Visual & Performing Arts · 7th Grade

Active learning ideas

Texture: Implied and Actual

Texture engages students’ sense of touch even when they can only see it, so active learning helps them connect tactile experience with visual decision-making. Moving, talking, and creating quickly reveals how mark, material, and method shape how a surface feels without being touched.

• Common Core State Standards
• NCAS: Creating VA.Cr2.1.7

• 20–50 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 4 activities

Activity 01

• Think-Pair-Share
• 20 min · Pairs

Think-Pair-Share: Name That Texture

Pass around six small bags , each containing an object students can feel but not see (sandpaper, velvet, a sponge, crinkled foil, smooth stone, cork). Students write the marks they would use to draw each texture, share their strategy with a partner, then reveal the objects. The class compares mark-making strategies and discusses why different approaches work for the same surface.

Differentiate between actual and implied texture in various art examples.

Facilitation Tip

During Think-Pair-Share, circulate and listen for students using the words 'physical feel' versus 'visual suggestion' when they name textures.

What to look for

Present students with three images: one with actual texture (e.g., a sculpture), one with implied texture (e.g., a detailed drawing of bark), and one with both. Ask students to write on a slip of paper: 'Image 1: Actual/Implied/Both. Reason: ____'. Repeat for the other two images.

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Self-Awareness
• Relationship Skills

Activity 02

• Gallery Walk
• 30 min · Small Groups

Gallery Walk: Mark-Making Analysis

Post eight high-resolution close-up excerpts from artworks known for distinctive texture rendering (Albrecht Dürer's fur and hair, Van Gogh's impasto, Audrey Flack's photo-realist surfaces, Käthe Kollwitz's charcoal). Groups rotate, identifying the specific mark types used and the surface being described. Discussion focuses on what makes each mark convincing.

Explain how an artist can create the illusion of rough or smooth surfaces using drawing techniques.

Facilitation Tip

During the Gallery Walk, place a small magnifying glass at each station so students inspect mark density and direction without touching the artwork.

What to look for

Display a still life drawing that prominently features implied texture. Ask students: 'What specific drawing techniques did the artist use to make the apple look smooth and the basket look rough? How does the texture contribute to the overall feeling of the drawing?'

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Create
• Relationship Skills
• Social Awareness

Activity 03

• Experiential Learning
• 40 min · Individual

Texture Sampler: Mark-Making Practice

Students divide a sheet into twelve squares and fill each with a different mark-making approach , stippling, parallel hatching, crosshatch, curved strokes, irregular scribble, layered value. Each square should evoke a different imaginary surface, labeled in pencil. These samplers become reference sheets students consult during subsequent drawing projects.

Construct a drawing that effectively uses implied texture to enhance realism or expressiveness.

Facilitation Tip

During Texture Sampler, demonstrate how to rotate the paper between mark trials so the sequence of gesture remains visible on one sheet.

What to look for

Students exchange drawings focusing on implied texture. Provide them with a checklist: 'Does the drawing show at least two different textures? Are the textures convincing? Circle one area that could be improved and suggest a specific mark-making technique.'

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Self-Awareness
• Self-Management
• Social Awareness

Activity 04

• Experiential Learning
• 50 min · Individual

Observational Drawing: Implied Texture Focus

Students draw a single natural object with complex surface variation (a pinecone, weathered wood, a piece of crumpled paper, a leaf with visible veining). The requirement is to use at least three different mark types to differentiate between the object's surface areas. Peer review focuses specifically on whether the marks communicate distinct textures.

Differentiate between actual and implied texture in various art examples.

Facilitation Tip

During Observational Drawing, ask students to verbalize the tactile memory they rely on before picking up their pencils.

What to look for

Present students with three images: one with actual texture (e.g., a sculpture), one with implied texture (e.g., a detailed drawing of bark), and one with both. Ask students to write on a slip of paper: 'Image 1: Actual/Implied/Both. Reason: ____'. Repeat for the other two images.

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Self-Awareness
• Self-Management
• Social Awareness

A few notes on teaching this unit

Start by letting students handle real surfaces with eyes closed, then open eyes to match what they felt with what they see. This builds the habit of grounding decisions in sensory memory rather than abstract rules. Avoid teaching texture as a checklist of marks; instead, link each mark to a specific tactile memory so students develop criteria, not recipes. Research in haptic visual processing shows that multi-sensory input improves recognition and recall of visual texture, so integrate touch whenever possible.

Students will confidently distinguish actual from implied texture and apply targeted techniques to create both. They will articulate why a seemingly small change in mark or material shifts the viewer’s sense of surface.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During Think-Pair-Share: Name That Texture, watch for students conflating shading with texture.

  Pause the pair discussion and ask each student to trace with a finger in the air the specific surface they imagine while describing 'smooth' or 'rough'; this physical gesture separates form from surface.

• During Texture Sampler: Mark-Making Practice, watch for students believing more detail always equals stronger texture.

  Have students fold their sampler in half and, with a partner, decide which half is more convincing; the half with less but more strategically placed marks usually wins, making the principle concrete.

• During Gallery Walk: Mark-Making Analysis, watch for students assuming rubbings are the only way to capture actual texture.

  At the rubbing station, place a small impasto painting next to a rubbing; ask students to note which one they could actually feel if they touched the image, then brainstorm two other techniques that build actual texture.

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Methods used in this brief

• Think-Pair-Share
• Gallery Walk
• Experiential Learning