The idea of texture refers to the external surface of an object or body.
From the Latin textūra , texture is the arrangement and order of threads in a fabric . In the textile sector, the term is also used to name the weaving operation and the surface of a garment.
At a general level, texture is linked to the external surface of a body. It is a property that is captured through the sense of touch . Softness, roughness and roughness are sensations transmitted by texture. For example: "I love the texture of this shirt: it is very soft" , "The uneven texture of the desk hurt my strokes" , "These creams help soften the texture of my skin" , "Blind people can read thanks to the texture of the pages written in Braille .
Texture in the plastic arts
In the field of painting , texture refers to the grouping of shapes and colors that allow irregularities to be perceived on a continuous or flat surface. The texture, therefore, provides realism to the works.
In this artistic field we have to make it clear, therefore, that texture emerges as a way to make the work much more real. It is the key to being able to represent certain aspects of life. All this is achieved through elements such as the thickness of the lines, colors, relief , shapes...
But not only that. Furthermore, throughout history, other series of techniques and elements have been used to achieve the texture, the reality, that is desired in a painting. In this case we could emphasize everything from the use of paper and cardboard to introducing wood to mixing sand and oil.
The texture can be noticed through touch.
The concept in music
For music , texture is the way in which the voices (whether vocal or instrumental melodic lines) involved in a piece of music are related. Monody (when there is a single melodic line), homophony (the melodic voices move with the same rhythmic values but in different notes) and heterophony (ornamental variations of the same melodic line) are some of the musical textures.
However, we cannot ignore the existence of other types of texture, such as polyphony. This takes place when, simultaneously, various melodic voices sound that are independent, different and that are identified by having different rhythms.
All this without forgetting the accompanied melody. It is clearly identifiable because it has a melodic line that acts as the main one and is accompanied by musical instruments and voices that have the secondary function. This secondary character leads them to play melodies that are also secondary.
Other uses of the notion of texture
Likewise, we must not ignore the existence of the soil texture. Based on it, a classification of land is established such as clay, fine sand, gravel, medium silt, stones, fine silt or coarse sand, among others.
In computing , finally, a texture is a bitmap that is used to cover the surface of a virtual object with a special graphics program.