Textures in Art
In art, texture is the perceived surface quality of a work. It’s the element that appeals to our sense of touch, even if we are only looking with our eyes, telling the viewer whether an object is jagged, silky, weathered, or soft.
We generally categorize texture into two distinct types: the physical and the implied.
I. Physical or tactile texture is what you actually feel with your hands. It is most common in three-dimensional art or ‘’impasto’’ painting (a technique that is applied in thick, textured layers).
An example is assemblage, which is art that incorporates real-world materials like sand, wood, or fabric into the piece. Another example is sculpture, where the texture is the smoothness of polished marble or the grit of raw clay.
II. Implied or visual texture is the “illusion” of texture. The surface of the paper or screen appears flat, but the artist uses light, shadow, and line to trick the brain into ‘’feeling’’ a surface.
This is done by rendering an object to look exactly like a specific material, alongside using repetitive patterns, dots, or cross-hatching to create a sense of ‘’roughness’’ without trying to mimic a real-world object.
1. Creating Texture
To convey texture effectively, you have to look at how light interacts with a surface.
1a. The general rule for lights and shadows is based on an object’s surface
If it’s smooth like glass or silk, it’ll have sharp, high-contrast highlights and crisp shadows.
However, rough surfaces like brick or wool have many tiny shadows and diffused highlights because the light is hitting thousands of small bumps.
1b. Creating texture is essentially just adding tiny “value masses” within a larger shape
For example, a smooth rock is just one large gray shape, but a cracked rock is that same gray shape with tiny dark lines (shadows) and tiny light lines (ridges).
1c. Mark-making can suggest how a surface feels
Techniques like cross-hatching use parallel or intersecting lines. The closer the lines, the denser and smoother the texture feels.
Stippling is using only tiny dots. This is excellent for creating depth or representing grain or sand.
Scumbling is the technique of moving a dry brush in loose motions to create a ‘’scratchy’’ or ‘’foggy’’ layer. This is a go-to technique for rust, old wood, or clouds.
Splattering is flicking paint onto the canvas. This creates a chaotic texture that is perfect for dirt, stars, or anything speckled.
Those are the most common known ways to create textures from different types of brushes or by hand. However, when working with digital art, you are able to use more than just brushes.
2. Photobashing (using images)
Photobashing is a digital art technique when an artist integrates photographic elements directly into a painting or illustration. Instead of building every detail from scratch, the artist samples textures, lighting, or forms from photos and blends them seamlessly into their work. This allows for highly realistic results and faster iteration, especially in fields like concept art, matte painting, and visual development.
A common misconception about photobashing is that it’s cheating or a shortcut that replaces artistic skill. In reality, effective photobashing requires a strong understanding of lighting, perspective, color harmony, and composition. Simply pasting photos rarely works, artists must transform, repaint, and unify elements so they feel like part of a cohesive piece. Poorly executed photobashing is easy to spot, while skilled use is often invisible.
Here are several ways of approaching this technique.
2a. Texture overlay is the most common use of photobashing
Find a photo of a texture that fits the subject you’ve painted. This can be to give texture to a certain object or an overlay for the whole painting. Set the layer with a blending mode (such as overlay or soft light), then increase or decrease the layer opacity until you’re satisfied.
This method gives you an effortless result of micro-details, providing a more life-like appearance to your painting.
2b. Using digital brushes can sometimes look too perfect or repetitive, which feels ‘’inauthentic’’. Photobashing introduces a more lively chaos
An artist can use a photo of something completely unrelated to their subject. For example, taking a close-up of a dried leaf and stamping it onto a distant mountain range.
The irregular, unpredictable patterns of nature found in the photo break up the mechanical look of digital strokes. This is something you can’t easily replicate by hand.
2c. To prevent your art from looking like a messy collage, most professionals follow the rule of thumb: 70% painting, 30% photo
You should never leave the photo as it is. You must paint over it, adjust the colors to match your lighting, and blur the edges to match your atmospheric perspective. The photo shouldn’t dominate over your painting.
3. Practice: visualization to execution
When starting out, the goal isn’t to create a masterpiece but to build a visual library of how different surfaces react to light.
Here are a few ways to help you master the feel of a surface.
3a. The texture sphere is the gold standard for practicing implied texture. It forces you to apply a specific material to a simple, consistent shape
Draw three circles. Turn each one into a 3D sphere by painting it with a different material, such as metal, stone, or fur.
Take notice of how the edge control changes for each. The metal sphere has a sharp, bright highlight, while the fur sphere will have a fuzzy, messy silhouette.
This isolates texture from complex drawing. You don’t need to worry about anatomy or perspective, just the surface.
3b. Limit your brushes when painting texture
Often, beginners overcomplicate texture by using too many different tools. This exercise teaches you to create texture through mark-making alone.
Create a small painting of a single object, anything from a rusted key to a piece of fruit, using only two brushes. One large, block-in brush and one small, detail brush.
For this, you are not allowed to use any texture brushes or overlays. You must create the feeling of surface by varying your pressure, speed, and the direction of your strokes.
Textures in art are the bridge between sight and touch, requiring a balance of physical application and visual trickery to convince the brain of a surface’s quality. By mastering how light interacts with different materials from sharp reflections on silk to the diffused bumps on wool, artists can move beyond simple shapes to create endless objects. Whether through traditional mark-making or professional photobashing, the goal is to use texture as a tool for realism and mood without letting it overwhelm the core composition.
To further elevate your skills, explore these resources:
- "Color and Light" and "The Artist's Guide to Sketching" by James Gurney are great books that explain these techniques.
- Trent Kaniuga (YouTube) is a veteran concept artist who provides great insight into efficient texture shortcuts for game design.
- Finally, check out Even Mehl Amundsen (YouTube and Instagram), a master of mark-making to imply complex textures.
References
- Arcane Fibre Works. (2024, June 15). Yarns. Pinterest. https://pin.it/5LdLZSzD1
- BBC. (2026a). Mark making techniques - Drawing techniques - AQA - GCSE Art and Design Revision - AQA. BBC Bitesize. https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zkn9jfr/revision/1
- BBC. (2026b). What is hatching and cross-hatching? | KS1 | Primary. BBC Bitesize. https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zn6w239
- Bollino, M. (2021). Saskatch Crossing . Cosmos.so. https://www.cosmos.so/e/1255785368
- Glass Of Ice. (2019). Pinterest. https://pin.it/4RdMeEFcr
- HanoiDesignLLC. (2026, January 2). Silk fabric from Etsy. Pinterest. https://pin.it/5xtGcIMh3
- James, E. (2021, February 14). Bricks. Pinterest. https://pin.it/s9lScmVpW
Your art journey doesn't stop here. Check out these articles next!
Gallery view
Made with Bullet