Texture is how a surface feels, or how it looks as if it would feel: rough, smooth, soft, bumpy, shiny.
Actual texture can be touched: thick ridges of oil paint (called impasto), the grain of carved wood, a woven cloth, sand or paper glued into a collage. Implied texture (also called visual texture) only looks rough or soft. The surface itself is flat: a pencil drawing of fur, a painted brick wall, a printed photo of tree bark.
Key idea
Actual texture: you could feel it. Implied texture: it only looks that way; the surface is flat.
Why it works
We learn what surfaces feel like by touching them and seeing how they catch the light at the same time. Rough surfaces break light into many tiny bright and dark specks; smooth, shiny ones show crisp highlights. Copy those light patterns and the eye "feels" the texture. Drawing Texture practices the marks.
Worked example: The same painting, two ways
Vincent van Gogh laid on his paint thickly, so the brushstrokes stand up from the canvas. Is that texture actual or implied? And what about a photo of the painting on your screen?
- On the real canvas, the ridges of paint can be felt: that is actual texture.
- On a screen, the glass is smooth. You see the ridges only as light and shadow: that is implied texture.
Answer: Actual on the canvas; implied in the photo.
Common mistake
Thinking a smooth photograph of bark has actual texture. Ask one question: if you ran your finger across it, would you feel the bumps? If not, the texture is implied, however real it looks.