Grade by Grade
A. Creating and Presenting · Creating Art: The Creative Process, Design and Studio Techniques

Elements of Design: Texture and Space

A2.1 C1.1 C2.1About 75 minutes
Learning goals
  • I can tell actual texture from implied texture and create both with several techniques.
  • I can use overlapping, size, placement and atmospheric perspective to show depth.
  • I can draw simple scenes in one-point and two-point linear perspective.
  • I can use positive and negative space, and actual space in 3-D work, on purpose.

Words to know

texture
How a surface feels, or looks as if it would feel.
actual texture
Texture you can really touch, such as thick paint, fabric or bark in a collage.
implied texture
Texture that is drawn or painted so it looks real but is flat to the touch.
frottage
Making a rubbing by placing paper over a textured surface and rubbing with a pencil or crayon.
sgraffito
Scratching through a top layer of paint, oil pastel or clay to reveal the layer underneath.
impasto
Paint applied so thickly that brush or knife marks stand up from the surface.
space
The area around, between and within things; in 2-D art, the illusion of depth.
atmospheric perspective
Showing distance by making far-away things paler, bluer, lower in contrast and less detailed.
vanishing point
The point on the horizon line where parallel lines going away from the viewer appear to meet.
horizon line
A horizontal line across the picture at the viewer's eye level.

Remember from Grades 7 and 8

In Grade 7 you drew in two-point perspective and used converging lines; in Grade 8 you studied foreshortening, isometric drawing and real and illusory texture. In Grade 9 you will choose among all the depth tools on purpose and connect them to texture techniques with real materials.

Texture: how it feels and how it looks

Run your hand over a maple tree's bark, a knitted toque, a smooth phone screen. That is actual texture. Now look at a photograph of the bark: it looks rough but feels smooth. That is implied texture (also called visual or simulated texture).

  • Actual texture: collage with real materials, thick paint (impasto), carved or modelled clay, fibre art.
  • Implied texture: drawn or painted marks that copy the look of a surface: stippling for sand, scumbling for wool, long curved strokes for hair.
  • Invented texture: patterns that do not copy a real surface but still give a tactile feel, often used in design and illustration.

Texture adds interest and realism, and it can carry feeling: rough, jagged textures feel harsh; soft, smooth ones feel calm or delicate.

rubbing (frottage)actual surface, recordeddry brushrough, scratchysgraffitoscratched through a layerimpastothick, raised paint
Four texture techniques (diagrams). Frottage records a real surface such as wood grain; dry brush drags a nearly dry brush so the paper's tooth breaks the stroke; sgraffito scratches through a dark top layer to reveal the colour beneath; impasto builds up paint thick enough to stand up from the surface.

Texture techniques you can do at home

  • Frottage (rubbings): put thin paper over a textured surface (a leaf, a grate, wood grain, a coin) and rub with the side of a crayon or soft pencil.
  • Dry brush: load a brush with very little paint, wipe most of it off, and drag it lightly so the bumps of the paper catch it.
  • Sgraffito: cover paper with a layer of bright oil pastel, then a layer of black oil pastel or black tempera mixed with a drop of dish soap; scratch through with a toothpick or a paper clip.
  • Sponge, crumpled plastic or paper towel printing: dab paint for foliage or stone.
  • Salt on wet watercolour (you will try it in the painting lesson).
  • Impasto: thick acrylic or tempera applied with a palette knife or a piece of stiff card.

Space

In 2-D art, space is the illusion of depth on a flat surface. In 3-D art (sculpture, installation), space is real: the work takes up space and has spaces within it.

Artists show depth with these cues:

  1. Overlapping: the shape in front hides part of the one behind.
  2. Size: smaller looks farther away.
  3. Vertical placement: objects placed higher on the page (closer to the horizon) look farther away.
  4. Detail: near things show more detail; far things are simplified.
  5. Atmospheric perspective: far-away things look paler, bluer and lower in contrast, because we see them through more air, dust and moisture.
  6. Warm and cool colour: warm colours seem to advance; cool colours seem to recede.
  7. Linear perspective: parallel lines going away from us appear to converge at vanishing points.
overlappingsizevertical placementatmospheric perspectivefront shape hides backsmaller looks fartherhigher on page looks fartherfar = paler, less detail
Four ways to show depth on a flat surface without linear perspective. In the last panel the nearest ridge is strongest in value and contrast, while the farthest is pale and faint, the way distant hills look through air and haze.

Linear perspective

Linear perspective was worked out by artists and architects in Italy in the 1400s. The key parts:

  • Horizon line (eye level): a horizontal line at the height of your eyes. If you sit down, the horizon line moves down too.
  • Vanishing point (VP): a point on the horizon line where receding parallel lines meet.
  • Orthogonals (converging lines): the lines that run back toward a VP.

One-point perspective is used when you look straight down a road, a hallway or railway tracks: one face of each object faces you flat, and the receding lines go to one VP.

Two-point perspective is used when you look at an object corner-first, like the corner of a building: there are two VPs, usually far apart at the edges of the page. Vertical lines stay vertical in both systems.

