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Lesson Plan Image

Texture Painting

Students will explore various ways to add texture to their work and create a painting that demonstrates some techniques.

Lesson Plan

Supplies Needed

Gather all the supplies needed to bring your craft ideas to life! From paints and markers to glue and scissors, our crafts section has everything to spark creativity and make every project truly special.

  • Bubble Wrap
  • Paper
  • Plastic Fork
  • Salt
  • Sand

Steps

  • Step 1

    Adding texture to art can create a sense of depth, and it can be created in various ways. There is illusory or visual texture, where the artist uses techniques that give the appearance of texture. This might include using contrasting colors or different types of brush strokes. Art can also incorporate literal 3D texture, which can involve using thick layers of paint, adding substances such as sand or salt, or creating patterns with a fork, comb, or palette knife. 

  • Step 2

    Have students create a textured painting. They can experiment with different techniques to create both 3D and illusory texture. For example, they can apply thick layers of paint and then drag a plastic fork or comb through it while the paint is wet. They might also add sand to the paint or press bubble wrap into the wet paint.

  • Step 3

    When the paintings are dry, have students present the art and talk about the various techniques they used.

Standards

ARTS: Explore and invent art-making techniques and approaches.

ARTS: Speculate about processes an artist uses to create a work of art.

Adaptations

Have students explore examples of texture in paintings. Suggestions include "Young Hare" (1502) by Albrecht Dürer in which the varied brushstrokes and color shadings create a realistic appearance of fur and "The Starry Night" (1889) by Vincent van Gogh, which depicts the impasto technique of thick layers of paint.

Ask students to create textured art using other media besides paint. They might make origami animals, create a torn-paper collage in the style of Henri Matisse, or use household objects to add texture to Model Magic or Air Dry Clay.