brushwork

[ bruhsh-wurk ]

/ ˈbrʌʃˌwɜrk /

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noun

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

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

work for which a brush is used, as painting.

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Origin of brushwork

First recorded in 1865–70; brush¹ + work

Words nearby brushwork

brush-tailed phalanger, brush-tailed possum, brush turkey, brushup, brushwood, brushwork, brushy, brusque, brusquely, brusquerie, Brussels

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use brushwork in a sentence

Now we can see the wonderful looseness of his brushwork as well.
The Unknown Masterpiece|Blake Gopnik|November 25, 2013|DAILY BEAST
The florid brushwork of a Constable gets hypertrophied in Freud, into a kind of gross exaggeration of what unleashed paint can do.
Lucian Freud, the Conservative Radical|Blake Gopnik|July 21, 2011|DAILY BEAST
"Rejected Addresses," exhibited in 1870, has all Pettie's charm of colour and fluent brushwork.
John Pettie, R.A., H.R.S.A.|Martin Hardie
Be it an ancient or modern episode, the story could be told in the tone and with well-nigh the brushwork of Van Dyck.
The Art Of The Moving Picture|Vachel Lindsay

Vance is one of the few who unite gusto and patience, fancy and brushwork.
What Will He Do With It, Complete|Edward Bulwer-Lytton
It is as indifferent to the kind of brushwork used by the painter, as to the variety of chisel handled by the sculptor.
Art Principles|Ernest Govett
His brushwork was so rapid and decisive that in scarcely any of his designs is there evidence of deliberation.
Art Principles|Ernest Govett

British Dictionary definitions for brushwork

brushwork

/ (ˈbrʌʃˌwɜːk) /

noun

a characteristic manner of applying paint with a brushthat is not Rembrandt's brushwork

work done with a brush

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012