Texture Composition

The third layer of composition is color, which we will save for another time. Thus, we proceed to the fourth compositional layer-texture. In this context texture refers to visual patterns as well as the physical, tactile texture of an object's surface. A field of rocks is both a visual and a tactile texture, whereas a sky full of small clouds is a purely visual texture, since clouds simply feel like air. A checkered tablecloth is another example of a purely visual texture.

Using texture in composition involves handling the balance of texture and no texture; degrees of textural complexity, both visual and physical; and patterns that convey the nature of specific surfaces, for example, using lines for grass, dots for gravel, diamonds for a checkered tablecloth.

What we seek is interesting variation in the shapes of textured areas, their patterns, and placement in the composition. Areas of complex visual texture will attract the eye; the more complex the texture, the stronger the attraction. However, placing most of the texture in an awkward area of the composition creates an imbalance that can direct the eye away from the picture. If all the texture is on one side and the weight of the negative space does not balance it (it usually takes a lot of empty negative space to offset a complex visual texture), the viewer's eye will travel away from the picture. Generally, though, texture placed at the bottom of the composition is less likely to lead the viewer out of the picture; for example, a hillside full of wildflowers (a complex visual texture) placed at the bottom of a composition is easily balanced by a cloudless blue sky above. A composition with a craggy vertical cliff face on one side and a cloudless sky on the other is a more difficult situation.