Texture in art is comparable to the “ little black dress” in fashion. With texture you will “never be underdressed or overdressed.” It is always appropriate.
Carlene Olivia McElroy and Sandra Duran Wilson (http://darleneoliviamcelroy.com and https://sandraduranwilson.com) in their book Surface Design Workshop provide over 45 technique for creating texture which they call “a unique surface that has both history and mystery.” I think that is one of the reasons I am drawn to texture. It creates a mystery for me to solve.
In my artwork, even after the gesso or gypsum is applied and sanded, I am likely to add crumpled paper or fabric and more gesso or gypsum—even before painting. This can add movement or a place for the eye to stop. I also use texture to create depth, pushing back one element and bringing forward another.
How Can the Same Texture Appear Different?
Texture appears different if I use a dry brush, a wet brush, a fluid paint, a heavy body paint, gesso, or gypsum. And certainly, if it is different if applied with a palate knife, it will be heavier and perhaps structural. The real key is determining what type of texture fits the painting and finding the correct tools to apply it. Is the painting a landscape, a nonobjective abstract, or a portrait? All paintings use some type of texture, but the amount depends on the artist and what they hope to convey to the viewer.
Van Gogh’s thick and expressive brushstrokes created a flowing texture that added interest and energy to his paintings. It is almost like being on a roller coaster ride. Robert Rauschenberg went even further than the textural qualities of paint incorporating objects with their own textures in to his artwork. In Anselm Kiefer’s work the elements are not contrasting but layered to produce the desired effect.
Why Add Additional Texture?
Despite my fairly heavy use of tactile texture, I almost always add elements of visual texture. Sometimes these are pieces of photographs that relate to the subject or symbolism in the painting. I often use words torn from a magazine or book or just paper I have hand-colored or stamped. In the final painting, these elements may or may not remain recognizable and may even be painted over completely. But they are there for me the art maker, adding meaning and continuity, and I believe informing the painting. Texture can also create enough interest to motivate a viewer get up close—to see exactly what the painter has done and find their own meaning in the piece.
Patricia Steele Raible 