Not necessarily. Textures are high frequency low abstraction data forms, shapes are low frequency high abstraction data forms. The former are easier to learn f

Not necessarily. Textures are high frequency low abstraction data forms, shapes are low frequency high abstraction data forms. The former are easier to learn for multiple reasons: The nature of higher frequency data means that you have more samples. (There are far more furry textures in a picture of a cat than there are toes, paws, legs etc.) Low abstraction data forms are also learnt in earlier layers of the network - more abstract forms are resolved through the understanding of how less abstract forms group together, making the low abstraction forms a prerequisite to more in depth learning.