brushwork

American  

[bruhsh-wurk] / ˈbrʌʃˌwɜrk /

noun

1. the use of a brush as a tool, as in painting.

2. Fine Arts. the surface quality of a painting produced by the distribution of pigment with a brush.

3. work for which a brush is used, as painting.

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brushwork British  

/ ˈbrʌʃˌwɜːk /

noun

1. a characteristic manner of applying paint with a brush

   that is not Rembrandt's brushwork

2. work done with a brush

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Etymology

Origin of brushwork

First recorded in 1865–70; brush ¹ + work

Example Sentences

Oil also allowed passages of bravura brushwork that often dissolved forms in a freewheeling, coloristic haze.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 30, 2026

"Raeburn's expressive, seemingly effortless brushwork, the characteristic warm palette, soft atmospheric lighting and sensitive rendering of the instantly recognisable Robert Burns are a joy," she said.

From BBC • Jan. 25, 2026

Found materials, including street signage rulers, ornithology illustrations and children’s drawings, festoon the canvas, mingling with hurried chalk annotations and prays of gestural brushwork resembling graffiti.

From New York Times • Mar. 28, 2024

From what we’ve seen of Santos' brazen fibs, his artistry is lacking; his embellishing brushwork lacks precision and shadow.

From Salon • Dec. 17, 2023

It follows, among other things, that in Egypt, as in China and Japan, literary style and mere penmanship and brushwork are to be conceived as inseparable.

From The Art of the Moving Picture by Lindsay, Vachel