Drawing Texture
Textures are "surface" designs which support the illusion of real substances or present invented composites. There are two types of texture. Actual textures refer to surface illusions of wood, water, glass, clouds, fabrics, metal, etc. Visual textures are linear, shape and color patterns invented for specific areas of a composition. Creation of these is limitless. Textural screens are easily made with natural materials taped to cardboard as seen below. The left poster shows actual fabric textures with two respective visual interpretations to its right.
Texture offers the artist a powerful means of transmitting ideas. The secrecy of art, its reality configured by imagination, is truly a remarkable thing. An important style of form, color achievement, and modes of expression give clues to the artist's identity. Textures, like other Design Fundamentals are the tools used to manipulate ideas and give them graphic form. The better the range of tools, the better the choices for personal understanding.
Texture in drawing involves creating the sense of a certain type of surface on an image, for example, fur on a cat. Images can be realistic or abstract, but texture can give the illusion of a surface with some sort of physical quality. Examples of physical qualities are, smooth, rough, furry or spiky. Children as well as adults can enjoy this drawing technique. Showing movement in your drawings is an important component to making them more realistic. Showing movement can be done in several different ways: movement lines, muscle tension, clothing draping and hair movement. You can draw a beautiful texture drawing by - Collecting simple drawing materials such as a piece of paper and a pencil with an eraser. Use any drawing material that appeals to you such as pen, ink and pastel. Think of an image that you would like to texture. Draw an outline of that image on your paper. Create texture by repeating marks that have the character of the surface you desire. For example, repeat short straight lines to draw the texture of the hair of a short haired cat. Experiment with new materials and create more textures. Any tool that can make a mark can create an illusion of a surface texture if you repeat the mark over and over. You can create wonderful visual works by combining various textures in one drawing.