brushwork

noun

brush·​work ˈbrəsh-ˌwərk 

: work done with a brush (as in painting)

especially : the characteristic work of an artist using a brush

Examples of brushwork in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In his portrait of the perfectly arrogant Jasper Schade, a Dutch politician, the brushwork on the face is tightly thatched and then, as if Hals has suddenly swallowed a caffeine pill, a whole taffeta sleeve bursts into a lightning field. —Zachary Fine, The New Yorker, 3 Nov. 2023

Vanilla light pours through a small window where the only visible brushwork appears in ruffled window curtains, as if this is where busy life continues while all else is suspended in twilight. —Cate McQuaid, BostonGlobe.com, 11 July 2023

On the surface, there is a tender reminiscence to the piece, her careful, sweeping brushwork obscuring the faces and giving the painting the look of something barely perceptible and out of reach. —Seth Combs, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 June 2023

This is in contrast with the very smooth fluid brushwork of the rest of the still life scene. —Natasha Gural, Forbes, 3 May 2023

Bugatti’s legacy is further outlined in the cockpit, with the three aforementioned contemporary models applied with brushwork on the interior leather of the driver’s door, while the 1924 Type 35 joins the Royale and Atlantic on the passenger side. —Viju Mathew, Robb Report, 10 Aug. 2023

Bernstein renders them with vigorous brushwork, the male and female forms more familiar from bathroom graffiti than an art museum. —Christopher Knight, Los Angeles Times, 18 July 2023

Van Gogh’s mud-thick and choppy brushwork irritated Gauguin, who favored a decorative style based on smooth expanses of color. —Deborah Solomon, New York Times, 11 May 2023

A lot of this portrait’s charge comes from Titian’s brushwork. —Washington Post, 20 July 2023

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Word History

First Known Use

1755, in the meaning defined above