Texture as Element of Art

I Study the active vocabulary and focus on Ukrainian equivalents of English words.

sense відчуття

fabric тканина

engage привертати

viewer глядач

sense of touch відчуття дотику

surface поверхня

implied що мається на увазі

hardness твердість

roughness шорсткість

canvas полотно

self-portrait автопортрет

varied різноманітний

skin шкіра

smoothness гладкість

oil paint олійна фарба

countless   незліченний

blurred розмитий

smudged розмазаний

repeat повторювати

three-dimensional тривимірний

expressive виразний

incorporate включити

relevant доречний

II Vocabulary focus. Study the words and  word combinations, check your understanding using flashcards, practise their translation, spelling. Check your knowledge in the test. Play matching vocabulary game (match words to their translations to make cards disappear)  and save the planet from asteroids by typing in correct translation of the words.

III Watch the video and fill in the gaps with the words from the list. There are some words you don’t need to use.

Ceramists; canvas; cart; creating; stimulate; surface; simulation; actual; run; book; space; smoothness; textile; real; think; textures; feel; self-portrait; shape; artisan; see; touched; viewers’; artists; art; elements; sculpture; hook; bronze; survive; varied; oil

We tend to think of 1)________ as something just to look at, but a lot of 2)________ make their work to 3)________ our other senses. Sculptors, 4)________ and fabric artists, 5)________ makers, 6)________, and artists working in many other forms 7)________ a lot about how to engage 8)________ sense of touch.

Even when their art is not meant to be 9)________, artists put a lot of thought and work into 10)________ many different 11)________. Texture is one of the seven 12)________ of art, along with line, 13)________, colour, form, value, and 14)________. Texture is the look or feel of a 15)________. Just like form, texture can be 16)________ or implied. If you were to 17)________ your hand across this 18)________ by Alberto Giacometti, you would 19)________ the hardness of the 20)________ metal and the roughness of the form that Giacometti created. This is called 21)________ texture. Implied textures are only visual. They can’t be felt. For instance, if you could touch the 22)________ of this 23)________ by Chuck Close, you wouldn’t feel the 24)________ textures of skin and hair. You would feel the 25)________ of the 26)________ paint. So these textures are implied because we can only 27)________ them.

IV Watch the video and fill in the gaps in the text.

There are countless 1)________  that 2)________ create implied textures. How many 3)________ kinds of 4)________ do you notice in this 5)________ by Roy de Forest? You have the 6)_____     ___ creating a woman’s hair on the 7)________, 8)________ creating her 9)________, the blurred, smudged 10)________ coming out of the dog’s 11)________ and the man’s mouth in the 12)________. Those are just to name a few kinds of 13)________ textures here.

14)________ can also be created through use of 15)________. In this painting by Gustav Klimt, notice how he 16)________ shapes to create 17)________. You have the 18)________ and lines on the woman’s 19)________ on the left, the many 20)________ creating the tree in the center, and in the woman’s dress on the 21)________, you have circles within circles, rectangles within 22)________, and all the scattered shapes throughout the piece 23)________ many different textures. 24)________ and other typically two-dimensional art can have 25)________ texture. Sometimes 26)________ layer paint on the canvas so thick that it becomes 27)________. At that point, the paint is a sculptural 28)________ that can be manipulated and shaped. Some artists build up fabrics, 29)________, jewellery, and many other objects on the canvas to create 30)________ textures. Artists often feature the 31)________ textures of the materials they use or textures 32)________ created and formed by hand.

Whatever the approach, textures are an expressive 33)________ artists use to reinforce their overall 34)________. The next time you’re making a 35)________, drawing, collage, or 36)________, find a way to incorporate textures that say something relevant and 37)________ to you.

V Watch all the parts of the video and answer the questions.

1 What is texture in art?

2 What types of texture can we find in artworks?   

3 What is implied texture? Can you give an example of implied texture use in art?

4 What are the examples of real texture in art?

5 How can other elements of art be used to create texture?

6 How can texture be used to make two-dimensional artwork appear three-dimensional?

VI OVER TO YOU. Comment on the use of texture in a n inspirational example of sculpture and painting. What types of texture did the artist use? What effect did they create? Find and comment on an example of artwork where other elements of art (like line, colour, etc.) are used to create texture.