Universal Principles of Art

93 TEXTURE

AN ESSENTIAL ATTRIBUTE AS AN EXPRESSIVE ELEMENT

Both sculpture and painting allow for the creation and use of texture, a feature that can be central to the sense of an artwork. In addition, the art of painting allows for the depiction or reproduction of textures. The sensual excitement afforded by texture, whether real or perceived, is increased by the presence of multiple textures. The experience of variety, of moving from one texture to another, allows for the comparison of rough with smooth, shiny with dull, granulated with grooved.

Sculpture offers the greatest opportunity in deploying texture as an expressive element. David Smith (1906–65), for example, would often use a handheld grinder to create a highly dramatic and sometimes ...