Younger Children

Walter Dusenbery

American, born 1939

Pedogna

1977

Subject: Texture
Activity: Create a rainbow of different textures
Materials: Texture samples (cotton ball, fabric, sand paper, stone, etc.)
Vocabulary: artist, carve, marble, sculpture, texture

Introduction:

Explain to your child that texture is the way something feels. Things can have many different textures, including rough, scratchy, smooth, or soft.

Sometimes we can look at things and imagine how they would feel if we touched them. Artists create textures in their sculptures, knowing that we will see them. This artist carved the marble in his sculpture so it would have many different textures.

Questions:

What material did the artist use to create this sculpture?

Can you see rough parts? Smooth parts?

How would you describe the textures?

What do the textures remind you of?

How would the textures be different if this sculpture were made of wood or metal?

Observations:

Note that different textures both come from materials and from techniques. This sculpture is rough and smooth because of the carving, while the marble material remains porous. Ask your child to think about the textures that different materials have (concrete, metal, stone, wood) as well as how different techniques (sanding, scratching, polishing) may make them feel different.

Activity:

Collect a variety of samples that have different textures. Encourage the child to touch the samples and arrange them in order, like a rainbow, from smooth to rough.

Vocabulary:

Artist - someone who makes things, such as paintings and sculptures
Carve - to cut away from a surface
Marble - a rock often used in making sculptures
Sculpture - a work of art that has height, width, and depth
Texture - how something looks or feels, rough or smooth for example

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