabrics and buttons and our clouds aren’t made of stuffing,
but it gives a whole new feeling to every bit of the environment. You’d never think a
volcano would look so huggable! Playing around with abstract texture is a fun way to add new
feelings to your artwork, and can give it that extra push to make it something truly unique.
Texture, in terms of its concept, is pretty simple but also really flexible. It’s either there, not
there, looks like the actual subject, or doesn’t look like the actual subject. But that flexibility
means there’s so much you can do with it! Especially with stylized work, you can really
mess around with how you present your textures. And who knows? If you mess around enough, maybe you can
create a whole new style if you experiment a lot! But the best thing about texture is that as long
as you let your intended style shine through, you’ll always be creating great works of art!
For your next piece, think of how you can utilize texture in different ways. Try adding
different kinds of actual textures with different techniques! Scratch up the paint, score and pinch
your clay -- see what you can make your artwork feel like! If you have some paint lying around, try to
paint something with an impasto technique! Or if you’re not much of a painter, try to draw something
with either invented or abstract texture. See if you can give your artwork a different feeling by
switching up its textures. If you're a teacher, we have worksheets on the topic which you can find
on our website along with other art resources for your classroom, link down below. If you liked
what you saw, be sure to leave a like on this video, comment down below to let us know what you'd like
to see us do next, and hit subscribe so you never miss an upload! Join our little art community with
the links down below, and support us on Patreon to get sneak peeks, critiques, and teaching resources!
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