Objects below the horizon line show their tops; objects above it (like a shelf above your head) show their bottoms.

horizon line (eye level)VPone-point perspectiveVP1VP2two-point perspective
Linear perspective. Left: in one-point perspective, lines going straight back (the road edges, the tops and bottoms of the poles) meet at one vanishing point (VP) on the horizon. Right: in two-point perspective, a box seen corner-first has two sets of receding edges, each meeting at its own VP. Vertical edges stay vertical. The box is below eye level, so we see its top.
Worked example

Let's draw a box in two-point perspective

Draw a box sitting on the floor, seen from a standing position, corner toward you.

  1. Draw the horizon line across the page about one-third from the top (standing eye level is above the box).
  2. Place two VPs on the horizon line, near the left and right edges of the page. Far-apart VPs avoid distortion.
  3. Draw the front vertical edge below the horizon: a single vertical line.
  4. Connect the top and bottom of that edge to both VPs with light lines.
  5. Draw two more verticals between those lines, one on each side, to end the left and right faces.
  6. Find the back corner of the top: from the top of the left vertical, draw a line to the right VP; from the top of the right vertical, draw a line to the left VP. Where they cross is the back corner.
  7. Darken the edges of the box, erase the construction lines, and shade: if the light comes from the left, the left face is lighter, the right face darker, and the top lightest.

A box below eye level showing its top and two side faces, with every receding edge pointing to one of the two vanishing points and all vertical edges truly vertical.

Check your eye level

Hold your pencil horizontally at eye level in front of you, and look at a real room. Everything above the pencil slopes down toward the horizon; everything below slopes up toward it. That is perspective, live.

Just for fun

Why did the drawing of the railway tracks look so worried?

It could see its problems converging at a single point.

Hands-on activity

Texture and space studio

You need: printer paper, a soft pencil (2B or darker) and crayons, a ruler, an eraser, oil pastels (optional), toothpicks, black tempera paint and dish soap (optional), small textured items (leaves, a grater, a cooling rack, a coin, a woven placemat).

  1. Texture hunt: make 8 frottage rubbings of different surfaces around your home. Label each with what it is and one word for how it feels.
  2. Implied texture: without rubbing, draw 4 squares that imitate four of your rubbings with pencil marks.
  3. Depth cues: draw a winter landscape with three rows of spruce trees using overlapping, size, placement and atmospheric perspective (the farthest row lightest).
  4. One-point perspective: draw a hallway or a road going straight back, with one VP. Add doors or poles that get smaller as they go back.
  5. Two-point perspective: draw three boxes: one below eye level, one at eye level (horizon line crosses it, no top or bottom visible), and one above eye level (we see its bottom).
  6. Optional sgraffito: colour a 10 cm square heavily with bright oil pastels, cover with black tempera (with a drop of dish soap so it sticks), let dry, and scratch a design with a toothpick.

Safety: grater edges are sharp: rub on the outside surface only and keep fingers away from the holes. Toothpicks are pointed; scratch away from your body.

Your turn

1

What is the difference between actual and implied texture? Give an example of each.

2

Name four depth cues that do not need vanishing points.

3

In one-point perspective, where do lines going straight back from the viewer meet?

4

You draw a box above the horizon line. Can you see its top or its bottom?

5

What happens to the horizon line in a drawing if the artist imagines lying on the ground?

6

Describe how to make a sgraffito texture.

7

Why do distant hills look bluish and pale?

More practice: warm-up

1

What is a horizon line?

2

What is frottage?

3

In two-point perspective, how many vanishing points are there?

4

Do warm colours seem to advance or recede?

5

Is a photograph of tree bark actual or implied texture?

More practice: on your own

1

A student's landscape has distant mountains painted in strong, dark colours with lots of detail. Why do they look too close, and how can it be fixed?

2

In a two-point drawing of a building, a student slants the vertical edges. What is wrong?

3

Explain why placing two vanishing points very close together causes distortion.

4

How could actual texture strengthen an art work about a forest fire's aftermath?

5

Draw (or describe) a road in one-point perspective with telephone poles on one side.

Challenge

1

Plan an art work about your street that uses at least five depth cues. Name each and where it appears.

2

Explain why vertical lines stay vertical in two-point perspective, but converge in three-point perspective.

3

Compare actual texture and implied texture as tools for meaning, giving one situation where each is the better choice.

Check your understanding

Quiz

1.

Thick paint that stands up from the surface is called...

2.

Where do receding parallel lines meet in linear perspective?

3.

Which change makes mountains look farther away?

4.

A box drawn below the horizon line shows its...

5.

Which is an example of actual texture?

6.

In two-point perspective, vertical edges of a building should be...

For parents and teachers

Perspective is a technical skill: rulers and a light touch for construction lines are essential. Common errors: vanishing points not on the horizon line, slanted verticals, and VPs placed too close together. Have your teen check that every receding line really goes to a VP. For texture, a household "texture hunt" with rubbings is fun for all ages. Supervise graters (rub only the outside) and pointed tools. Atmospheric perspective is easy to see on a drive or a walk: point out how distant hills or buildings look paler.