brushwork

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   an artist's technique or characteristic manner of applying paint with a brush

   The portrait's loose brushwork gives the face an immediate, living quality.

2. 2
   noun

   the visible marks and painted surface produced by that technique

   Close inspection revealed energetic brushwork beneath the thin glaze.

A compound of brush + work, established as an art-critical term for both the act of handling a paintbrush and the marks that reveal an individual painter's technique or style.

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