Grade by Grade
B. Drama / D. Visual Arts · Drama and Visual Arts

Visual Arts: Texture and Space

D1.3 D1.4 D2.2About 35 minutes
Learning goals
  • I can describe the textures of familiar objects.
  • I can make the illusion of texture with patterns of lines.
  • I can paint with thick, textured paint (impasto).
  • I can overlap objects to show that some are closer and some are farther away.
  • I can explain how an artist used texture and space.

Words to know

texture
How something feels, or looks like it would feel: rough, smooth, bumpy, soft.
illusion of texture
Texture that is drawn or painted so it looks real, even though the paper is flat.
impasto
Paint put on very thickly so it stands up from the paper and has its own texture. Say it "im-PASS-toe".
space
The area around and between things in an art work.
overlap
When one thing covers part of another thing.
depth
The look of some things being close and others being far away in a flat picture.

Remember from Grade 1

You learned that texture is how something feels, and you made rubbings of leaves and bark. This year we will draw texture, paint with texture, and learn a trick to make pictures look deep.

Textures all around

Touch these with your fingers (or imagine them):

ObjectTexture word
tree barkrough, bumpy
a plastic platesmooth
corduroy pantsridged (rows of bumps)
a wool sweaterfuzzy, soft
sandpaperrough, scratchy
a pineconebumpy, prickly
an ice cubesmooth, slippery, cold
Textures of familiar objects
A piece of tree bark, a knitted wool mitten, a smooth grey stone, a pine cone and a white feather on a wooden table.
Rough, bumpy bark; a fuzzy wool mitten; a smooth stone; a prickly pine cone; a soft feather. Which texture word fits each one? AI-generated image

The illusion of texture

A drawing of a teddy bear isn't really fuzzy. The paper is flat! But an artist can trick your eyes by drawing patterns of lines. This is called the illusion of texture.

  • Lots of short, curvy lines = fur
  • Wavy lines going up and down = wood or bark
  • Little "U" shapes in rows = fish scales or roof shingles
  • Dots close together = sand or gravel
  • Criss-cross lines = a basket or knitted mitten
furshort curvy linesbarkwavy linesscalesrows of U shapessandlots of dotsbasketcriss-cross lines
The illusion of texture: the paper is flat, but each pattern of lines or dots tricks your eyes into "feeling" fur, bark, scales, sand or a woven basket.

Impasto: thick paint

Some artists put paint on very thickly. The paint stands up off the canvas in ridges and bumps. You can see the brush strokes! This is called impasto.

Vincent van Gogh often painted with thick paint. If you look closely at his paintings in a museum, the paint is bumpy, like frosting on a cake.

Space: near and far

How can a flat picture look like it goes back, back, back into the distance? One trick is overlapping.

When one object covers part of another object, our eyes know that the object in front is closer. The one partly hidden is farther away.

The tree is in front, so it looks closest.
Overlapping shows depth. The tree is in front, then the middle mountain, then the back mountain.

More tricks for depth

  • Things in front overlap things behind.
  • Things far away often look smaller.
  • Things far away are often drawn higher on the page, closer to the horizon.

The main Grade 2 trick is overlapping, but you can try the others too!

Worked example

Example: Drawing texture on a beaver

Let's draw a beaver and give it texture using lines.

  1. Draw the beaver's body: an organic shape, like a big bean.
  2. For the fur, fill the body with lots of short, curvy lines all going the same way.
  3. For the flat tail, draw a criss-cross pattern of lines. It looks scaly and leathery.
  4. Add a log under the beaver. Draw long wavy lines along the log to look like bark.
  5. Add a few dots on the ground for mud and pebbles.

The paper is flat, but the patterns of lines make the fur look soft, the tail look scaly and the log look rough. That's the illusion of texture.

Just for fun

Riddle: What has bark but never barks?

A tree!

Worked example

Example: Overlapping apples in a bowl

Draw three apples so that they look like they are in a bowl, one behind another.

  1. Draw the front apple first, a full circle at the bottom of the bowl.
  2. Draw the second apple a bit higher, but stop the line when you reach the front apple. It looks behind.
  3. Draw the third apple higher still, partly hidden by the second apple.
  4. Draw the bowl around the bottom of the apples.

Because each apple overlaps the one behind it, the picture has depth. The front apple looks closest.

Hands-on activity

Texture hunt and impasto painting

You need: paper, crayons, washable paint, flour or white glue, a plastic fork, a craft stick or old comb, and a paper plate.

Part 1: Texture hunt. Find 5 textures in your home (a towel, a cutting board, a sweater, a basket, a plant pot). Touch each one and say a texture word. Draw each texture using only lines and dots.

Part 2: Impasto. Mix a spoonful of paint with a little flour or white glue on the plate until it's thick like icing. Spread it on cardboard or thick paper. Use the fork, comb or craft stick to scrape lines: waves for water, swirls for a sky, bumps for a field.

Part 3: Overlapping. Paint or draw three trees or three houses that overlap, so one looks closest and the others are farther away.

Let the impasto dry flat overnight.

Your turn

1

Give a texture word for tree bark.

2

Give a texture word for a plastic plate.

3

What is the illusion of texture?

4

Draw fur using lines.

5

What is impasto?

6

What does overlap mean?

7

In a picture, a house covers part of a tree. Which is closer?

More practice: warm-up

1

Is sandpaper rough or smooth?

2

Is ice rough or smooth?

3

What texture are corduroy pants?

4

Draw dots close together. What texture could they show?

5

True or false: Overlapping can make a picture look like it has near and far.

More practice: on your own

1

Draw a basket using criss-cross lines. Why do the lines work?

2

How is a real texture different from the illusion of texture?

3

Draw three snowmen so that one looks closest and one looks farthest. How did you do it?

4

Why might an artist use impasto to paint ocean waves?

5

Find something at home that is soft and something that is hard. Describe each.

Challenge

1

Draw a winter scene with a fuzzy toque, rough tree bark and smooth ice, using only pencil lines. Explain which lines you used for each.

2

In a picture of a forest, all the trees are the same size and none overlap. How could you make it look deeper?

3

Why do you think van Gogh used thick paint?

Check your understanding

Quiz

1.

Which object has a ridged texture?

2.

Drawing lots of short curvy lines to look like fur is called ___.

3.

Impasto means ___.

4.

A tree covers part of a barn in a picture. Which looks closer?

5.

Which word means one thing covers part of another?

6.

Which is a smooth texture?

For parents and teachers

Big idea: For texture, Grade 2 students explore textures of familiar objects (rough bark, smooth plate, ridged corduroy), create the illusion of texture with patterns of lines, and try impasto (thick, textured paint). For space, the focus is overlapping objects to show depth (D1.3, D1.4, D2.2).

How to help:

  • Name textures during daily life: "This towel is fluffy; this pan is smooth."
  • Look closely at picture-book illustrations: how did the illustrator draw fur, wood or water?
  • Thick paint: washable paint mixed with a little flour or glue works well and is cheap.

Common difficulties:

  • Drawing the back object first and colouring over the front one. Draw the front object first, then stop the lines of back objects when they reach it.
  • Texture lines going every which way. For fur and wood, keep lines going mostly in the same direction.