Texture and pattern

Run your hand over tree bark, then over glass. That difference is texture. Now look at a brick wall: that repeat is pattern.

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Texture

Texture is how something feels, or how it looks as if it would feel: rough, smooth, soft, spiky.
Actual texture is real: you can touch it, such as thick paint or a sculpture's surface.
Implied (or visual) texture is drawn or painted to look like a texture, such as fur drawn with many short lines.

Making texture

Ways to show texture:
Mark-making with different tools: pencil, pen, charcoal, sponge, an old toothbrush.
Frottage: placing paper over a textured surface and rubbing with a crayon or pencil. The artist Max Ernst (German, 1891 to 1976) developed frottage as an art technique in the 1920s.
Impasto: putting paint on very thickly so brushstrokes stand up from the surface.
Collage with real materials, such as fabric or sandpaper.

Pattern

A pattern is a design in which a line, shape or colour is repeated. The repeated unit is called a motif.
Regular patterns repeat in a predictable way, like a chessboard. Irregular patterns vary, like the spots on a leopard.
Natural patterns are found in nature (shells, leaves, zebra stripes); man-made patterns are designed (wallpaper, textiles, tiles).
Symmetry is when one half mirrors the other. Many patterns use symmetry.
Worked example

A student places paper over a tree trunk and rubs it with a wax crayon. What is this technique called, and what kind of texture does it record?

  1. Rubbing paper over a textured surface is called frottage.
  2. The bark's real bumps show through as marks on the paper.
  3. The paper itself is flat, so the result is a visual (implied) texture made from an actual texture.

Answer: Frottage. It records the bark's actual texture as a visual (implied) texture on flat paper.

Key idea

Texture is how something feels or looks as if it would feel: actual (real) or implied (visual). Frottage means taking a rubbing. A pattern repeats a line, shape or colour (a motif), regularly or irregularly.

Key words
Texture
How something feels, or looks as if it would feel.
Pattern
A design in which a line, shape or colour is repeated.
Frottage
Making a rubbing of a textured surface with paper and a pencil or crayon.
Shape
A flat, two-dimensional area with height and width.
Motif
A shape or image that is repeated to make a pattern.
Charcoal
A soft black drawing material made from burnt wood. Good for bold tone; it smudges easily.

All KS3 Art and Design key terms and definitions →

Quick check

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Extra practice

2 more questions

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  1. Which word describes texture?

    1. Rough
    2. Bright
    3. Dark
    4. Tall
    Show the answer

    Answer: Rough

    Texture describes surface quality.

  2. A collage includes real sandpaper you can feel. What kind of texture is this?

    1. Implied texture
    2. Negative space
    3. Actual texture
    4. Regular pattern
    Show the answer

    Answer: Actual texture

    Actual texture can be touched.

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Sources and references

Last updated 2 October 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us and we will fix it.

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