Marias Art Blog: Texture and Pattern

Texture refers to the surface of a painting or to what the painting is reflecting through its work. Texture can be visual and by this I mean the painting can be done so it has a lot of elements that give it the appearance of texture but the painting itself is still flat. In this type of texture there will be lots of detail that will show the texture in things like clothing, walls, etc. an example of this is the art piece Portrait of the Baroness James de Rothschild by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres. You can see the detail in the woman’s dress. Texture can also be physical of which texture will be shown through what the viewer feels when he or she touches the actual painting. Physical texture can be made with layers of paint, bold strokes, etc. An example of this would be the painting by Vincent Van Gogh, Starry Night. If a viewer had to choose between a painting with no texture and one with, I feel the latter catches a viewer’s attention more because it gives the viewer a chance to experience art differently. It helps give the viewer a better understanding of art because they can feel it instead of just see it .

Pattern is a type of design that is frequent throughout an art piece. Patterns can be something simple like dots and stripes or something complex like a combination of many different pattern elements. Even though patterns can be predictable, the way an artist demonstrates it can make a pattern seem as beautiful and spontaneous as any other artwork. For example some of the works of M.C Escher demonstrate pattern one of which is called Angels and Devils. This type of pattern is something that was created with the use of mathematics. Pattern doesn't have to be boring but it depends on an artist’s creativity which, as shown by Escher, can be captivating.